International Rock Gardener e-magazine

Hoy wrote:

Once more a beautiful magzine - I think I spotted something I know there ;)

Thanks Trond- for everything  ;)

It is really special to have such great photos in the SRGC forum to "steal away" for the IRG.... your pulsatilla shot is adorable - showing the little plant nestling in the grass.

Lori, thank you... and for the link too.... I quite forgot to put that :-[

The IRG continues to be posted online on the last Friday of the month.
Thanks to those NARGS members who have contacted the IRG Team to express their appreciation of the magazine and to offer articles or to allow publication of photographs.  
Issues for February and March are at these links:
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2012Feb241330043727IRG_26_Feb2012.pdf
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2012Apr031333442629IRG27-March2012.pdf

April 2012 issue of the International Rock Gardener

The April 2012 issue of the International Rock Gardener has articles from Zdeněk Zvolánek on Ranunculus wettsteinii, and Franto Paznocht’s latest tufa garden;  from Laďa Piatek and Gita Piatková on Campanula bellidifolia forma rosea and from Dieter Zschummel on some Chinese Campanulas and Jorn Hornburg  of Cariboo in British Columbia  shares his hopes as Spring advances.

There is also news of a Job Opportunity at the Botanischer Garten München-Nymphenburg.

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2012Apr261335475783IRG28-April2012.pdf

regards,
Maggi Young

The May 2012 issue of IRG is now online.

When I uploaded the latest issue of IRG to the SRGC site last week, I mentioned that the weather was sunny and that perhaps we in the UK could look forward to a  long spell of summery weather... I was sadly mistaken.... today it is dull, grey and windy... and really cold this evening.  :-\

Plenty colour and hope for the season in the IRG, though!

This month there are Tecophilaeas to charm you in shades of blue, Penstemons in shades of red and an Aconitum with wine-red promise.

We also catch up with the Primulas at Cluny House in Perthshire.

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2012May241337894269IRG29-May2012.pdf

Yes, the Tecophilaeas are pretty extraordinary, I think... it is the size of the flower, relative to the plant and the sheer beauty and richness of the colour.... quite captivating!

In the June issue of IRG Christoph Ruby, of the Hof Botanic Garden in Germany is upbeat in his report on the plants in Hof’s crevice garden and we are able to offer encouragment to growers with examples from the gardens of  forumists from several countries.

We again return to Turkey to examine some more of the fine plants that so tempt us, but those in this selection are proving none too easy in cultivation. So much so that  Zdeněk Zvolánek calls them  "Anatolian Troublemakers"!  The flora of Turkey is immensely varied and greatly admired by many rock gardeners : Dr David Millward who contributed the cover picture of Arnebia densiflora from the steppe, near Erzincan, Anatolia  has reported on a recent SRGC trip in the Forum in pages about Eastern Turkey, here :  

http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=7936.0      

All issues of IRG (International Rock Gardener) can be found here : http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international

The International Rock Gardener  June 2012 :

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2012Jun281340917807IRG_30-June2012.pdf

Cover photo Arnebia densiflora by  David Millward

This month, when the USA  has celebrated Independence Day, the IRG has a distinctly North American bias to the plants covered, starting with the first of a small series by Gene Mirro about the lilies of western America.
Rex Murfitt addresses a charming Iris whose needs have been mis-stated over a great many years and ZZ throws a friendly challenge to a friend about another North American plant, Telesonix heucheriformis.

Hybrid lily
photo  Gene Mirro

International Rock Gardener - IRG 32  August 2012

This month we learn of two diverse Gatherings of Rock Gardeners - the NZAGS Study weekend in February 2013 and the Second International Czech Rock Garden Conference, in May 2013.  The SRGC is proud to be a sponsor of these events.
Plant-wise......
Gene Mirro continues his  series with the lilies of Southern California and the Sierra Nevada; 
.......we have a note on  Gentiana occidentalis;
...... and Kirsten Andersen and Lars Hansen explore the diversity of Oxalis laciniata var. pubescens.

IMYoung wrote:

International Rock Gardener - IRG 32  August 2012

This month we learn of two diverse Gatherings of Rock Gardeners - the NZAGS Study weekend in February 2013 and the Second International Czech Rock Garden Conference, in May 2013.  The SRGC is proud to be a sponsor of these events.

At the time of the Czech Events, NARGS will be hosting its AGM in the Blue Ridge Mountains at Ashville....
http://www.nargs2013.org/index.php  - must say it's great to have a choice!

September's IRG is loaded a little early  :)  I hope that no-one is driven to it by bad weather!
This month sees features by......  nurseryman Tim Ingram about the Welsh garden of
the Plant-hunters Jim and Jenny Archibald. This article will be added to the Archibald Archive in the SRGC website. Tim is a passionate believer in the importance of gardens, particularly in the context of organisations such as the SRGC and its sisters.

Adrian Young presents one of his preferred Saxifraga species and it is his photo that gives our cover picture: Saxifraga catalaunica.

Gene Mirro concludes his series on the lilies of North West America – a piece on the germination of these western species lilies is posted in the SRGC Forum area, here:
http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=9610.new#new

The October issue of  International Rock Gardener is online on the SRGC website :

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2014Jun2414036385622012Nov071352287814October_IRG_34.pdf

This month is a real celebration of the many talents of SRGC Forumists (many known here as NARGS members, too!) as their (present day) photos  of seasonal colour are used to illustrate  both an old SRGC Journal Article from 1953 about Autumn colour in the Scottish garden of the Knox-Finlays at Keillour Castle and also some Spring joys in the southern hemisphere.

"Enjoy!"

Maggi Young
www.srgc.net

November issue of International Rock Gardener -

Online now: http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2012Nov291354225242IRG35_November2012...

As gardeners we can sometimes be accused of creating unnatural settings for our plants:
the first article this month shows how well nature creates “real” rock gardens, surely we can do no
better than follow her example!
Cliff Booker, who has also contributed the cover picture, shows a selection from various locations.

Zdeněk Zvolánek abandoned the Beauty Slope this summer for some plant hunting excursions –
he shares with us a  brief trip to Italy's Apuan Alps.

For some growers, their interest lies in working to produce hybrid plants which they hope will be
easier of cultivation or more floriferous: In the world of saxifrages we are aware of the immense skill
of the Czech growers - Adrian Young highlights for us the work of a British grower, Ray Fairbairn,
who has done a lot of work with both Saxifraga and Primula.
Photos for this article are from Adrian Young and David Hoare.

photo below: Saxifraga 'Allendale Fairy'

Anne, thank you for your very kind words - the IRG is in the hands of our super contributors and the IRG team is most thankful to them for their generosity in sharing their thoughts, experiences and fab photos.

Contributions are more than welcome for future issues -
contact via [email protected]      8)

IRG  #38 February 2013

Ian Christie has been lucky enough to travel to see plants in nature in many parts of the world but he never loses sight of the beauty that is available in his own country, Scotland. Scottish Mountains may not be the highest, but the landscape can be dramatic and plants of the mountain and woodland can be found even almost at the edge of the sea. Ian shares his delight in such plants from the Sutherland area..
We hope it lets  anyone  contemplating a visit to that part of Scotland know that  there is much to enjoy there!

Ian Young, writes for the ‘world of bulbs’ on one of his favourite tubers, Corydalis solida and the garden forms of this plant that do well in North East Scotland. Ian has documented his experiences growing bulbs corms and tubers every week since 2003 in his Bulb Log Diary on the SRGC Site.

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2013Mar011362129867IRG38Feb2013.pdf

maggi young

Thanks Mark, I will pass your comments to Ian Y.

We are in a similar position here- while the weather was quite  sunny earlier in the week it is getting colder again and we expect some more snow over the weekend. Luckily most of the Corydalis solida forms are only just emerging through the ground so they should not get too much of a shock - well, that's the theory, anyway.  Temperatures today, aided by windchill, have not done the local gardeners much good!

Thank you for the kind words to the IRG.

The SRGC site and forum is currently offline for essential security upgrades but I hope many more will enjoy the IRG etc when "normal service is resumed"  as they used to say !

MY

Friends :  normal service is now resumed from the SRGC site and Forum  :)

Dear Friends, first I must make my apology for not reminding you of the March issue of IRG  - I hope you found it and enjoyed it, nonetheless .

The April issue is now online .

Plant hunters have always been intrepid souls, venturing into areas where all sorts of unknown tribulations lurked. Happily, the fate of David Douglas – who died in a pit trap in Hawaii in 1834 - has not befallen any recent plant explorers.

The Latvian nurseryman, bulb expert and author Jānis Rukšāns is a valued contributor contributes to the  SRGC forum. Last month he made a trip to North West Turkey. This issue of IRG  includes much of that story but a great many more photographs can be seen in the SRGC Forum along with other references.

Jaroslav Baláž, a Czech grower  who has a small alpine nursery in  the village of  Dolní Rožínka, writes about Ranunculus seguieri - Some super photos of this plant can also be seen here in the NARGS Forum, from Anne Spiegel. (  http://nargs.org/smf/index.php?topic=705.msg9954#msg9954  )

This photo of Ranunculs seguieri in the wild is from the SRGC Forum by "Ranunculus" himself, Cliff Booker.

Jānis Rukšāns is very much an international figure  - here he and his wife Guna (both dressed in national costume from around the 10th century, reconstructed from archeological researches) are pictured with a gathering of Irish AGS Dublin Group who have just been visiting  their nurseries and enjoying some of the historical treasures of the Riga area.

Many alpine enthusiasts from around the world, including quite a few NARGS members, will be meeting up next week for the  Second Czech International Rock Garden Conference - the IRG Team will be  there and we look forward to seeing many friends old and new.

http://czrgs.cz/conference.html
http://www.srgc.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=8484.0

Maggi Young

Thanks, Mark- I forgot  to put that link to the main page where all the issues are of IRG.  :-[

For the actual  IRG Index to date  this is the link:
update 28/06/13     http://files.srgc.net//journals/IRGIndex42.pdf

IRG 41, for May 2013 is now online. this is the first issue dedicated to  the exciting gathering of International Rock Gardeners in early May in the Czech Republic.
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2013May301369920930IRG41May.pdf

It seemed fitting to celebrate these gardeners - those attending came from 20 countries, including Canada and America...... 8)

Photos of many of those  attending can be seen here : http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=10517.0  and those who attended the event  are invited to post their 'people pix' there as well. For other photos there is this thread in the forum, where your photos will  also  be greatly appreciated : http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=10484.0

Main page of IRG http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international

It was a wonderful experience, Anne.  Not only the beautiful countryside and gardens  but also the real "buzz" from such a friendly gathering of rock gardeners.
Funny you should mention "gentians growing like dandelions"  - everywhere we went, every orchard, every fallow field was covered in more dandelions than I would eer have imagined possible! We get roadsides and the odd uncultivated field with good sprinklings of dandelions here -  but the Czech dandelion display was of a truly olympic proportions - millions of the golden flowers -a spectacle in itself! When they seed it must be like a snowstorm  :o

How they have such marvelous gardens with all that dandelion seed about is another miracle!

I invite you to take time from your busy lives to relax and read the latest issue of the International Rock Gardener:

Gerrit Eijkelenboom from Lelystad  in the Netherlands describes himself as a "gardener on the sea bottom", he grows a wide range of both rock garden and shade loving plants and has something of a fondness for Epimediums and Meconopsis - the latter being quite a struggle for him to grow well in his local climate. Gerrit and his wife enjoy plant hunting by camera on holiday and he contributes photos of some orchids seen recently in Crete.

Jan Jílek,  a nurseryman who divides his time between the Czech Republic and Samarkand in Uzbekistan, is one of the brave folk with only a little English who still takes the time to contribute to the SRGC Forum in our strange language!

Main IRG menu: http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international

IRG 44 August 2013

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2013Aug291377798656IRG44August.pdf

This month we follow the renewal of the garden in British Columbia
of our late colleague Joyce Carruthers by her daughter Amanda with the help of ZZ and friends.

Trond Høy describes the plants seen on Svalbard in the north west of Norway,
a region he has visited several times, the first time as a student back in 1977.
Trond shared his trip  first in the SRGC Forum then here in the NARGS Forum  - the IRG is now the beneficiary to take in a new audience!
 
World of Bulbs features late summer/autumn crocus from J. Ian Young, writer of the Bulb Log,
along with some photos of these in the wild from Johan Nilson of Gothenburg Botanic Garden.

Page for all IRG listings:     http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international 

In contrast to the IRG  photos from the Karabet  Pass, here is a Merendera kurdica  cultivated in a pot by Peter Clarke - this photo from the  SRGC Forum  -