Special Guest Visitors

[mark smyth]

yesterday I had two specials guests stop by to visit my garden. It was Henry and Margaret Taylor from Scotland. They were at the AGS Dublin Group discussion weekend last Friday-Sunday and have stayed until today to visit various gardens.

[Maggi Young]

Hey, Mark, you're in trouble, isn't my friend Margaret Glynn a special visitor, too, even if she isn't from Scotland?!!!
In Mark's photo we see Margaret Taylor, left, Margaret Glynn, in the middle and Henry Taylor, right.
Looks like you had slightly better weather for a garden visit than here today... lots of cold rain!
Did your visitors like what they saw in your garden?

[mark smyth]

sorry not enough was said about the photo. Once you've seen my garden a time or two special drops off the front of visitor and you're one of the family. They were inspecting the crevice bed that ZZ made for me. The rain only just let up prior to the photo being taken.  Yes they enjoyed the trip. Quote from Margaret was 'the garden is excellent with some interesting plants' but they didnt like the back garden  nor do I!! It's full of unplanted pots and bags of leaves and general mess. By the summer I hope to have everything removed or planted and a new rockery/bulb bed to fill the garden. They did like all the goodies in the glass house. I gave them a wee gift of Dianthus 'Constance Finnis' and I got some bulbs in exchange. The Dianthus raised 22 Euro at the Dublin Group weekend. Two ladies 'fought' for it. My donations of Geranium libani x peloponnesicum and Colchicum byzantinus 'Innocence' also raised good money. The Dianthus is below. The lower image is one of many sports it threw this year

 

[Paddy Tobin]

Another special guest, one of the forum posters, Susan Band, visited Cork last evening, Thursday, to speak to the Cork Alpine and Hardy Plant Club.

Susan spoke on the propagation of plants, concentrating on bulbous material and gave a very informative and greatly enjoyed talk which covered lilies, narcissus, corydalis, fritillaries, galanthus, tulips, trillium, erythronium, iris and others to a lesser extent. She illustrated her talk with her digital photographs and with plant material she had brought with her. Her hands-on demonstration was what most informed those gathered for the talk. Most would treat their treasured trilliums and the like as too precious to be man-handled in the manner which Susan demonstrated but photographs of her garden and growing-on field showed that her methods worked very well indeed and were worth imitating.

Several of those present were able to comment of the plants which Susan supplies from her nursery, Pitcairn Alpines, and all were most complimentary, remarking on the robust good health and good size of the plants supplied and their consequent success in the garden.

I found it of particular interest that Susan grows all her plants outdoors, now using her glasshouses for seed-growing only. This is an approach which I find more attractive than the common practice of growing plants under glass. Jim Jermyn, in his two books on alpines, advocates this very approach and indeed states in his books that he doesn't even have a glasshouse.

Susan certainly seemed to have no difficulty growing these plants outdoors and showed photographs of various corydalis cultivars, trilliums, fritillaries and the others lined out like carrots or lettuce in her growing fields; all obviously thriving.

While I admire the beautiful plants produced under cover by enthusiastic alpine gardeners I feel it more appropriate to grow outdoors those plants which can be grown outdoor and only grow under cover those plants which cannot. Perhaps, it is simply that the outdoor approach is the one which most suits me and my gardening habits!

Many thanks for a very enjoyable talk, Susan.

It was a pleasure to meet 'in the flesh' one of the SRGC forum posters.

[mark smyth]

here we are a year on and the Taylors are back again for a two week visit. We are getting a lecture today from them, they then go to the Burren and return to attend the AGS Dublin Group discussion weekend next weekend. A snip at £90. Friday night anyone can show slides of their choice. Another special guest is in N Ireland also. ZZ is here for two weeks

[hadacekf]

Mark,
So I remember Margaret Taylor. Margaret with Eric Hilton into their garden 39 years ago.

[Maggi Young]

Franz, is it many years since Eric Hilton visited Aberdeen and gave us an excellent talk, he was a charming gentleman.

If Margaret had this dress today, she could wear it and look JUST THE SAME!  She is unchanging and you would recognise her at once 

[David Shaw]

I agree, Maggie, Margaret is instantly recognisable in this picture. Forty years ago? - she has hardly aged at all.

[David Nicholson]

That is a fantastic picture for the SRGC Archive.

[mark smyth]

yes she looks the same.

Their lecture was fantastic and better than the 'big boys'. Lots of free seeds too including rare and recently introduced plants. There were seeds of a new Geranium cinereum with very dark veined petals that I believe should be named. We'll meet again on Friday so I'll show here this photo