THE ROCK GARDEN-January 2017

[David Nicholson]

My bulk supply arrived from the Printer today so it won't be long before yours arrives through your letter box or in-box.

Two new advertisers this edition:-

The first is Vira Natura Tours a company owned and operated by Chris and Basak Gardner the authors of "Flora of the Silk Road" and I note from their Web Site that signed copies of the book are still available from the Web Site.
http://www.viranatura.com/

The second is Green Wings Wildlife Holidays who donate 10% of profits to support nature conservation.
http://greenwings.co/

As well as our regular supporters such as Naturetrek and Dix Export we have adverts from no less than 16 nurseries in this edition so do take a look through the advertising pages and get your cheque books and credit cards nicely warmed up.

[Maggi Young]

Looking forward to the arrival of the journal  - hope it won't be long - I have received from the Editor an image of the cover for the  electronic version for e-members -



For copyright reasons it is not possible to show online the  cover image of the printed journal -  however the image is available to see by following this link :
https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/924280/narcissus-radiiflorus-narcissus-poeticus-crown-imperial-fritillaria

The printed cover is an image of a watercolour in the Royal Collection (which TRG was given permission to use only in the print journal)  by
Alexander Marshal (c. 1620-82)  of
 Narcissus radiiflorus, Narcissus poeticus, Crown imperial (Fritillaria imperialis), auriculas (Primula x pubescens Jacq.)

  [/font]

[Mini bulb lover]

I believe the missing images in the electronic version of The Rock Garden 138 illustrates a problem with the electronic membership. While I can understand that there are issues with copyright, it means that electronic members aren’t receiving the full journal. The website links to the missing photos on pages 1 and 3 are broken. They take you to the Royal Collection Trust main page, not the photos themselves (I believe because of the formatting of the link – anything after the top line isn’t connected). While this could be fixed and re-posted on the SRGC website I feel it still ruins the look of the journal. It’s also true that websites are dynamic and can change over time so the website links to the photos in the electronic version of The Rock Garden 138 may change in the future.

In subscribing to electronic membership I expected an exact copy of the printed journal. The subscription page on the SRGC website states electronic membership is, “…for those who wish to access the Journals etc online only”. I think if I had been warned before subscribing that some photos wouldn’t be included in the electronic version it would have changed my mind about subscribing electronically. Maybe copyrighted images should not be used in future journals or electronic subscribers should be warned on the subscription page that some content in the printed version of The Rock Garden may not be included in the electronic version.

[Ian Y]

Jon

I believe the missing images in the electronic version of The Rock Garden 138 illustrates a problem with the electronic membership. While I can understand that there are issues with copyright, it means that electronic members aren’t receiving the full journal. The website links to the missing photos on pages 1 and 3 are broken. They take you to the Royal Collection Trust main page, not the photos themselves (I believe because of the formatting of the link – anything after the top line isn’t connected). While this could be fixed and re-posted on the SRGC website I feel it still ruins the look of the journal. It’s also true that websites are dynamic and can change over time so the website links to the photos in the electronic version of The Rock Garden 138 may change in the future.

In subscribing to electronic membership I expected an exact copy of the printed journal. The subscription page on the SRGC website states electronic membership is, “…for those who wish to access the Journals etc online only”. I think if I had been warned before subscribing that some photos wouldn’t be included in the electronic version it would have changed my mind about subscribing electronically. Maybe copyrighted images should not be used in future journals or electronic subscribers should be warned on the subscription page that some content in the printed version of The Rock Garden may not be included in the electronic version.

Thank you for your feed back.

I have checked and the links are good in the original PDF but may be broken depending on what PDF viewer you are using in which case just copy and paste the full link into your web browser.

The online copyright issue is one that we will take on board, learn the lesson and I hope that it will not occur again.

[Gabriela]

Last night I've enjoyed my first electronic Journal and apart the problem mentioned by Jon it was a very pleasant experience
Looking at it from the point of view of reducing the waste of paper and other resources - I think, especially for members living out of UK, it is a very useful feature.
It also makes the SRGC membership more accessible for more people which maybe won't pay a full subscription/ also for younger potential members who are used with accessing everything on-line.

[Mini bulb lover]

Thanks Ian. 

Gabriela- all valid points.

[ashley]

I second Gabriela's comments, and thank the editorial team and contributors for the latest IRG issue.

Can the missing images be posted here (in the Members' area if necessary) or does copyright preclude this too?
If the problem can't be resolved then I would also think twice about electronic membership despite much preferring to save on resources.

[Maggi Young]

Sadly, the arrangement made with the Trustees of the Royal Collections forbids the  use of the images by the SRGC online.
However, there is no barrier to members who wish to download or even print out the missing images. Here are links to all three images which could not be shown in the online  version of  TRG138 :


 https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/search/site/924280
https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/924280/narcissus-radiiflorus-narcissus-poeticus-crown-imperial-fritillaria
https://d9y2r2msyxru0.cloudfront.net/sites/default/files/collection-online/1/7/257129-1330624260.jpg
 
 
 https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/search/site/924344
 https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/search/site/924344
 
 https://d9y2r2msyxru0.cloudfront.net/sites/default/files/collection-online/a/5/281005-1336150061.jpg
 
 
 
 
  https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/924281
 https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/924281/auriculas-primula-x-pubescens
 
  https://d9y2r2msyxru0.cloudfront.net/sites/default/files/collection-online/b/d/257132-1330624264.jpg
 
 In each case the first  link is to the general page of the image, with  info about the painting, the second is a larger depiction of the image and the third is to a hi-resolution of the image which can be download at will.
 
 Please be assured that the Web Team did express  concern at the use of the images in the printed version when the  ban on online use was  imposed  and we would hope that a similar situation will not  arise in future.
 
 However, given the  range of  benefits available to e-subscription holders  at what is  a very modest cost, I would hope that members would not be re-considering their  membership in the light of three images missing from the online version of  one journal.
 

[ashley]

Thanks Maggi
I agree that electronic membership is wonderful overall and would be loth to go back to paper etc.. 
Indeed here's hoping that other clubs and societies follow the SRGC lead as soon as possible

[astragalus]

My copy just arrived today, hoorah!
Looking forward to sitting down after dinner for a good read, while curled up in a favorite chair in front of the fire.

[fermi de Sousa]

Being very "last century" I prefer the hard-copy of the journals of SRGC, AGS and NARGS! However I do have just the e-membership to SIGNA which is adequate for me.
I do appreciate being able to persue the electronic version of the RGQ (Rock Garden Quarterly) from NARGS (at no extra cost!) prior to getting the hard-copy because of the delay in receiving it here in the Antipodes!
cheers
fermi

[shelagh]

Ditto Fermi and I really enjoyed Matt's article on Narcissus in Spain and also the History of the Edinburgh Show.  I have often thought I would like to see an article about the plants that won Forrest medals at the beginning. Tastes and fashions have changed so much in the last 20 years it would be nice to be a fly on the wall back at the start. (Any chance Anton?).

[Maggi Young]

Quite an idea, Shelagh.

Having a seen lists of  Forrest Medal plants in the past - and I think that was in a previous journal - I do remember just how many plants winning in the "dim and distant" past were in fact plants which are still seen on the show benches today.  In the  archive of  journals  available in the main SRGC website, on the "Journal " page, ( click here ) it is possible to  search for such things in the Index and look up old show reports over the decades to see how things have  changed  in the way of showing - and judging- tastes.

 For instance : Tod, Dr. H. and Barnes, F. C. : George Forrest Medal Plants, 36/269; 52/220
Murray Lyon, Major General D.M.  - George Forrest Medal Plants, 16/257

[shelagh]

Wow Messrs. Barnes and Tod certainly knew their stuff and quite a lot of those plants are still in the running for medals but some have either changed their names or disappeared because I didn't recognise quite a few names.

[Mini bulb lover]

 However, given the  range of  benefits available to e-subscription holders  at what is  a very modest cost, I would hope that members would not be re-considering their  membership in the light of three images missing from the online version of  one journal.

Just to make myself clear from my earlier post about changing my mind about subscribing electronically, I meant that I would have gone with a regular subscription instead of electronic. My main reason for subscribing electronically is in reducing paper usage. The cost reduction is just an added benefit! And thank you to the Web Team for raising your concerns about this issue. Hopefully the posts here will back you up if the suggestion is made again for future journals.