Programme

10.00 Registration, plant sales & coffee

10.30 – 11.30 CHRISTINE SKELMERSDALE: – “Tulips – from the species of Central Asia to the modern Dutch bulb fields. The history of this ubiquitous spring bulb”

Christine will look at species in the wild in the Tien Shan, their movement west with the Ottomans and their evolution into the modern cultivars via tulip fever and Flemish art, and finally the resurrection of the healthy tulip and the breeding of the modern cultivars in the twentieth century.

Christine Skelmersdale is the owner of Broadleigh Gardens, a nursery specialising in small and woodland bulbs. She has been a member of the RHS Council, and previous President of The Friends of Bristol Botanic Garden. She is a professional photographer and has delivered gardening lectures for many years in Britain and abroad.

11.50 – 12.50 PAUL CUMBLETON – “Amaryllids in my bulb collection”

Paul will illustrate some of the Amaryllids he grows now or has grown in the past. He will reveal practical growing tips, concentrating on the more uncommon members of the family rather than the familiar ones. The talk will focus mainly, but not entirely, on Southern hemisphere bulbs.

Paul Cumbleton was head of the Alpine Department at RHS Wisley Garden for 11 years before taking early retirement in 2015 and escaping to the country in rural Somerset where he is now, together with partner Colin, enjoying the development of a half-acre garden. He has grown alpines for over 30 years and also has a particular interest in Pleione and the winter-growing South African Bulbs. He has written many articles for the AGS journal, The Plantsman, The Garden magazine and other publications.

13.00 Plant sales, buffet lunch & visit to AGS centre and garden, and display of botanical illustrations

14.30 – 15.30 LAURENCE HILL – “Fritillaria with the habit of a Lily”

Laurence will discuss Fritillaria subgenus Liliorhiza from Arizona to West Sayan. This subgenus is centred on North America, but with outlying species in Asia. The lecture title plays on John Lindley’s first account of Fritillaria liliacea in 1834 which he described as, ‘a most remarkable plant with the habit of a Lily’.

Laurence Hill is a botanical photographer and researcher with a special interest in the genus Fritillaria. His photographs have been exhibited at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art and awarded three Gold Medals from the Royal Horticultural Society. Through his Fritillaria Icones project he explores the use of images as data and in science communication.

16.00 End of day