Our speakers come from far and wide and this season will focus on alpine plants from around the world.

AGS members can attend our regular Zoom lectures free of charge. However, to register interest, they must log-in and “purchase” a free ticket. Tickets for non-members will cost £9 for each talk.

PREVIOUS ONLINE PLANT AND GARDENING LECTURES

Some of our past lectures as well as other videos on various aspects of alpine gardening are now available to watch on our YouTube Channel.

Botanical tour through the South Island of New Zealand, Harry Jans

Harry studied Garden Design and Maintenance, but has been employed since 1982 by the Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management and is an expert on winter maintenance. He is a passionate plant explorer, rock gardener for almost 40 years, founder member of the Dutch Rock Garden Society and was its president for 6 years. He organises and leads botanical tours all over the world. In 2014 he was awarded the prestigious AGS Lyttel Trophy.

His garden is well known for the tufa wall where he grows a large colony of the rare and difficult Jankaea heldreichii. His website contains close to 30.000 pictures of plants taken on his travels around the globe, and information about the alpines in his garden.

Dionysias in Iran – travelling with the CIA, Jiří Papoušek

Jiří lives near Prague, where he has constructed a superb alpine garden with a crevice garden, troughs, a woodland area and an alpine tunnel with tufa walls. Jiří has exhibited at the Prague rock garden shows and he is one of the organisers of the renowned Czech International Rock Garden Conferences. This talk will focus on Dionysia species in Iran, a genus that Jiří loves and grows in his garden.

 Alpine Flora of Australia, Alan Ayton

Alan lives in North East Victoria, Australia and is passionate about travelling and growing alpines in containers.

Alan says: ‘A “tree change” from Melbourne to the tiny town of Tangambalanga in the North East of Victoria in 2008 revealed to me that my plant palette would need to change to handle the different climate. Moving to rural Victoria meant having less access to retail nurseries and looking up mail order nurseries online became more of a thing.

This caused me to search for different plants of which one I bought on a whim was Draba cretica, and so began my dive into the wonderful world of alpines and alpine-like plants. This “tree change” also brought me closer to the Australian High Country. Summer visits to Falls Creek and Mt Hotham, Mt Kosciusko and the Bogong High Plains, opened my eyes to the Australian alpine flora for which my passion continues today.’

Early Summer in the Western Alps, Razvan Chisu

Razvan has always had a passion for plants, ever since age four, he picked his first flower bunch for his mother. He studied horticulture in his native country, Transylvania, and graduated with a MSc in Horticulture. He joined the AGS three decades ago, when little did he know, one day he would work for the Society as its Social Media Manager and botanical tour leader. His love of plants in general and alpines in particular led him to visit the mountains of Spain, France, Romania and Greece. In his spare time, Razvan gives many talks in person and on Zoom to various groups and clubs, writes for horticultural magazines and propagates plants in his small, but crammed garden.

Vancouver Island Alpines: Plant hunting in North America’s westernmost mountain ranges, Paul Spriggs

Paul has a passion for all wild plants especially those of dwarf stature, and collects and cultivates them at various gardens in his home-town of Victoria, BC, Canada. He is an avid plant explorer, photographer and current President of the Vancouver Island Rock and Alpine Garden Society. In the past decade and a half, he has built crevice gardens in public parks and private homes that range in size from small feature troughs, to large installations involving many tonnes of stone. Together with Kenton Seth, he is the author of the new, best-selling book: The Crevice Garden.

Alpines of the Afromontane Archipelago, Dr. John Grimshaw

Dr John Grimshaw was appointed Director with curatorial responsibilities at Yorkshire Arboretum in 2012. He is a respected gardener, botanist and author, who has written and edited several books on various subjects, including New Trees, Recent Introductions to Cultivation, with Ross Bayton. His gardening interests are very broad, but specialities include bulbs, ferns and African plants. John has been an AGS member for many years and has led AGS tours in the past.

Cultivation of a selection of Patagonian alpines, Dr. Martin Sheader

Martin is a retired marine biologist, previously at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton University. He is a judge at AGS shows and an RHS committee member and judge. Martin grows a wide range of alpines and has a particular interest in South American plants. He has visited Patagonia many times, and has an excellent knowledge of the area and its flora. Martin together with his late wife Anna-Liisa and a group of colleagues have written a comprehensive field guide to the flowers of the region (AGS Field Guide Series).

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