Alpine Garden Society - Dublin Group
Alpine Garden Society - Dublin Group
We are interested in the growing, propagation and conservation of alpine, rock garden and woodland plants, small hardy herbaceous plants, hardy and half-hardy bulbs, hardy ferns and small shrubs. Anyone can grow these diminutive beauties and with the trend towards smaller plots they are ideal for the modern garden - they can even be grown in a window box.
Seasonal Focus 
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Upcoming eventsThis Saturday (28th April) is our Main Show. It's at 1.30 pm in Cabinteely Community School, Co. Dublin. All the details are on the Main Show page. Coming up soon after that, on Thursday, 10th May at 8 pm, is Declan Doogue with ‘Garden Plants and their Wild Irish Cousins’. That's at the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin. The full Programme for 2012 is here. NewsVal Keegan found this mention of the Society's second show in her archives. Edna White was gardening correspondent for the Irish Times for many years. We had two wonderful events recently. Pam Eveleigh's lecture 'Let’s Talk Primulas! (The Genus Primula)’ was at the same time both deeply technical and absolutely fascinating. You can get an idea of her passion for primulas - and her photographic ability - by visiting her website Primula World. A few days later a group of us were shown round the Kilmacurragh Botanic Gardens by Seamus O'Brien, who talked entertainingly and eruditely about the history of the estate, the house, the people, but most of all of course about the trees, over three hours as we wandered the grounds. We scarcely noticed the downpours. It seems that Seamus knows the provenance and history of every growing thing in the grounds, and has indeed visited many of their sites of origin. You should visit if you get the chance, and especially if you have Seamus as a guide. Cork University Press are publishing the latest edition (the 8th) of Webb’s An Irish Flora this month, by John Parnell and Tom Curtis, illustrations by Elaine Cullen, Trinity College Dublin, at a cost of €35.00 - more details here. If you haven't already tried it, take a look at our Facebook page for members - use the link at the bottom of the menu on the left. If you want to set up a Facebook account, you can download instructions for doing that here. Most of us have worries about security when posting information on the internet, so you might find this security handout useful. The 2012 Programme for the Cork Branch is available here. |
Sebaea thomasii flowering in my crevice bed at the moment. This plant is a gentian relative from South Africa and is often seen on the showbench. It has a reputation of being borderline tender but I suggest that it is not as tender as it is reputed to be. It was planted in my crevice garden in November 2010 and, unprotected in any way, survived the awful 2010/2011 winter. I would say it would be fine outside in a well-drained trough. This is good news because it tends to become a bit etiolated if it is not kept in really good light. I find that as it gets bigger it tends to deteriorate in a pot, so it will be interesting to see how it performs in the crevice bed. It is highly scented and remains in flower for up to five weeks. Billy Moore. |