(Claire in Yunnan, China)
Our February meeting is Thursday, February 11th and will be at the Bellevue Botanical Garden.
February talk: FROM THE WILD TO THE GARDEN Speaker: CLAIRE COCKCROFT
I garden in Bellevue, Washington, on a sunny lot that was mostly grass, rhodies, and fir trees when I moved there 15 years ago.
Now the lawn is reduced to a 10-foot diameter circle and the garden is filled with primulas, meconopsis, lilies, peonies, cardiocrinums, trilliums and other woodland plants, hardy orchids, and assorted shrubs of every size. I grow most of my plants from seed.
The title of my talk is "From the Wild to the Garden"
Although I had traveled to Europe with my husband many times, it wasn't until 2004 that I joined my first botanical tour, hiking in the Italian Alps. I was thrilled to see plants that I had in my garden in their natural habitat. Even more exciting were plants that I hadn't known or tried previously. I was hooked! I wanted to see more. Since then, I have searched for plants in China, New Zealand, India, Turkey, Argentina, and Greece (three times). I have learned a lot about alpine plant habitat and tried growing many of the plants I've seen. Sometimes I succeed and often I fail -- poor plants -- and will share some of the knowledge I've gathered.
(Trollius europaeus in the Italian Alps)
(Trollius europaeus in cultivation)