Rock Garden Quarterly Spring 2012 - (Page 156)

in the Bronx overlooking the Hudson River and Palisades, “I first got interested in alpine and rock gardens as an intern at Wave Hill: I would wander up to that trough garden area whenever I had the chance.” John Rommel, lifetime Member of NARGS, is going with his gut and tells me it was probably a display at a late 1980s Philadelphia Flower Show that caught his attention, “not for any re-creation of a garden or style, but because it was so well realized.” One of my favorite harbingers of spring is the annual NARGS alpine plant sale at Stonecrop Gardens, a public garden in Cold Springs, New York, where Caroline Burgess, the Founding Director since 1988, says “It all started when I was a student at Kew, maybe a little before when I worked with Rosemary (Verey), went to the RHS gardens at Wisley a lot, loved the alpines house and all the troughs and of course the rock garden is so impressive. Loved the RHS shows in London too. Then at Kew I worked in the alpine department for nine months, on the rock garden, in the greenhouses, and taking care of the alpine collection under glass on weekend duties. I was a member of the Alpine Garden Society and used to go to all the shows and visits. As a student we got to help at the RHS shows and one time I was helping on the Alpine and Rock Garden Committee – fantastic seeing all the plants being showcased and awarded AGM’s! Also, at this time I was lucky enough to stay with Valerie Finnis and her husband Sir David Scott on weekends, doing propagation, potting up, weeding all the alpines; we gardened from dawn to dusk. I feel very lucky to have had such great opportunities with experienced and knowledgeable people.” Katherine Powis, says she “was originally attracted to the beautiful illustrations in the Rock Garden Quarterly at the Horticultural Society of New York,” where she was the librarian for twenty-one years. “They were usually plants that were new to me, and soon I began reading it selectively. I was fascinated that the same plants that cling to mountaintops in far off places can thrive in this concrete jungle we call home. I’ve particularly enjoyed reading passionate debates about what exactly constitutes a rock garden. My research indicated that this question has plagued devotees right from the start.” Lori Chips, Alpine Plant Manager for Oliver’s Nursery in Connecticut, remembers that she was “lucky enough to work in the Rock Garden at the New York Botanical Garden under the curator, Bob Bartolomei,” and being the sharp student she is Lori was “naturally attracted to the unusual and the exotic.” As well as the near impossible, if I know Lori. 156 Rock Garden Quarterly Vol. 70 (2)

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Rock Garden Quarterly Spring 2012

Geoffrey Charlesworth Writing Prize
2011 Photo Contest Winners
2012 Photo Contest Announcement
Seven Unheralded Axioms of Rock Gardening
Rock Gardening from Scratch: Vegetative Propagation - Understanding Cuttings
Newfoundland's Southern Limestone Barrens
William J. Dress, 1918-2011
DNA and the Changing Names of Plants ... and Making Sense of the Dicots
Jennings Prairie
Carl Gehenio, 1922-2011
Rock Gardening Roots
Plants that Dazzled me in 2011
Phipps Conservatory
Rock and Ink Struck into Flowers - A Response
Bulletin Board
2012 - Eastern Study Weekend: October, Pittsburgh - Registration form and details

Rock Garden Quarterly Spring 2012