We have a section of this website dedicated to this event.

You’ll find it under the menu item 2023 Study Weekend.

October 29, 2022
Saturday, October 29, 2022, 10:00 am – 3:45 pm
H.R. MacMillan Space Centre
1100 Chestnut Street, Vancouver

REGISTRATION 

$50 for members, $60 for non-members and all tickets at the door 

PLEASE READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY 

To register please send either 

1) an e-transfer to lizatvhpg@gmail.com with YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS AND THE NAME(S) of registrants in the note section; we cannot contact you or register you without your email address and your name(s); 

2) mail a cheque, payable to the ‘Vancouver Hardy Plant Group’, to Lindsay MacPherson, 11662 Carr Street, Maple Ridge, V2X 5M9. Cheques must be received by October 25. 

Antony O’Rourke, English Heritage Down House, Head Gardener, Downe, England 

“Charles Darwin – No Ordinary Life” 

“The Living Landscape Laboratory at Down – How Darwin used his own back yard to test his groundbreaking theory of Evolution by means of Natural Selection 1842-1882” 

 Antony is a graduate of the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. He has worked in numerous botanical gardens including the University of Bristol, Tresco Abbey in the Isles of Scilly and the Jerusalem Botanical gardens in Israel where he managed their centre for plant introduction and propagation. He ran his own very successful company in west London designing and maintaining high end gardens for a diverse client base. Now in his sixth year at Down, Antony is a passionate plants person and has amassed extensive knowledge in the cultivation and natural history of many plant groups. His particular passion is for carnivorous plants, orchids, tropical plants and hardy herbaceous plants. He is a passionate advocate of organic gardening and wildlife conservation. Says Antony, ‘I enjoy the challenge of presenting the gardens and landscape as the Darwins would have known it, from the ornamental beds through to the produce grown in the kitchen garden and of course bringing to life the narrative of the experimental Mr. Darwin at Down’ 

Riz Reyes, Assistant Director of Heronswood Garden, Kingston, WA 

“Grow: Life Lessons from the Garden”

A young gardeners perspective in fine gardening and plant collecting. Join horticulturist and children’s book author, Riz Reyes, for a presentation that’s both informative and personal as he shares stories about extraordinary plants and introduces his new book “Grow: A family guide to plants and how to grow them”.   

An early curiosity about fruits and flowers in his native Philippines developed into award-winning garden/floral displays and recognition in the Pacific Northwest gardening scene at an early age. Riz Reyes immersed himself in the remarkable diversity of plants that thrived in the maritime region and finds every opportunity to seek out and work with the most uncommon selections in the trade and generously shares his knowledge and experience with others. 

He earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Environmental Horticulture and Urban Forestry from the University of Washington in Seattle, WA. His own enterprise, RHR Horticulture, focuses on garden education/consulting and floral design. 

Riz published his first children’s non-fiction book in March 2022 titled “Grow: A family guide to plants and how to grow them”.   

Gary Lewis, Owner of Phoenix Perennials, Richmond, BC 

“The Complete Talk of Groundcovers” 

Gary will present to us the practical and environmental benefits of ground covers, strategies and opportunities for using ground covers, and ground covers in design from small to large gardens. It will include images from the book and likely additional images not included in the book from gardens and travels on at least four continents. Gary is a regular speaker at garden clubs and has appeared many times on radio and television. He has written for a variety of gardening magazines and in fall 2022 his encyclopedia, “The Complete Book of Ground Covers”, will be published by Timber Press. This compendium focuses on 4000 different ground covers for the temperate gardening world accompanied by 650 photos he took on travels around the world. 

In 2013 Gary was selected as Communicator of the Year by the BC Landscape and Nursery Association and in 2017 was the recipient of the Retail Sales Award from the Perennial Plant Association. 

Gary is an avid traveller and has led botanical and garden tours to Holland and Belgium, New Zealand, South Africa, and Western Australia with future trips planned to Ireland, France, and a return to South Africa. 

Vancouver Hardy Plant was to be hosting the Hardy Plant Study Weekend in June 2021, this has changed to June 2023.

Saturday, October 24th, 2020.

Tony Spencer, known as the

New Perennialist,

from Toronto, Canada;

and

Antony O’Rourke,

Head Gardener of Down House,

Charles Darwin’s House and Garden,

in London, UK

Spring Study Day

Saturday, March 2, 2019

To register for the Spring Study Day, please forward you cheque, payable to the Vancouver Hardy Plant Group, for $45 (members pre‐paid), $50 (non‐members and all tickets at the door), to Lindsay Macpherson, 11662 Carr St, Maple Ridge, BC, V2X 5M9. If you are purchasing for others, please indicate their names and whether they are member or non‐members. Cheques should be received by February 22, 2019, which will allow time for your name to be copied onto a name tag that you will collect and wear after signing in at the pre‐paid table, thus helping the committee in providing orderly access to the event. Cheques received after that date will be kept in the order they have been received and may or may not gain you entry to the event.

 SPRING STUDY DAY OUTLINE

10:00 – 10:10 Vancouver Hardy Plant Group notices and introduction

10:10 – 11:10 Panayoti Kelaidis – 40 Years at Denver Botanic Gardens

11:10 – 11:35 Complimentary coffee – you are encouraged to bring your own cup

11:35 – 12:35 John Anderson – Plant Hunting in Cultivation

12:45 – 1:30 Lunch – please bring your own

1:30 – 1:40 Door prizes and settling down

1:40 – 2:40 Panayoti Kelaidis – Genus: Iris

2:40 – 3:40 John Anderson – Gardens I Have Managed

3:45 Conclusion

John Anderson, Keeper of the Gardens, Windsor Great Park, UK

John Anderson began his garden training at the National Botanic Gardens at Glasnevin, Dublin and went on to study at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. His first appointment as Head Gardener was at the famous Mt. Usher Gardens in Co. Wicklow, where he was also curator of the National Collection of Eucryphia, Eucalyptus and Nothofagus. Subsequently he undertook an appointment with the National Trust for Scotland in Inverewe, and then in 2006 moved to Exbury in southern England, home of the Rothschilds, located among 200 acres of woodland gardens along the coast of Hampshire. At each of these later gardens he was responsible for curating National Collections of various species of interest in our area.

John remained at Exbury for ten years before moving on to an even more prestigious appointment in 2016.  As the fourth Keeper of the Gardens at Windsor Great Park, he is responsible for the Savill Garden, Valley Gardens, and Her Majesty’s Private Garden at Frogmore.

In addition to his work at Windsor Great Park, John is also Vice-Chairman of the RHS Plant Committee and an RHS Judge.

Panayoti Kelaidis, Senior Curator & Director of Outreach,

Denver Botanic Gardens, CO, USA

Panayoti Kelaidis represents Denver Botanic Gardens in educational, professional, and promotional endeavors in his role as an expert in horticulture, science, and art. A past president of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the North American Rock Garden Society (NARGS) and the American Penstemon Society, he is the recipient of the Award of Excellence from National Garden Clubs and the Arthur Hoyt Scott Medal from Swarthmore College.

Panayoti’s association with the Denver Botanic Gardens spans almost 40 years, but he was already an enthusiastic gardener at age 8.  Much of his life has been spent exploring alpine trees, ferns, cacti, bulbs, and xeric plants both in the US and more exotic locations. He also co-authored the first comparative study of the steppe climate regions of North and South America, Africa and Central Asia, and has recently returned from a tour of the plant-rich high elevation areas of China.