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Useful links



Gardening societies, particularly for alpine plants

alpinegardensociety.gif The Alpine Garden Society is a club based in England, for those interested in alpine and rock garden plants, small bulbs etc. There are many local groups with lectures, outings, etc., and alpine flower shows. There is also a large seed exchange, and all members receive the quarterly bulletin.



scottishrockgardenclub.gif The Scottish Rock Garden Club is a club for those interested in alpine and rock garden plants, small bulbs etc. It is based in Scotland, but has members world-wide. It runs a large seed exchange, and publishes a twice-yearly journal.


The North American Rock Garden Society is the society for alpine plant lovers in the United States and Canada. It has a seed exchange and a Bulletin, published four times a year.

dutchrgs.jpg The Dutch Rock Garden Society is a club based in the Netherlands for those interested in alpine and rock garden plants.



rhs.jpg The Royal Horticultural Society is the main UK society for all kinds of horticulture. Its Horticultural Database and information about plants are particularly useful. The Plant Finder may help you to find those plants that are not in our catalogue. There are a few!


The Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society is a long-established (founded in 1809) and very active society, based in Edinburgh.


The Highland Rock Garden Club is affiliated to both the Scottish Rock Garden Club and the Royal Horticultural Society. They meet at the Culloden Community Centre, not far from Inverness.




Groups and websites specialising in particular groups of plants

andros_logo.gif The Androsace Group of the Alpine Garden Society is for those interested in these high alpine, mainly cushion plants. The web site includes a picture gallery.



purpurea.gif Androsace World is a splendid compilation of photographs of Androsace species.



aris_logo.gif Many arisaemas are shown on Roy Herold's Arisaema pages.



Codonopsis are the subject of this private web site, run by the holder of the UK National Collection of these beautiful plants.

cycsoc.jpg The Cyclamen Society specialises in Cyclamen, and its website has an extensive collection of photographs.



frit_logo.gif The Fritillaria Group of the Alpine Garden Society is for those interested in these bulbs. The web site includes a picture gallery.


mecgroup_logo.gif The Meconopsis Group is dedicated to the study of Meconopsis, particularly the big blue poppies, and has been instrumental in sorting out the naming of these beautiful plants.



Penstemons are featured on this privately-run web site, which has many photographs.

pw_logo.jpg Primula World is an excellent compilation of photographs of Primula species, mainly in the wild.



Rhododendrons, large and small, are invaluable gardens plants, providing both colour and structure. Useful web sites include those of the Scottish Rhododendron Society, which is also a chapter of the American Rhododendron Society, and of the Rhododendron Species Foundation, which has a large garden in Federal Way, near Seattle.

saxsoc.jpg The Saxifrage Society is dedicated to Saxifrages and their relatives, which they say are the best plants in the world. Well, they would, wouldn't they?



semp_red_gleam.jpg Sempervivums are the focus of this site, which includes a comprehensive list of cultivars, including many photographs. You can become a member of a group, and discuss semps with 100 other members, as it says, from the 'hole world'.



The Rock Garden Plants Database contains a huge amount of information about alpine plants, and includes a substantial gallery of photographs.



Seeds

Secret Seeds should not be a secret. They offer 1300 varieties of seeds, most of them grown on their own (organic) site.

Plant World have a good range of seeds, including some interesting introductions from South America, with enthusiastic descriptions.



Publishers of books and magazines about plants

Timber Press publishes many books on plants and horticulture. They include John Richard's excellent book on Primulas, Chris Grey-Wilson's book on Poppies, which includes Meconopsis (but is now out of print), and Robin White's splendid account of Daphnes.

The definitive account of The Genus Sorbus (rowans) is published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Plants Magazine is devoted to new, rare and unusual garden plants. If you look below 'search' in the index panel you will find that you can download an index to all the past volumes of issues about these plants.



Garden photography

Ray Cox Photography. Ray is a full-time, professional photographer specialising in the gardens and plants of Scotland. He has an impeccable pedigree, as a member of the Cox family of Rhododendron fame.



Floras - the main botanical guides

guilin.gif The Flora of China is the definitive work on Chinese plants - masses of useful information.



Flora Europea is a searchable database of European plants.

The Flora of North America is an on-going project producing a definitive flora of North American plants.

The Flora of New Zealand is an electronic version, but the Flora is also available in paper form.



Discussion forum

If you have questions for the alpine plant experts, or just want to see their accumulated wisdom in answers to questions asked by other people, then the Alpine-L discussion forum is the place to go.



More links...

Rock Gardeners' Last Resort says that when your search engines fail, start here. It provides links to an impressive array of botanical and horticultural websites.

There are also lots of links at Garden Web.



and finally...

midsummerenergy.gif ...our son Andrew runs a business providing solar panels and other renewable energy devices, particularly for canal boats, sailing boats and caravans, but can supply panels and advice for almost any situation. Lights for that garden shed? Midsummer Energy is based in Cambridge, where Andrew lives on a narrow boat, normally moored by Midsummer Common.