Thursday 26 May 2011

Alpines in your garden


As a keen gardener I particularly enjoy the books that come to us from the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Alpines from mountain to garden is about how plant hunters found, catalogued and collected alpine plants in the different geographical regions of the world and then managed to recreate the conditions for the alpines to grow in gardens.
It is easy to forget when you visit a garden centre and look at the alpines where they actually originated from and how hard it was for the plant collectors to find them, bring them back and then learn to grow them.
I have tried so many times to grow the Meconopsis baileyi plant (a Himalayan blue poppy) in my garden and never succeeded however, after reading the information on this plant I will try once more and hopefully this time with success!
The book is packed with glorious pictures of alpines, detailed information on the plants, where it was found, and horticultural notes to help you grow your own.