2014 - 2015 PROGRAM

(Note: You can watch the recorded presentation by simply clicking on the  icon)

Sept 18th, 2014	Philip MacDougall  "A beginners guide to Yunnan"    Philip writes: My reluctance to travel to Yunnan had stemmed from both the written accounts of the great plantsmen of a century ago and more recent tellings of collectors and botanists on the travails encountered here. This presentation of slides and movie snippets retells that story to one of how surprisingly easy it is to travel here and encounter plants of rarity and wonder. Even for this first time solo traveller, easily encountered were mountainsides covered by ancient rhododendron forests in full flower. My nights were spent in comfortable hotels, dining on the unique cuisine of the region and enjoying the culture. By the time 2 weeks had passed I had come across at least 21 species of Rhododendrons in bloom, with nary a leech bite. I hope you will enjoy this story.
Oct 16th, 2014	Egan Davis    Egan Davis is an award winning gardener who currently lives, designs and builds gardens in Saskatoon. He provides gardening advice on television, radio and in newspapers. Egan has worked at Park & Tilford Gardens and VanDusen Botanical Garden. He has provided horticultural education teaching classes at VanDusen Botanical Garden, the Master Gardener Program and UBC's Landscape Architecture Program. Egan is an award winning horticulturist who believes that gardening is a wonderful activity that should be exercised simply and cleanly by embracing the beautiful processes in nature.
Nov 20th, 2014	Mike Stewart   Mike is the President, Executive Committee, the Rhododendron Species Foundation, past president, American Rhododendron Society, and the owner with his wife, Maria, of Dover Nursery at Sandy, Oregon, North America’s largest rhododendron and azalea nursery.
Jan 15th, 2015	AGM and members’ slides
Feb 19th, 2015	Steve Hootman of the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden
Mar 19th, 2015	Harold Fearing of Fearing Farms
May 1st, 2015	Ken Cox and Hartwig Schepker (director of Bremen Rhododendron Park, the largest collection of Rhododendrons in Europe outside the UK) on Plant Hunting in Arunachal Pradesh. Ken & Hartwig have made a total of 7 expeditions to this amazing part of India on the Tibet border, including one expedition together. Both will present their own stories and amazing pictures of triumph, disaster and danger. Ken will describe the discovery of a new rhododendron species R. titapuriense while Hartwig will cover his trip from hell as well as his successes.
May 2nd, 2015	VRS annual show and sale, Park & Tilford Gardens, North Vancouver, B.C. from 10am to 3pm
May 21st, 2015	Walk in the park - This event has been cancelled for this year due to scheduling conflicts.
Jun 14th, 2015	Picnic - The picnic will be at Judy William’s beautiful garden.