Kew'ing up for the big trip

In about a week I will be flying into London Heathrow int'l and begin an epic tour of England and Scotland's best alpine houses and gardens.

Last fall, Betty Ford Alpine Gardens Executive Director, Nicola Ripley, traveled to Scotland to give a talk in Edinburgh where she met members of the Scottish Rock Garden Club. After speaking with them about Betty Ford Alpine Gardens new building that would feature an alpine house, the committee told her of The Diana Aitchison Fund. This annual fund has helped several young professionals gain knowledge and further their career in alpine and rock garden horticulture. When Nicola arrived back in the States, we discussed the opportunity for me to travel to England and Scotland to learn more about Alpine houses, their collections, and management . As most of my knowledge or growing alpines is outside, bringing them inside will be a new challenge and opportunity for the gardens to showcase alpines to the public year round. English and Scottish gardeners are arguably the best at growing alpines indoors so it seemed quite fit for me to visit during their peak show season.

My first visit will be right off the plane to RHS Wisley where I will meet Charlotte Reynolds and staff from the alpine department.

For those interested in my exact itinerary and would like to know where I will be going for the duration of my trip. see below

• March 15th - Depart Denver @ 6:50 pm
• March 16th - Arrive in London @ 8:50 am - Travel and spend full day at RHS Wisley
• March 17th - Spend morning at Wisley - Travel to Kew Gardens
• March 18th - Spend full day at Kew Gardens
• March 19th - take early train to Cambridge Gardens
• March 19th - Spend night in historic city of York
• March 20th - Take train to RHS Harlow Carr Gardens - check out Brimham rocks ?
• March 20th - Take afternoon train to Edinburgh, Scotland
• March 21st - Travel to Stirling for SRGC show, take many photos of perfect plants
• March 22nd - Visit with Ian Christie, tour his home garden and possibly travel to mountains in the highlands
• March 23rd - Travel to Cyril Lafong's private home and gardens - Travel back to Edinburgh
• March 24th - Spend full day at Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh and tour the collections and famous alpine houses
• March 25th - Spend last full day touring RBGE and sights of Edinburgh, Kevock Alpine Nursery (distilleries a good possibility later on)
• March 26th - Depart Edinburgh @ 11:55am

Phewww. Somewhere in there I will eat and sleep. I will try my best to update this blog as often as possible with photos and stories of each place I visit. Hope you follow my adventures.

Nick