Lectures

 A Room with a View

A Room with a View – A tour of the Berner Oberland, visiting one or two places that tour companies miss out.  Diverse and beautiful alpine flowers, spectacular scenery, extols the virtues of independent travel in an area where great natural beauty is accessible to all through the excellent Swiss transport system.

Over the Bernina Pass

Alpines and scenery from Pontresina in the upper Engadine to Poschiavo close to the Italian border including plants high above the Bernina Pass.  From familiar garden plants to the flowers found in a rocky land of snow and ice.

Alpines for the Time Challenged!

A personal account of gardening with alpines; pots, troughs, raised beds,plant portraits, triumphs and disasters, dos and don’ts and propagation tips all drawn from my own experiences.  Observations and lessons learned from twenty five years of gardening with alpines and bulbs distilled into 60 minutes.

A Crocus for all Seasons

My specialist subject.  A look at the Genus as described by Mathew covering the plants and how to grow them with illustrations of wild and cultivated plants.  A few other bulbs creep in - I have a 'Crocus Lite' version for Local garden clubs which includes a wider variety of other dwarf bulbs.

Bulbs for All Seasons

Drawing on my long experience growing dwarf bulbs.  An introduction to the many genera I focus on plants that can be grown in the open garden or under cold glass and discuss different methods of cultivation.

Peaks and Troughs

Alpines from the mountain to the garden with a focus on growing in troughs.  I will take you on a journey down from the high alpine places, home to the garden with planting ideas for growing alpines in troughs then back to finish the evening as the sun sets in the Alps

Hilary’s View

Some of the plants you might see on an Early Summer visit to the Vaud Alps, little over an hour by rail from Geneva.  From the flower rich meadows lit up with orchids in spring and early summer, up into the the mountains on the edge of the Alpine massif.  Includes contributions from Hilary who has lived there for 30 years and is my mountain guide to this beautiful area.

Vaud & Valais through the Seasons

A look at two adjacent Swiss cantons through the seasons.   A journey from rich meadows of the Pre-Alps to the glaciers of the High Alp.  Features dramatic scenery and a wide range of flowering plants as we climb up to the foot of a glacier.

Whatever the Weather

Proving that you can have a good time in the mountains even when the sun does not always shine!  Talks about alpine flower holidays often show largely blue skies and sunshine.  Here we will experience all kinds of weather, from sun to rain, mist and fog to falling snow.  The good news is that many of the flowers look just as good - and often better - when the sun does not shine!