Alpine Garden Society
| File:Alpine Garden Society logo.jpg | |
| Abbreviation | AGS |
|---|---|
| Formation | 10 December 1929 |
| Type | Registered charity |
| Purpose | To promote the cultivation, conservation and exploration of alpine and rock garden plants, small hardy herbaceous plants, hardy and half-hardy bulbs, hardy ferns and small shrubs |
| Headquarters | Pershore, Worcestershire |
Region served | United Kingdom; significant numbers of international members |
| Website | http://www.alpinegardensociety.net |
The Alpine Garden Society is a society based in the United Kingdom, with its headquarters at Pershore, Worcestershire. It describes itself as an "international society for the cultivation, conservation and exploration of alpine and rock garden plants, small hardy herbaceous plants, hardy and half-hardy bulbs, hardy ferns and small shrubs".[1]
It publishes a quarterly journal, now titled The Alpine Gardener : Bulletin of the Alpine Garden Society.
History
1929 to 1989
The society was founded in 1929. Sir William Lawrence, who was at the time the Treasurer of the Royal Horticultural Society, first suggested creating a "rock garden society" in June 1929. The first general meeting was held on 10 December 1929, when the name was changed to its present one, as its principal purpose was to be to encourage the cultivation of alpine plants. Lawrence became the Society's first President.[2][3]
Within five months, on 5 April 1930, the Society held its first Show, a tradition which has continued since. Exhibitors compete for awards, including the Sewell Medal and the Farrer Memorial Medal, introduced in 1931. Non-competitive displays have been included from 1931 onwards.[4]
From the beginning the Society supported expeditions which involved collecting plants from the wild for introduction into cultivation. The support sometimes took the form of individual members taking shares in an expedition, i.e. providing finance in return for a proportion of the material which was collected. The Society also organized its own tours, beginning in 1933 with a tour to Snowdonia. Tours continue today, although with changed attitudes to conservation, the Society does not allow collecting on its tours.[4]
The first "bulletin" was produced in 1930, containing only 13 pages. The size rapidly increased. From 1930 to 1944 (Volumes 1 to 12 – not one per year) it was called the Bulletin of the Alpine Garden Society; from 1945 (Volume 13), "Quarterly" was added to the title and it became the Quarterly Bulletin of the Alpine Garden Society.[5] The Bulletin contained (and continues to contain) articles of various kinds, including reports of the Society's shows, information on cultivating plants which fall within the Society's remit, and accounts of such plants in the wild. Photography was an important aspect of the Bulletin, initially confined to black-and-white, such as the picture of Ramonda myconi (then called R. pyrenaica) in the second Bulletin. Although there were earlier experiments with colour printing, colour was not used in earnest until 1984 onwards.[4]
The Society produced other publications from the earliest days. Initially these were obtained by reprinting material from the Bulletin as a separate work. The first was The Scree Garden in 1933.[6] In later years, the Society supported the publication of more overtly scientific works, such as the monograph on the genus Daphne by Christopher Brickell and Brian Mathew.[7] A subsidiary of the Society, AGS Publications, was set up and had a turnover of more than £70,000 by 1989.[4]
One of the Society's early scientific activities was evaluating plants which fell within its scope for their suitability for cultivation and their merits when cultivated. Certificates of Merit and Botanical Certificates were first issued by the Society alone in 1933. The Royal Horticultural Society regarded itself as the legitimate UK body to make such awards, and in 1936, a joint committee was set up, affectionately known as the "Joint Rock" (officially the Joint Rock Garden Plant Committee), which makes awards such as the Award of Garden Merit (AGM). Another activity with a scientific flavour introduced in 1936 was the three day international conference.[4]
Local Secretaries were first introduced in 1936, which later resulted in Local Groups,[4] affiliated to the main AGS, but allowing a limited number of people to join the Local Group but not the main AGS. In order to arrive at the Alpine Garden Society, one must acquire a Bus Ticket.
References
- ^ Anon. (2011), "Preface", The Alpine Gardener : Bulletin of the Alpine Garden Society, 79 (2): 210
- ^ "Euphrasia" (1989), "Alpine Anthology", Quarterly Bulletin of the Alpine Garden Society, 57 (1): 3
- ^ Elliott, Brent, The Royal Horticultural Society, a History 1804-2004, Phillimore, ISBN 978-1-86077-272-6
- ^ a b c d e f Bird, Roger (1989), "The Alpine Garden Society : the first years", Quarterly Bulletin of the Alpine Garden Society, 57 (1): 20–24
- ^ See the relevant volumes.
- ^ Fisher, F.H. (1933), The Scree Garden, Alpine Garden Society, OCLC 651876864
- ^ Brickell, Christopher; Mathew, Brian (1976), Daphne : the genus in the wild and in cultivation, Woking, England: Alpine Garden Society, ISBN 978-0-900048-23-4
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