Presidents Newsletters

Dear SRS Member,

I hope that you can spare a few minutes to read this update, as it has been a busy time in the SRS calendar.

At our AGM on 26^th April, Willie Campbell stepped down as President/ Chairman but will continue to serve on the committee as Past President. His contribution to SRS over 20+ years has been exceptional. In the past, he has acted as joint Secretary and Treasurer but more recently, he has continued with our highly successful and profitable seed exchange, spearheaded the Education and Exploration Fund and took on organising our events programme at very short notice when Gloria and David Starck had to step down. Willie also provides a very large number of excellent plants for our very successful plant sales. He is a towering fund raiser, and we thank him for all he has undertaken. I am your new President and look forward to fulfilling the role for the next 3 years.

We were very pleased to confirm Tim Keyworth’s place on the committee- he was co-opted last year. Tim manages the NTS gardens in the west, a mammoth task, especially as he island hops to and from Brodick. He has offered to take on organising our events programme – an Autumn Conference and a spring tour -and we are very grateful that Tim has taken this on.

Willie Campbell also proposed that John Hammond should be elected as an Honorary Past President, a truly worthy candidate and unanimously approved by the meeting.

Thanks to our recently appointed Hon. Secretary, Mrs Annette Treble, who sailed through her first AGM and is a great new asset to the committee.

Our show, the following day was considered a great success in spite of concerns due to poor flowering in some classes but we need not have worried, as the hall looked splendid, as usual.

Three new exhibitors won trophies, Michie McDonald and Alan Rowbottom each received 2 cups  and Nicola McPherson won best Hybrid in the restricted section. As we have come to expect, Mike and Sue Thornley, of Glenarn, won 3 cups. They always contribute a number of excellent, high quality exhibits and add lustre to our show year after year.  In addition, Paul Haynes from Morar took 3 trophies. We were very pleased to see Castle Kennedy, Arduaine and Brodick Castle gardens showing and hope that they will return next year along with all of our competitors.

The full show results will be published on our web site and in the Journal.

Thanks, as ever to our 3 judges, Richard Baines, Dr David Chamberlain and Maurice Wilkins and Ian Knott Sinclair who awarded the trophies.

The 2026 show is planned for  

                                 SATURDAY, 25^th APRIL—A DATE FOR YOUR DIARY

Peter Cox, a revered founder member of SRS , who planted Baravalla Garden, along with Sir Peter Hutchison, died recently. His funeral service, on 30^th April, was held at his home, Glendoick.  Among the many, many friends from the plant world who attended, Willie Campbell, Matt Heasman and John Roy represented SRS.

Peter is laid to rest among his beloved rhododendrons, next to his wife Patricia. A great light in the world of horticulture has gone out.

The following weekend, a group of enthusiastic members enjoyed a tour, arranged by Willie Campbell, staying two nights, very conveniently on the outskirts of Dundee. 4 garden visits starting at Braco near Greenloaning, Branklyn, (NTS) outskirts of Perth , Dundee Botanic Garden and concluding with a Sunday morning tour of the woodland garden at Glendoick, guided by Kenneth Cox, proved very special and interesting, each in its own way though Branklyn, packed with plant treasures, is a must see at this time of year. Also, if you have never visited Braco or not been for ages, I do recommend this serene woodland garden, planted and managed by one enlightened gardener.

As I start my tour of duty, I do hope, with your support, that our Society continues to flourish and maintain the warm friendship and shared enthusiasm which has been built up over the years by devoted committee members.

Katrina Clow-May 7^th, 2025.

The Seed exchange has now gone through its various phases, issued at the beginning of the year and some 45 requests have been made to date but there is still plenty seed left all now at 50% off or £.75p for a packet of rhododendron seed, or .40p for a packet of magnolia, tree, shrub, primula, meconopsis or companion plant seed. (contact myself for seed listing)

Can I please thank all those who donated seed to the seed exchange, to many to mention in this newsletter.

The seed exchange is one of our ways of creating income that keeps your subscription the same since 2013, while many other gardening groups have been raising theirs.

Neil Batchelor – Neil passed away a few months ago, his daughter contacted us, telling us about her father. Many of you will be saying “Never heard of him” but if you are a seed exchange requester, you no doubt will have had some of Neil’s seeds. He gardened up in Dunbeath, Caithness and each year I would contact him in September, asking “Have you any seeds this year, Neil”? I always had some 20 lots each year. Members like Neil are essential to the seed exchange and our Society. I will miss him.

SRS Garden Tours: In recent years the numbers attending our spring tours has been dropping. Many of you that are still working have asked “does the tours always need to be during the week” also some have wanted to arrange their own accommodation. While tours are a social occasion where members meet old friends and new friends, who can talk about their gardens, problems with plants, best plants for your garden and so on.

So, this year we want to arrange the tour starting Friday and finishing on Sunday afternoon.

Our Proposal is as follows: –

Meet Stirling FRIDAY 2nd May around 12.00.

2.00 Garden Visit to Braco Castle – Garden Tour with Head Gardener Jodi Simpson. It’s a big garden so expect a 90-minute tour.

Evening accommodation Premier Inn Dundee West with Beefeater restaurant on site.

Saturday 3rd May – 10.00 Visit Branklyn Gardens Perth – NTS garden one of the finest gardens in Scotland, Early May will be as good a time to visit the gardens.

Lunch in the Garden

2.00 Dundee Botanic Gardens – Many of you will not have visited this garden – but has Glasshouses, rhododendron areas and so many other fine features of interest. Another 60 minute tour round the gardens.

Saturday evening – Dundee West Premier Inn meeting Beefeaters on Site

Sunday 4th May Visit to Glendoick Garden, hopefully a guided tour with Ken Cox also visiting the nurseries to see how the experts propagate the plants.

Lunch at the Garden Centre and off home on the Sunday afternoon.

Cost of tour approx. £25.00 for garden entries and administration costs.

These are some of the finest gardens to visit, please contact me if you want your name added to the tour. (william.campbellwj@btinternet.com)

You book your own accommodation in Dundee, this gives you the flexibility to book something, you want to stay in!

The Society is still looking for a Tours Co-ordinator, to help set up the tours, contacting gardens and hotels if necessary. Personally, my Wife Fiona and I have met so many likeminded people, gardeners, and those who like the social aspects of our garden tours. The Tours co-ordinator will head up a sub-committee of the Society, coming back to committee with ideas, timings and accommodation for the proposed tour. If you think you can help, contact myself for more details.

David Starck – David Starck passed away quietly some weeks back after a long spell in a care home in the West of Scotland. David and Gloria with the help of Ian Douglas and John Hammond were the tours team that set up so many wonderful and exciting tours to all parts of Scotland, Wales and England since 2005 taking over from Tessa Knott. The Tour I remember most was to the Belgium Gardens, some 5/6 days with 10 exciting gardens

to visit. (I will write a full appreciation of what David Starck and Gloria have done for your Society in the next SRS Review in Spring)

Our heartfelt condolences to Gloria who now lives in the Falkirk area.

Now many of you will have heard, John Roy our publications editor had a horrific accident a few weeks back, an injury to his neck. John is still wearing a neck brace and will be for some time. But the good news he is on the mend. At our recent committee meeting John attended by a “zoom” connection, where John informed the meeting that in 2024, he was only able to produce a Spring and Autumn Reviews. Our flagship publication our “Yearbook” was not produced because of insufficient articles from our members, something interesting from YOU, OUR MEMBERS.

Please remember the committee work as volunteers for the members of the Scottish Rhododendron Society. SO PLEASE GET TO YOUR DESK and compose an article about your garden, a garden you have visited, the weather and storms, how did they affect your garden, plant problems.

Come on help John out.

John Roy has been doing this job for 20 plus years, he is seeking some help to produce the publications, maybe just the reviews. Please contact myself or John as to how you can help. It’s a desk job, laptop and can be based anywhere and with the modern “Zoom” connections to committee meetings, it makes it not impossible.

It Showtime last week in April, dates for your diary, at the Gibson Hall, Garelochhead.

Friday 25th April – 2.00 AGM, 3.00 entries to the Show/plant sales

Saturday 26th April – 8.00 am show entries till 9.30, with show judging at 10.00 am. Plant sales 10.30 ish or when set up

12.30 – 1.00 Show opens with breakup at 3.00.

Please note these are just approximate timings, the Show committee will firm up timings.

Have you seen our website lately? Please just take some time to have a look at what Grant Moir has been working, the site is refreshing and up to date with news, reviews and all sorts of interesting facts about the SRS.

As always as your President of the Society, I would like to thank all the committee members for the work they do on your behalf. This time especially Annette our new Secretary, who took the minutes of our recent committee meeting. We hope to circulate the minutes so you all can see what we are about very soon.

Annette’s next big job is preparing the agenda for the AGM on the 25th April, 2.00 pm at the Gibson Hall, Garelochhead.

If you have anything YOU would like YOUR society to be involved in or just want to tell me, you have read this newsletter to the end!

Willie Campbell

SRS President

The Joint conference was held in the conference room in the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh. A wonderful place to have a conference in with lots of horticultural pictures, relics, herbarium specimens and so on the catch your eye walking into the conference room. Teas/Coffee was ready and everyone was enjoying catching up with friends.

Some 40 plus members attended the meeting “Modern Day Botanical Explorers”, which was to support and share our news about our Education and Exploration fund. The fund was set up two years ago to help those in the horticultural industry, to attend conferences or maybe join organised trip to see plants in their natural habitat. At one time these trips would be referred as “Plant Hunting” but with the many agreements and treaties in place, plant hunting trips collecting seed are not allowed, and here in the UK it’s a total “No-No”.

With our friends in the Rhododendron Species Conservation Group attending, we in Scotland are doing our fair share of promoting and conserving the genus we all love and have in our gardens “Rhododendrons”. With all the other woodland, trees and shrubs, primulas with meconopsis, and lastly these alpine plants from the high mountain sides.

Our first speaker of the day was Richard Moore, who had studied at the RBGE and is now involved in a local nursery, Kevock Plants, helping to set up propagation facilities and now set to help with plant propagation.

Richard’s talk was on his trip to NE Nepal, his slides showing the rugged mountain scenery, pictures of orchids, alpines, and of course many rhododendrons mainly from the high alpine areas. Richard was our first recipient of an award from our E&E fund, we all enjoyed his enthusiastic talk on NE Nepal.

Grant Moir, the Head Gardener at Westerhall down near Langholm is our SRS social media and website specialist. Grant then give us another talk on a visit to Yunnan and the Doker La, again the pictures showed how the landscape changes as the higher you get up the mountains, from almost tropical forest, through the range of trees and shrubs until you get to the Alpine meadows, then scree. The trip was to go over the pass to the Dulong valley, but they were stopped by snow. Super pictures told us the story of the trek. John Roy also was on that trek, and I am sure brought back lots of memories for him.

After lunch and the AGM of the Rhododendron Species group, we were given a very exciting and educational talk of species primulas in the Sino Himalaya by Jeanie Jones who lives near Lockerbie in the Scottish Borders. Jeanie has visited Bhutan, Sikkim, Arunacal Predesh, Yunnan, Sichuan with mainly Alpine gardening groups. Her talk showed us the habitats as well as the plants from these areas, with some minute primula plants to your larger candelabra primula plants that many of us grow in our gardens.

Our last talk of the day and the second recipient of our E&E fund award was from Colin Jones Head Gardener at Salterbridge Gardens Southern Ireland. Colin joined at trip to N E Yunnan following the footsteps of George Forrest and Frank Kingdom Ward. Colin started his talk by saying “I want to see plants growing in their natural habitat that I grow in my garden at home”, so many of his pictures were plants we grow at home. Colin also was keen to explain where plant names originate from, including some of the history involved in the naming. It was a really super and educational talk.

So, the 4 speakers, were just excellent and the conference delegates certainly enjoyed their day at the Botanics in Edinburgh.

We are now in the run up to the seed exchange for 2025 and seed in already being cleaned, packeted and labelled for next year.

The seed exchange is and important maker for the SRS and most of the monies goes to our E&E fund.

So if you have gathered or collecting seed, please send in in sealed packets, clearly named and cleaned if you can.

Send to Willie Campbell. Address in protected members area.

We also are working hard in improving our website and so we can maybe attract new younger members (aged 50 and over) as they are the future of our Society, committee members and people to love and conserve rhododendron in the future. Please invite your friends to come along to our show, garden tours and our conferences next year.

Willie Campbell

13/10/24

Scottish Rhododendron Society

Summer News 2024

It’s been a few weeks since I have sat down at the laptop to update you as to some of the latest news of your Society.

First of all, let me introduce you to our new Hon. Secretary Annette Treble, who has taken over from Katrina Clow who will remain on the committee, still helping run our most successful event, the Show at Garelochhead.

Annette’s first job is to keep me right at our next committee meeting in early September. If you have anything you would like your and I mean your committee to discuss, action or just something you would like to see us doing, please contact Annette. (Contact details in publications and members area)

Seed Exchange 2025

Last year was actually a poor year for rhododendron seed but we had about 100 lots of species, hybrid and azalea seed. This year should be a bumper year for seed, and we may freeze the excess seed for the lean years.

As always, we cannot have a seed exchange without seed donations, and I hope you all are looking to collect seed of rhododendrons, trees, shrubs, magnolias and companion plants. It would be wonderful if the seeds were hand polinated but open polinated will be accepted, we want you to grow rhododendrons, from seed, transplant, pot on and plant out in 3 years.

Please make sure you packet, seal and label seeds, if you are aware of a collection number add it, and we will mention OP from that number. You can send sealed packets of seed capsules to me, and I will dry out.

I am continuing to run the seed exchange, which I took over from the late Stephen Fox in 2009. It’s a lovely winter job, that needs a bit of space to dry seed, sieve, packet and label. I then update the seed listing using last year’s format.

Your seed exchange donations make our seed exchange.

Gift Aid Forms.

Your Society claims “Gift Aid” every year but sometimes new members fail to fill in the form. Or if you think you have never filled one in, please contact our Treasurer Colin Whitehead on email. (Contact details in publications and members area).

Please note that because of Gift Aid, Donations to Plant Sales and the Seed Exchange and your thrifty committee, subscriptions have remained the same since Colin took over the Treasures job in 2012.

RBG Palm House donation – the SRS have had a long association with the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh, I asked our committee if they thought we could donate to help the refurbishment of the historic Palm House, and we have donated some £500.00 to the fund which will be match funded to £1000.00. If you feel you could give a little, just look up te RBGE website.

Joint Conference SRS/RSCG

This year it’s the SRS, that are organising the Joint Conference at the RBGE in Edinburgh. Many of you will have been at conferences at the RBGE, its easy to get to and parking is Free on Saturdays.

We have 4 speakers lined up, Richard Moore, our first recipient of a grant from our E&E fund, and will talk on Trip to NE Nepal, Colin Jones from Southern Ireland joined a trip organised by Seamus O’Brien to Yunnan just a few weeks ago, and if the photos on social media are to go by, it should be a wonderful talk. Our own Primula expert Jeanie Jones, a veteran of trips to Yunnan, Bhutan, Tibet, Turkey, Arunachal Predesh, Sichuan and Sikkim, Jeanie’s talk will cover about 70 primulas she has seen and studied in these countries. Grant Moir our website administrator will give a talk on his travels to the Himalaya with John Roy.

It has been agreed to hold the RSCG AGM at Lunchtime. The day cost £15.00 includes Teas, snacks and soft drinks but bring your own lunch. The first 25 have booked up but we are hoping for many more of you to come along and join in.

One of our new members Victoria Winters, who is part of the “Friends of Crarae” is in talks with Argyll and Bute Local Authority regards the state of Kilmory Gardens at Lochgilphead. These gardens hold collections of rare plants from many of the plant hunters. I look forward to hearing some positive news that the gardens can be restored to their former glory.

The SRS Website

Have you looked at our website lately? Grant Moir has been working at updating the website content to reflect a Scottish Rhododendron Society that is attractive and modern to join.

Please take the time to look at the content, comment on it now or what you our members would like to see.

Tours

After this year’s successful tour of Argyll and Kintyre Gardens, where would you like to go next year?

How about Southern Ireland? Gloria and David Stark had organised at tour to these parts just as Covid was kicking in, twice the tour was cancelled.

We are thinking of resurrecting the tour, using private hire minibuses or your own car, maybe carsharing. Colin Jones and Seamus O’Brien two of our members have agreed to help us with the Tour.

What do you Think? Email myself if you are interested.

We still are looking for help in organising tours and events, if you think you could help, please contact myself.

As always John Roy is looking for articles, your garden, your favourite plants or just anything that members may be interested in.

To our newer members, please come along, join in with likeminded people, you certainly don’t have to be an expert, just keen on gardens, plants and of course rhododendrons.

Last of all, on your behalf let me thank Katrina Clow for all her work during her term as Secretary. Katrina took over from myself in 2013.

Enid May, one of our longest serving members sadly passed away at her home in Girvan, on the 9th June, see was 97.

One of my first real experiences on joining the SRS was to attend the Show in Ayr in 2003, most will remember it because hardly anyone turned up to the huge hall.

However, Fiona and I were meeting up with the SRS tour staying at a Hotel in Stranraer, not sure what to expect but we quickly found out they were a friendly bunch, liked a drink before dinner and we settled into the tour.

One of the gardens we visited was John and Enid May, who were creating a garden I think near Castle Douglas. Both when out of their way to show us round the garden, and as always, the teas and cakes were delicious. I often wonder who stays there now, did they still love the garden.

Enid did recently attend some of our events, coming along with Florence after she moved to Girvan.

Enjoy your garden, if is like our “Wee” garden in Doune, this year everything has doubled in size, Fiona is already filling the brown bins. Also if you are passing “Pop in and see us”

Willie Campbell

Scottish Rhododendron Society

Spring Activity Report March 2024

All over the UK rhododendrons are well budded up for a spectacular show this year, already the Social Media sites are posting pictures of our favourite plants.

Our seed exchange has been well used again this year with over 60 requests and after taking off expenses, we should be adding another £750.00 to our Education and Exploration Fund.

Talking about our E&E fund, the second recipient Colin Jones has been awarded a sum of £1000.00, Colin is Joining a Botanical trip to Yunnan, which is being organised by Seamus O’Brien.

We are holding our Joint Conference with the RSCG in the conference room at the RBGE, which is a venue we have used on many occasions.

“Modern Day Botanical Travels” on Saturday 5th October. We will have talks from Richard Moore on his trip to NE Nepal, John Roy, Jeanie Jones (Primulas) Grant Moir and hopefully Colin Jones about his trip to Yunnan.

We would be arranging garden visits on the Sunday, along with our usual plant auction. (more details later)

However, we still have our AGM and Spring Show at the Gibson Hall at Garelochead on 26/27th April to look forward to, with Plant and Book sales. Teas and Cakes on offer as well. (again, more information from the show committee later)

The updated show schedule can be download from our website.

As we are talking about our website Grant Moir has been busy modernising how we go about attracting members of the public to visit the website at

Scottishrhododendronsociety.org.uk

Please check it out for yourselves, also with links to plant databases.

As members you can visit our members area

Lots of interesting articles, notice board and details on cultivation of rhododendrons.

Other Social media news is that our Facebook page is being visited daily by many and Grant Moir is setting up an Instagram page hoping to reach the younger generation of the public who may eventually become interested in our favourite plants.

As always, your committee is here to help answer questions or queries you may have on plants, gardens to visit, also if you our members may have some suggestions you may like to see the Society becoming involved in, please contact anyone on committee..

With Gardens to visit, our spring tour itinerary is complete, wonderful gardens in the Oban area, with Baravalla and Achamore on Gigha at the end of the week. Hotels at booked in Oban and Stonefield Castle our old favourite down at Tarbert.

We have had someone drop out of the tour, so we have a single room already booked, so if you’re interested in coming along, please contact myself by email. (contact details in members area)

You may like to join the tour just for the day, again contact myself for details.

All for now, snowdrops at my old garden at Gargunnock have been outstanding as have the early rhododendrons, like praecox, Christmas Cheer and sutchuenense blooming away just fine.

Willie Campbell

I do hope you all have had a good festive season and find that the weather in your part of the world has been kind to you and the garden is all budded up for a spectacular flowering season. I look at my own garden in Doune in Central Scotland, with snowdrops, aconites, early daffodils, crocus and primroses already giving Fiona and I some early season pleasure.

Although the Seed Exchange is now closed, still have plenty seed left and if you would like to get a £10.00 or £5.00 surprise package of rhododendron, trees and shrubs along with companion plant seed. Just Email me. william.campbellwj@btinternet.com

Again, we as a Society must thank all the seed donors, without them no seed exchange. This year so far, we have had over 50 requests and should add around £750.00 to the Education and Exploration Fund.

Other good news is that we have a nomination for the SRS secretary, if anyone else would like to be nominated at our AGM on the 26th April, 2.00 at the Gibson Hall at Garelochead, contact Katrina our current Secretary.

However, we still are looking for new committee members.

1) Someone to help with editorial work on our publications to take over eventually from John Roy. Perhaps taking on editing the Spring and Autumn journals to start with.

2) Someone to come on as Treasurer, again not this very instant but to shadow Colin Whitehead who has been in the job for some 12 plus years.

3) Someone to take on the Tours and Conferences, I have taken over this task, but hope someone will take over completely.

4) General committee, just come on help out with what ever tasks are needing attention, shadow members many of have been on much longer than the three years as per constitution.

As always, we only meet “Face to Face” twice a year, you can now work remote and join meetings on “Zoom” so no excuses, that distance is an object.

Our Spring Tour to Argyll Gardens this year is all booked, Hotel wise but you can still join on a daily basis, please contact myself for details.

Just a reminder, subscriptions were due at the beginning of the year, if you have not rejoined yet, please do so NOW.

I would also like you to join with me and all my committee in wishing one of our Society founder members Peter Cox a very Happy 90 Birthday.

Kenneth has asked if you want to send Birthday Greetings to Peter, just send to cards to

Kenneth who will read your personal messages out to Peter on the 28th of February 2024.

As always, we want you to be involved in the Scottish Rhododendron Society, you can tell John Roy about your Garden, ask Matt Heasman to identify a plant you have, ask advice on plant propagation or John Hammond on the History of our gardens.

Hope to see you all at the Show 17th April at Garelochhead. More details later.

Regards

Willie Campbell

email contact in members area