Join us for Man, Myth and Mountains: Reginald Farrer (1880-1920) was an alpine plant collector, gardener, and garden writer, who single-handedly changed the way the anglophone world writes about garden plants. He was also a travel-writer, rock gardener, novelist, poet, and amateur water-colour painter, and became a Buddhist in 1908.

4 weekly on-line talks, Tuesdays @ 7 starting January 5th, £5 each or all 4 for £16.

1: The Power of Farrer - John Page

2: The Rescue of an Edwardian Rock Garden - Mike Myers

3: Farrer in the Alps and the Far East - John Page

4: Plants, Books and Journeys: the world of Reginald Farrer, ‘well-known' Buddhist - Michael Charlesworth

This ticket is for this individual session and you may purchase tickets for other individual sessions via the links above, or you may purchase a ticket for the entire course of 4 sessions via the link here.

Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days prior to the start of the talk, and a link to the recorded session will be sent shortly afterwards.

5th Jan: The Power of Farrer - John Page

This session looks at the background to his rise to legendary status as a rock and alpine gardener and examines what was special about his approach. The content of his various books specifically devoted to rock gardening and his practical experience in the four gardens at Clapham are also studied.

Dr. John Page is a linguist by profession but an Alpine plant enthusiast and expert at heart. John studied Modern Languages at King's College, Cambridge, learnt Russian during his time in the Army and did his PhD in Politics. For many years, he headed up the School of Foreign Languages at the former Birmingham City University. His strategic placement of Business Course students with European companies meant he was able to enjoy many of the best Botanic Gardens when he visited his students! John has been an active member of the Alpine Garden Society since 1975 and was Secretary of the Birmingham group for 17 years. He is the AGS Online Correspondent for the History of Rock and Alpine Gardening and is an expert on the life and times of Reginald Farrer. John contributes to the RHS Yearbook Narcissus, Snowdrops and Tulips. He is the section editor for Tulips. John has written numerous articles and is a widely-travelled plant hunter and botaniser from the Rockies to Kazakhstan.

Man, Myth and Mountains - 1: The Power of Farrer