February ARHS Meeting: Panayoti Kelaidis, Tibet: Ericaceae and more!

The Himalayas are known to be heartland of Rhododendron–but there are so many other Ericacaceae (and treasures growing with them) that have special interest to rock gardeners in North America since Tibet has more extreme temperatures than more familiar destinations like Bhutan or Nepal.  Our speaker was lucky to spend 3 weeks driving 1200 miles from Yunnan to Lhasa on a trip organized by Harry Jans. They hit flowers in peak bloom, and had wonderful sunny weather (except with MiLa Pass, where we had 3″ of snow at 17,000 feet!).

Panayoti Kelaidis is the Senior Curator and Director of Outreach for the Denver Botanic Garden and President of the North American Rock Garden Society (NARGS).  A passionate plantsman, Horticulture Magazine states: “Panayoti embodies a powerful combination of intellect, action, and generosity of spirit.”  Known to many in Nova Scotia from his visit in June 2014, he is looking forward to returning to Nova Scotia for the 2023 NARGS Convention, June 8-10, at the Dalhousie Agricultural Campus in Truro.