B.N.A.R.G.S.

Berkshire chapter North American Rock Garden Society

About Bobby Ward...

Meet the author, April 2005  meeting.

Bobby J. Ward presents 'The Plant Hunter's Garden: The New Explorers and Their Discoveries', published in 2004.

He is a past president of NARGS, received his PhD in botany from North Carolina State University and is a retired envronmental scientist. A dedicated gardener, he has long been interested in plant names and plant lore. His book "A contemplation Upon Flowers: Garden Plants in Myth and Literature' won the Quill & Trowel Award of the Garden Writers Association. He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina.

His new book profiles thirty-two of today's more prolific plant hunters, including Joseph Halda, Dan Hinckley, Rick Lupp (our November 2005 speaker) Tony Avent and Darrell Probst. He asked each of the hunters to choose the very best treasures from their years of collecting and has sumptuously illustrated these jewels in stunning photos.

As Brian Mathew notes in the foreword, "There is a wealth of interest here for keen gardeners... Numerous exciting new plants are mentioned and illustrated, their origins and behavior in cultivation are recorded, and the whole is laced entertainingly with many a traveler's anecdote."