Primula Belarina

Lovely....

So do lots of plants. I hope we do not get a very hard winter and lose lots. We should be alright if we get a blanket of snow as it will protect the plants. The SRGC had a joint meeting with the Caley at the Botanics in Edinburgh. Our speaker was the Director of the Betty Ford Alpine garden in Vail in Colorado. She told us that the gardens are only open to see anything outside for five months of the year because they usually have at least a three foot blanket of snow over the garden for the other months. It is the highest alpine garden in the world and they are planning a large greenhouse and education facility where they can show plants inside. They will need to heat it because the temperatures during the night can plummet to -30deg. During the day they will need to protect the plants from the sun. There does not seem to be any problem with a power source for heating, the streets of Vail are heated during the winter as it is cheaper than paying compensation to accident victims falling on icy roads. Vail is one of the high end ski resorts so get lots of visitors during the winter. She was finding Edinburgh quite cold because she is used to a dry and not damp cold in Colorado. She hails originally from Bolton. It is interesting to see how people cope with extremes of weather elsewhere.

Scotsgran what an interesting speaker, how do they heat the streets? I am intrigued.

I dk Dd. Nobody asked. She was at the SRGC weekend conference so maybe Mg or Bb will be able to tell us.