You couldn't make it up!

A Dane and a Swede study the flora of Kyrgyzstan in a book written in Russian!

Peter Korn must be the most laid back man I know.  He recounted stories of his plant hunting expedition to Kyrgyzstan during the Alpine Garden Society Conference today.  When asked about the planning that must go into a trip to such a remote place he replied "I just bought the ticket, hired a car when I got there and drove."

Here Peter is talking with Kit Strange a Danish botanist who has lived in the UK since she came here as a teenager.  After studying horticulture in the UK she has ended up working at Kew where she has responsibility for the collection of bulbs.  I'm lucky to count her as a friend.   Five copies of the book were brought back to the Uk from Kyrgyzstan by a local member of the AGS who knows the author.  Peter was very excited and bought three copies - "Now I can maybe name some more of the plants I have seen!"

What you cannot see is that Peter's pony tail is longer than kit's :-)

The conference was a great success.  My role was to book the speakers (we also had Paul Cumbleton who used to be Superintendent of the Alpine Section at Wisley) and I also chaired the afternoon session.  Fun!