Vancouver Rhododendron Society Meeting: Ken Cox and Hartwig Schepker

Date: 7pm-10pm, May 1, 2015

Ken Cox and Hartwig Schepker: “Arunachal Pradesh: On the Search for Rhododendron in an Unknown and Mysterious Part of North-Eastern India.”

‘Ken Cox was one of the very first people to get into the remote North Eastern region of Arunachal Pradesh in 2001 where he discovered a new rhododendron species and introduced several others to cultivation for the first time. Ken & Hartwig teamed up in Eastern Arunachal for an autumn expedition in 2005 and in 2012 Hartwig’s expedition to central parts of Arunachal Pradesh turned out to be the trip from Hell, with non-stopping rain, mud, landslides and rebelling porters. Ken & Hartwig will show this amazing little known part of the Himalaya and reveal its people and plants’.

Kenneth Cox (Scotland)

Born in 1964 into a family of renowned plantsmen, Kenneth Cox is grandson of planthunter, writer and nurseryman Euan Cox and son of Peter Cox VMH. The three generations were and are considered the world’s leading experts on rhododendrons. Kenneth, himself a nurseryman and author, has carved out his particular niche in the world of plant-hunting in leading several expeditions to South and South-East Tibet and Arunachal Pradesh, India, 1995 - to the present. Kenneth is managing director of the family firm Glendoick Gardens Ltd in Scotland, a garden centre and mail order nursery specializing in Rhododendrons, Azaleas, Ericaceous plants, Meconopsis, Primula and other plants collected by the Cox family around the world. Kenneth is author of more than 10 books on rhododendrons, plant hunting, gardens and gardening including: “The Encyclopedia of Rhododendron Species” (with Peter Cox), “Rhododendrons and Azaleas: A Colour Guide”, “Garden Plants for Scotland” (with Raoul Curtis Machin), “Scotland for Gardeners 2009”.


Dr. Hartwig Schepker (Germany)

Hartwig Schepker is the Scientific Director of the Botanic Garden and Rhododendron-Park Bremen, home of one of the largest Rhododendron collections in the world, including hardy and non-hardy species and hybrids. He is also the Secretary of the German Rhododendron Society and co-editor of the society’s publication “Rhododendron und Immergrüne”. Hartwig has been on several rhododendron trips in South East Asia and North America, including four journeys to Arunachal Pradesh between 2005 and 2012. His main objectives are to promote the important ecological functions of Rhododendrons in their native habitats and to point out the long and important role of rhododendrons in the history of gardening in Germany