I will be following in the footsteps of the famous 19th Century plant hunters by travelling to China in February 2012. I will be visiting Yunnan Province to attend the China Chuxiong International Camellia Conference and, as part of the trip, I will see plants growing in the wild that were collected by George Forrest’s 80 years ago and that are growing in the garden here today. A legacy of his trips. My trip is in complete contrast to George Forrest’s I’ll be following the same route and visiting the same villages as George Forrest but the circumstances were totally different for him. On one trip he was hunted and shot at and many of his companions were killed due to political turmoil and civil unrest. He was plagued with illness and injury and had to navigate extremely hostile terrain. He was even reported as missing, presumed dead before his family found out he was alive a week later. Despite this, he and others like him managed to collect seeds from thousands of plants and as a result helped to establish exotic, foreign collections that make a massive contribution to our gardens and heritage. George Forrest’s story is fascinating and I am not only looking forward to learning more about the camellia and the region’s culture, but also seeing where he plant hunted for myself and to carry on the history by bringing seeds back to Trewithen.” I will also present Trewithen’s application to the International Camellia Society to be recognised as an “International Camellia Garden of Excellence”, one of only a handful in the UK.
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