The 2025 national convention for the Azalea Society of America will be held from Wednesday, May 7th through Friday the 9th with some post-convention tours on Saturday the 10th.

John’s presentation will showcase a selection of the bulbs, perennials and small trees and shrubs he grows in the open garden which perfectly complement native azaleas.  Companion plants include spring and fall-flowering Cyclamen and Galanthus, as well as a variety of spring-flowering treasures such as Epimedium, Erythronium, Podophyllum, Arisaema, Corydalis, Trillium and other less well-known genera. John is particularly interested in pushing the hardiness limits of these plants, and his talk will emphasize methods for their successful cultivation and propagation, especially from seed. Plants will be available for sale.

John has grown a wide variety of alpine and woodland plants and bulbs for more than 40 years and is a recipient of the Alpine Garden Society Gold Merit Medal. He has traveled extensively to study plants in habitat, especially Trillium in the SE USA. John regularly contributes articles to the publications of a number of horticultural societies, lectures widely and maintains a website (www.edgewoodgardens.net) featuring over 15,000 images of plants growing in his Exton, PA garden. He contributed a chapter discussing Cyclamen in North America to the book, “Genus Cyclamen in Science, Cultivation, Art and Culture”, published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.  John received his Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and spent more than 35 years working in biomedical research.