Annual General Meeting 2010
Celebrating the Diversity that is Crete
The Annual General Meeting of the Mediterranean Garden Society will be held between Thursday 14th and Sunday 17th October 2010 in Hania, Crete. (Please note that Hania is sometimes spelled Chania.) Click here to register and book accommodation and excursions online. (Couples please note that each participant must fill in a separate registration form. Only one should fill in the hotel accommodation section. Each one should note in the comments box with whom he/she will be sharing a room.)
On Saturday 16 October we visit the Botanical Park of Crete and learn
about its formation,
values and vision after serious forest fires devastated
this family land five years ago.
The old harbour of Hania and the Arsenali. This is the major venue for the AGM.
A general view of the old harbour of Hania at night. All the suggested hotels
are in the harbour area.
The Arsenali – the venue for our Welcome meeting, Discussion Forum,
and General Assembly.
The public evening lecture will also take place here.
Photos courtesy of the Hania Tourist Office
Programme of Events
Thursday 14 October
Welcome Reception at the Arsenali in the old town of Hania.
Friday 15 October
John Fielding will give a lecture on 'Plants of and for a Mediterranean Climate' at the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Hania. Then, participants will attend a talk on 'Waterwise Gardening: Understanding Your Soil'. Following lunch, with members free to stroll around the gardens, there will be a talk on 'Wildlife in the Garden'. After a brief refreshment break, weather permitting, members will have choice of a wild flower walk in the Cretan countryside, led by John Fielding, or visits to two contrasting gardens of local members.
Saturday 16 October
The morning will be spent at the Botanical Park of Crete, where there will be an introductory talk and a tour of the Park, followed by lunch. In the afternoon, we will go up to the Omalos Plateau to look for plants. At 7 in the evening, Professor Oliver Rackham will give a lecture on 'The Making of the Cretan Landscape'.
Sunday 17 October
The General Assembly, during which the election of the Administrative Committee will take place, will be held at the Arsenali. Free time in Hania will be followed by a talk on 'Courtyard Gardens'. In the evening there will be a Farewell Dinner at the Myrovolos Restaurant.
Optional Excursions
Monday 18 October
A guided tour of the Park for the Preservation of Fauna and Flora followed by a visit to Aghia Triada Monastery, lunch and coastal stroll at Stavros.
Tuesday 19 October
A full day visit to the archeological site of Knossos, near Heraklion, and to the Villa Ariadne, including a stop to visit the Mastaba Mosque in Rethymnon.
The number of participants on the two optional days, Monday 18 and Tuesday 19 October, must of necessity be limited to 100. The demand for these optional excursions is already great and we apologise to any members who may be disappointed if they find that when they try to register for them there are no longer any places available.
Cretan beach with flora, where we shall make a short walk and have lunch.
Morning visit to the Aghia Triada Monastery for a short talk about olive
cultivation
and wine-making; we shall see an old triple-grafted citrus tree.
The Villa Ariadne was home to Sir Arthur Evans while he was working on the
excavations
at Knossos
at the beginning of the 20th century. The palm trees
here are now
suffering from the red
palm weevil Rhynchophorus ferrugineus
and measures
are being taken to deal with this
very difficult problem. Flavio Zanon
will show us
around the garden.
See his article 'The Saga of a Historic Garden' in
The Mediterranean Garden 56, April 2009.
Mastaba Mosque, Rethymnon and garden.The MGS’s annual donation was
given
to the Mosque for plants following the AGM held in Athens in 2007.
Photos by Valerie Whittington
Click here to register and book accommodation and excursions online.
(Couples please note that each participant must fill in a separate registration form. Only one should fill in the hotel accommodation section. Each one should note in the comments box with whom he/she will be sharing a room.)
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