Mike Shadrack
British Horticulture Speaker & Photographer

Mike Shadrack has been a member of the American Hosta Society since 1992 and is currently Vice-President Publications.  He has also been a member of the British Hosta & Hemerocallis Society for twenty-two years, is former Chairman and currently their executive Bulletin Editor.   He has been growing hostas since 1986 and has been trying to hybridize almost as long. He came to hostas through his other hobby, fish-keeping, when the beauty of hostas reflected in the garden pond was drawn to his attention in a TV gardening program. He now has many more hostas than fish and now gardens in Western New York where with his wife Kathy he maintains a large collection of modern cultivars and a garden devoted to small hostas.

In 1996, Mike retired from London's Metropolitan Police after thirty-two years service and has rarely sat down since. As a police officer he served in many parts of London including Soho, (the seediest part of the West End), Whitechapel, (the seediest part of the East End) and at Scotland Yard where he was responsible for Public Order and Ceremonial planning.

He is also a qualified London Tourist Board Guide and organizes garden tours both in England and specialized hosta tours in the US.

Another hobby, photography, has led to a library of about 4800 slides of hosta varieties and hosta gardens, many of which have been published in UK and USA catalogues and magazines.  In addition, he supplied the illustrations for the Royal Horticultural Society, Wisley handbook ‘Hostas’.  He is co-author with Diana Grenfell and photographer of the book, “The Color Encyclopedia of Hostas, (ISBN 0-88192-618-3) released by Timber Press in April, 2004.  The book was named the ‘2005 Reference Book of the Year’ by the British Garden Writers Guild.  The sequel to that book – the Timber Press “Pocket Guide to Hostas” -  was released in September, 2007. In addition, a French hosta book, “Les Hostas” was published in early 2007 with Mike as photographer and co-author.

Mike and Diana’s latest book, The NEW Encyclopedia of Hostas will be published early in 2010 and will be available at the Minnesota convention.

A Wander Through English Gardens

The Brits are lucky enough to have a climate in which thousands of plant species will thrive.   They also have an obsession with garden visiting and a large number of private and public gardens are available to satisfy the need.
This talk will take you on a tour of some of the best.  From the tropics of Tresco to the Candy Store for gardeners that is Wisley; from the dry garden and woods of Beth Chatto to the collections at Kew; from the Royal gardens of Windsor to the internationally famous gardens of Vita Sackville-West at Sissinghurst and Christopher Lloyd at Great Dixter.
The tour will also take in several private gardens that are sometimes open to the public and briefly visit the Eden Project, the eighth wonder of the world.