Calochortus - New book from Timber Press
Laura & Dave (Fri, 24 Aug 2007 17:54:59 PDT)

Late this last winter, Ron was one of the featured presenters at the
NARGS western winter study weekend. Ron was very outgoing,
knowledgeable regarding the identification of the plants he was
presenting, and enjoyed sharing his knowledge. He presented two talks,
one entitled "/Calochortus: Tulips of the West" / and /another called
"The rest of the Western wild bulbs/.", which covered Erythronium, Iris
and Fritillaria as well as a few others. The photos were mostly
excellent, Ron himself pointing out a few shots that left a bit to be
desired. The cause of the sub-par shots was often the same that we all
experience; that is, if you have only found a rare plant once or twice,
you take pictures regardless of location or condition. There were often
multiple pictures of the same species, showing different forms, as well
as habitat photos.

I had the pleasure of being at the same dinner table as Ron, Mary and
Ron Ratko one evening. The two Rons animatedly discussed plant
locations throughout California; which side of a hill a few miles up
some road after the turnoff from some other road you would find a
certain plant, a little bluer than most. Which plants were growing
together in a seep at the base of a ridge over the river and through the
woods ... Being from Washington, and not at all familiar with the back
roads of California, I never the less found this all fascinating; a real
insight into the minds of true plant hunters. I swear that the two of
them are on a first name basis with half the rocks in the state.

The unfortunate part of the talks was the lack of time to discuss the
various species locations as to soil type, exposure, elevations and
other climatic variables. There was almost no discussion of the
cultivation of these plants, except to mention that a particular species
does well in gardens. There are a lot species, and an hour is not all
that long a time.

Regarding "Calochortus: Mariposa Lilies & Their Relatives" by Mary E.
Gerritsen and Ron Parsons

I have NOT seen the book, but would suggest that a person look at it
before buying, or at least read a few reviews, to see if it meets their
needs. The photos I'm sure are excellent, accurate, and show all the
species. Whether the information missing from the talks is in the book
I don't know. I do know that Ron and Mary were two very nice people,
and still working hard last March to get the book just the way they
wanted it.

Dave