Talks

Helen Chen is available to give talks to garden clubs and societies on the following subjects:

Bamboos: Helen has been collecting bamboos for over 20 years since falling in love with them whilst living in China. The talk covers how bamboos grow, runners and clumpers, growing bamboos in containers, and looks at a good variety of different species, both those to avoid and those to look for!

Chinese Gardens: China has an ancient and highly distinctive horticultural tradition that is far less well-known in the West than it deserves to be. This talk provides a whistle-stop tour of the history of Chinese gardens, looks at their essential elements and traditional plants, and introduces gardens to visit today, illustrated with photos from Helen’s eight years in China.

Asian Woodland Plants: An astonishing percentage of our garden plants originate from China, but there are still many plants from temperate Asia that are uncommon in UK gardens. This talk looks at some of these hidden treasures, focusing on plants from China and Japan, and touches on the history of plant introductions from these countries, their climates, and amazing botanical diversity.