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The Steve Newall Memorial Travelling Speaker 2026 - Paul Spriggs

Paul Spriggs has been rock gardening for roughly 30 years and building crevice gardens for about 20 years. He is an avid plant explorer, photographer, mountaineer, owner of Spriggs Gardens Landscaping company, and past President of the Vancouver Island Rock and Alpine Garden Society.  

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He has a passion for all wild plants especially those of dwarf stature and collects and cultivates them at various gardens in his hometown of Victoria, BC, Canada.​

Paul has learned the craft of crevice garden building directly from one of it’s innovators, Zdenek Zvolanek, of the Czech republic, and in the past decade and a half, has built many gardens in public parks and private homes that range in size from small feature troughs, to large installations involving many tonnes of stone.​

 

Paul is passionate about spreading the word of this style, through speaking to garden clubs all over the world, and by giving workshops for those keen on learning the finer points of this developing art form.

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He is co-author (with Kenton Seth of Colorado), of the first North American book on Crevice Gardening, entitled 'The Crevice Garden. How to make the perfect home for plants from rocky places'  released in Summer 2022.​

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Paul's Talks - Dates and Venues

Sunday, 8 November

New Zealand Iris Society 

"The Art of Rock and Crevice Gardening with Special focus on Dwarf Iris for the rock garden”

Alexandra 

Members only

Thursday, 12 November

Gore gardening club

“Island Alpine: botanizing in Western North America’s Westernmost Mountain Ranges”

7.30pm Senior Citizens Rooms, Ardwick Street, Gore

$5 entry, visitors welcome

Friday, 20 November

South Canterbury Iris Group

​“Ericaceous and Dwarf Plants, for the Rock and Crevice Gardens”

1.00pm, South Canterbury Eco Centre, 55C Redruth Street, Timaru

$5 entry, includes afternoon tea. For catering purposes please let the organiser (@lynda.crossen.2025) know you are coming

Monday, 9 November

Queenstown gardening club

“The art of rock and crevice gardening”

2 pm, St Margaret’s Presbyterian Church, 50 McBride Street, Frankton

$5 entry, visitors welcome

Monday, 16 November

Oamaru gardening club

“Crevice gardening for adventurous gardeners”

7pm, The Brydone Hotel, Moeraki Room, Wear Street, Oamaru

$5 entry, visitors welcome

Sunday, 22 November

New Zealand Alpine Garden Society

“Cracks and crevices. A bold Aesthetic for Adventurous gardeners”
and
“Island Alpine: botanizing in Western North America’s Westernmost Mountain Ranges”

$25 Lunch + morning tea. Event held at Lincoln University.

NZAGS Members Only.  Register here.

Tuesday, 10 November

Cromwell gardening club

“Island Alpine: botanizing in Western North America’s Westernmost Mountain Ranges”

7pm, Cromwell Presbyterian Church Auditorium, 10 Elspeth Street, Cromwell

$5 entry, visitors welcome

Tuesday, 17 November

​Dunedin gardening club

“The art of rock and crevice gardening”

Dunedin

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Members and invitees only

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