北美岩石园协会(North American Rock Garden Society, 简称 NARGS)是一个面向北美高山植物与岩石园艺爱好者的非营利性专业协会,总部注册于美国新泽西州,主体业务由分布在美加两国的 35 个地区分会协作运行,其中 5 个分会在加拿大境内,会员群体涵盖专业园艺师、植物保育学者和业余爱好者三类。其核心宗旨是研究、保护、繁育并推广适合岩石园艺的高山植物及耐寒园艺植物,推动公众教育与野生栖息地保护,反对以商业转售为目的的野生植物采集行为。
协会沿革与组织架构
协会前身美国岩石园学会(American Rock Garden Society, ARGS)创立于 1934 年,1994 年经宪法修订正式更名为北美岩石园协会,以更准确反映其跨美加两国的会员地理分布。现任协会会长为 Todd Boland(纪念大学 centenary 100 入选者),治理结构包括理事会、各地区分会主席、季刊编辑、种子交换项目负责人等职务;35 个分会中,以纽约、太平洋西北部、新英格兰等地区最为活跃,加拿大分会多伦多、阿尔伯塔等分会独立运营本土活动。
出版物与公众教育
协会旗舰出版物为《The Rock Garden Quarterly》(《岩石园季刊》),是北美岩石园领域历史最悠久的专业期刊,可追溯至 1938 年的前身刊期,内容涵盖高山植物栽培技术、岩石园设计方法、植物保育案例及会议通知;协会网站提供全部过刊的电子版回溯访问(可下载至 1938 年),并向新会员免费发放电子版《Beginners Handbook》入门手册;此外还运营视频会议系列(如 Seeds, Shoots, and Substrates 专题)、Facebook 与 Instagram 社交账号、面向全球的会员论坛,形成线上线下结合的公众教育矩阵。
核心项目与资源平台
协会年度种子交换项目(Seed Exchange)是其最具特色的会员服务,每年从全球会员处收集野生采集种子(涵盖大量稀有高山物种),完成整理后分主清单、剩余清单两级分发,并在部分地区分会继续流通;该项目自 2005-2006 年度起完整保留历年种子清单 PDF 档案,可供研究者回溯物种分布变迁;对于 2014 年后签署《名古屋议定书》国家的植物材料,协会明确要求仅用于非商业用途,会员须遵守美国 USDA APHIS 小批量种子进口许可规定;此外,协会与多个公共植物园合作建立岩石园示范点,如纽约植物园、布鲁克林植物园、丹佛植物园 Rock Alpine Garden、贝蒂福特高山花园、蒙特利尔植物园高山园、不列颠哥伦比亚大学植物园 E. H. Lohbrunner Alpine Garden 等。
年会、奖项与会员体系
协会每年在分会所在地举办全国年度大会(National Meeting),内容包含专题演讲、野外采集考察、花园参访和奖项颁发,2025 年于怀俄明州夏延植物园举办;常设奖项包括三大类:(1) 公共岩石园杰出贡献奖(2025 年颁给丹佛植物园 Rock Alpine Garden,2024 年纽约植物园,2023 年达尔豪斯大学百年植物园);(2) 私人花园杰出贡献奖(2025 年 Rudy Riggs & Jim Phillips、 Randy & Carol Shinn 获奖);(3) 写作与媒体推广奖(2025 年 Rebecca Lance,2024 年 David Pulman 与 Jeremy Schmidt 等),每年表彰对北美岩石园事业做出持续贡献的组织与个人;会员体系除季度刊与种子交换外,还包含国际园艺旅行、专项折扣、入会指南和论坛交流等权益。
The North American Rock Garden Society (NARGS) is a non-profit professional association for alpine plant and rock gardening enthusiasts across North America, headquartered in New Jersey, USA, with 35 regional chapters in the United States and Canada (five in Canada). Its membership spans professional horticulturists, plant conservation researchers, and serious amateur growers, and its core mission is to study, conserve, propagate, and promote rock garden plants, while supporting public education and wild habitat protection, and opposing commercial wild-collecting.
History and Governance
The society’s predecessor, the American Rock Garden Society (ARGS), was founded in 1934 and was renamed the North American Rock Garden Society in 1994 through a constitutional amendment to better reflect its cross-border membership. The current president is Todd Boland, a Memorial University Centenary 100 honoree. Governance comprises a board of directors, regional chapter chairs, the journal editor, and the seed exchange director; among the 35 chapters, the New York, Pacific Northwest, and New England chapters are the most active, while Canadian chapters in Toronto and Alberta run independent programmes.
Publications and Public Education
The flagship publication is The Rock Garden Quarterly, the longest-running professional journal in North American rock gardening, traceable to its 1938 predecessor title. It covers alpine cultivation techniques, rock garden design, plant conservation case studies, and meeting notices. The society’s website provides electronic access to all back issues (downloadable to 1938) and offers a free Beginners Handbook to new members. It also runs a video webinar series (such as Seeds, Shoots, and Substrates), Facebook and Instagram channels, and a member forum, building a hybrid online/offline public education network.
Programs and Resources
The annual Seed Exchange is the society’s most distinctive member service, gathering wild-collected seed from members worldwide (rich in rare alpines) and distributing through a main list, a surplus list, and finally local chapters. Complete PDF archives of seed lists back to 2005-2006 are preserved for researchers. For plant material from countries that have ratified the Nagoya Protocol after 2014, the society requires non-commercial use, and members must comply with the USDA APHIS Small Lots of Seed Permit for US imports. The society also partners with public botanic gardens on demonstration rock gardens, including the New York Botanical Garden, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the Denver Botanic Garden Rock Alpine Garden, Betty Ford Alpine Garden, the Montreal Botanical Garden Alpine Garden, and the E. H. Lohbrunner Alpine Garden at the UBC Botanical Garden.
Annual Meeting, Awards, and Membership
The society holds an annual National Meeting hosted by a regional chapter, featuring lectures, field study trips, garden tours, and award presentations; the 2025 meeting was held at the Cheyenne Botanic Garden. Standing awards span three categories: (1) Outstanding Public Rock Garden (2025: Denver Botanic Garden Rock Alpine Garden; 2024: New York Botanical Garden; 2023: Dalhousie University Bicentennial Botanical Garden); (2) Outstanding Private Garden (2025: Rudy Riggs & Jim Phillips; Randy & Carol Shinn); (3) Writing and Outreach (2025: Rebecca Lance; 2024: David Pulman and Jeremy Schmidt). Membership benefits also include international garden tours, member discounts, a beginners handbook, and access to the member forum.
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