协会简介
地中海植物和花园（Mediterranean Plants and Gardens，简称 MPG）是一家总部位于英国的非营利性园艺协会，由一群对地中海气候植物和地中海风格花园抱有共同兴趣的志愿者组成，倡导可持续园艺理念，提倡将植物种类与本地环境进行智能匹配，注重节约用水。协会每年组织面向会员的参观、考察与社交活动，活动范围涵盖英国本土的地中海风格私家花园以及地中海沿岸国家的野生植物考察路线，会员还可参加其他活动并访问会员专属线上资源。
历史沿革
地中海植物和花园协会的足迹最早可追溯至 2014 年前后由创始人 Heather Martin 牵头建立的早期网络，当时协会以”地中海植物与花园兴趣小组”的形式存在，随后逐步在英国拓展为正式注册的非营利性园艺协会。协会的会名与宗旨延续至今，由志愿者运营的董事会（Management Committee）负责管理，董事会成员包括主席 Mike Stearns（Mike 是英国赫特福德郡的一位退休耳鼻喉外科医生，与妻子 Liz 共同经营家庭农场并正在改造一座 Anne Keenan 设计的花园）、财务主管 David Mason（退休前在 ICI 任职 30 年，2008 年退休）以及秘书 Gill Robinson（退休建筑师，曾参与创建 Women in Property）等。
姐妹协会与国际合作
地中海植物和花园协会与多个国家的同好组织保持长期协作关系，MPG 的活动和访问对在法国、葡萄牙、南非、智利、澳大利亚玛格丽特河地区、加利福尼亚以及加拿大欧肯纳根地区的姐妹组织会员开放，会员可参与由各姐妹协会协调举办的地中海园艺主题交流项目。这种跨国网络是 MPG 创立的核心理念之一：秉承协会成立之初的精神，互相帮助寻找和学习植物及其花园，探索可能具有特殊意义的场所。MPG 同时是英国皇家园艺学会（RHS）的附属协会（RHS Affiliated Society），并在 Bursaries 等项目中与多家英国园艺机构建立合作关系。
会员福利与学术基金
MPG 现有会员年费为 10 英镑/公历年，会员可通过 MPG 网站完成在线注册与缴费，享受包括英国与海外花园参观、植物考察旅行、专题讲座、年度种子交换以及在线会员专区等多项权益。协会另设有学术基金（Bursaries），用于支持会员开展与地中海植物和花园相关的教育、保护或研究活动，资助方向包括参加 MPG 活动的补贴、独立考察或研究的差旅补助、出席专业会议的经费等，特别鼓励园艺专业人士申请以拓展地中海植物与旱生园艺方面的知识与经验。基金由 MPG 学术基金委员会负责评审，委员会由两至三名董事会成员加六名普通会员组成。
近年活动与会员交流
近年来 MPG 持续组织面向会员的高质量活动：2026 年 6 月协会受邀参加西辛赫斯特城堡花园（Sissinghurst Castle）地中海风格”Delos”花园落成庆典，著名景观设计师 Dan Pearson、工艺设计师 Nigel Frogatt 以及 Sissinghurst 主理园丁 Richard Gravett 在活动上做了专题分享；同月会员前往 Bere Mill 和 Hardy’s 苗圃开展一日参观；2026 年 5 月 23 名会员在球根花卉专家 Jacques Amand International 赞助下出席 RHS 切尔西花展（RHS Chelsea Flower Show）；2025 年起 MPG 会员对加州、希腊罗德岛、西澳大利亚珀斯国王公园与林地、爱尔兰西部、威尔士、以色列圣地、葡萄牙节水园艺、意大利和法国里维埃拉驯化花园等地的访问报告陆续在 MPG 网站的 Bursary Reports 中公开。2026 年协会长期会员 Deni Bown 关于天南星科植物的著作《Aroids – Plants of the Arum Family》第三版获得 CBHL 年度文学奖。
About the Association
Mediterranean Plants and Gardens (MPG) is a not-for-profit association based in the United Kingdom, run by volunteers who share an interest in the flora and gardens of Mediterranean climates. The association embraces concepts of sustainable gardening such as matching plant species intelligently to their environment and giving attention to economical use of water. Members enjoy a varied programme of tours, garden visits, botanising trips and social events held in the UK and overseas, and may take part in activities organised jointly with sister organisations abroad.
Origins and Governance
The roots of Mediterranean Plants and Gardens stretch back to the early network established around 2014 by founder Heather Martin, which later formalised into a registered UK non-profit association. The society remains volunteer-run and is overseen by a Management Committee chaired by Mike Stearns, a retired ENT surgeon who farms in Hertfordshire with his wife Liz and is developing a garden designed by Anne Keenan. The Treasurer is David Mason, who retired in 2008 after a 30-year career in IT with ICI, and the Secretary is Gill Robinson, a retired architect formerly based in Manchester who co-founded Women in Property in the north of England.
Sister Organisations and International Network
MPG maintains long-standing collaboration with sister associations in France, Portugal, South Africa, Chile, Margaret River in Western Australia, California and the Okanagan in Canada. Events and visits are open to members of these partner societies on a space-permitting basis, in the spirit in which MPG was founded: helping one another find and learn about plants and gardens, and exploring places of particular horticultural interest. MPG is also an RHS Affiliated Society and works alongside other UK horticultural institutions on bursary programmes and joint activities.
Membership and Bursaries
Membership costs £10 per calendar year and may be completed online through the MPG website. Benefits include access to a varied programme of UK and overseas garden visits, lectures, the annual seed exchange, the online Members’ Area and bursary-supported research and travel. The MPG Bursary Scheme provides modest funding for educational, conservation or research objectives with a connection to Mediterranean plants and gardens, open to all members and particularly encouraging horticulturists who wish to widen their knowledge and experience of Mediterranean plants and dry gardens. Applications are considered by the Bursary Committee, which comprises two or three members of the Management Committee plus six ordinary members.
Recent Activities and Member Reports
In 2026 MPG members attended the celebration of Sissinghurst Castle’s new Mediterranean-style ‘Delos’ garden, with talks by landscape designer Dan Pearson, craft designer Nigel Frogatt and Sissinghurst gardener Richard Gravett; the same year members visited Bere Mill and the Hardy’s nursery and twenty-three members attended the RHS Chelsea Flower Show as guests of bulb specialists Jacques Amand International. Bursary Reports published on the MPG website document member visits to California, the Greek Rhodope, the Western and Northern Cape, the Côte d’Azur, Western Australia, the Peloponnese, Crete, Israel, Portugal, Macaronesia, Italian and French Riviera acclimatisation gardens and many other destinations. In 2026 longstanding MPG member Deni Bown received the CBHL Annual Literature Award for the third edition of her book Aroids – Plants of the Arum Family.
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