Perhaps it was the frozen corpse of Helleborus foetidus pulled from the thawing spring earth. Perhaps it was the fact that the garden statement made by winter flowering Ericas is obscured by five feet of snow. Or maybe just the desperate desire to grow any Camellia at all. Philip is an eastern transplant now living in Vancouver with a lifelong involvement in horticulture.

 

His background is in plant biochemistry, he currently practices oncology nursing in Vancouver. Having been an active participant with a number of gardening groups on both the east and west coasts, Philip presently is acting as chair of the upcoming 2008 western North American Alpine Study Weekend, program director of the Vancouver Alpine Garden Society and membership chair of the Vancouver Rhododendron Society. 

 

The aim of his micro nursery, Clorophyllia, is to evaluate and propagate new material from a wide range of biomes. As part of this enterprise he has traveled to a number of regions on the globe, chosen for their high biodiversities; he has photo-documented the flora, environment and culture of each area visited.