1994 Dumfries 4th and 5th September Main Meeting
Mrs Stewart's meeting - the 'Scottish Tea Party' - was based this year on her summer home near Dumfries. Besides herself and two other helpful 'locals', we were a party of six, of which I myself was the only one from the south. The first day was spent in the Moffat hills, above the waterfall The Grey Mare's Tail. We picked our way over the boulders beside the Midlaw Burn seeing several interesting hawkweeds and a number of choice alpines, including Saussurea alpina and Carex caplllaris. The climax was at the head of the burn where, in a small bog, Alopecurus borealis was a beautiful sight, tall and flourishing as none of us had ever seen it before. On the way back over the hills we admired a huge spread of the Dwarf Cornel, Cornus suecica, again flourishing as one rarely sees it.
The next day was less energetic. We spent the morning in the dunes of the Solway coast where the stars were Artemisia stelleriana and the hybrid couch grass Elytrigia x laxa (E. repens x E. juncea), but there were many other seaside plants, less exotic perhaps, which it is always a pleasure to see. Loch Ken, in the afternoon, was something of a disappointment, the water-level being so high that few of the hoped- for plants were on view. But Stellaria palustris did - just - appear, and anyway it was beginning to rain; so we all went home to Mrs Stewart's renowned tea. A happy weekend for us all, for which thanks to Mr and Mrs Stewart are indeed due.
ELIZABETH NORMAN