Bill Richardson
Specialising in Ixia and Lilium
West Gippsland
Victoria
Australia
0416066919
03 56252602
ixia@dcsi.net.au
Bill Richardson was born in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia and now lives in West Gippsland, Victoria. Bill has been growing bulbs for many years years and specialises in Ixia. He has completed a Horticultural certificate through Burnley College, Melbourne. Since 1989 he has designed courses in Horticulture training as part of his job in teaching skills to the unemployed. An author, Bill has articles published on the International Bulb Society Web Page and has also contributed many bulb images to the Gallery. A keen photographer, he specialises in close-up photography of flowers. The Ixia is his main love in bulbous plants. Please take some time to enjoy the wonderful pictures and information on this site about his favourite - the Ixia, plus the articles and images of other species.There will be many more images added to this site in the near future. A more detailed profile is found below
"Alcornia" has always been a seed laying dormant in my mind well before I even started growing plants. My love of lilies was eventually established after joining the Victorian Lily and Bulb Group in the 1980's, although I had grown a few lilies before this. The wealth of information and generous donations of seeds and bulbs from members of this group projected me into establishing Alcornia Lilies, or as we call it, :"The Lliy Patch".
Many many years before this, I purchased a parcel of Ixia bulbs at a local supermarket. Imagine my surprise when they flowered and I beheld these amazing inflorescences, which closed and opened each day depending on the weather and with colors so different to anything I had seen. No-one could tell me much about this species - this led me to researching and growing South African bulbs, yet another amazing journey into the world of growing plants from all over world. My first seeds came from a South African nursery called Rust-en-Vrede in the Cape and I will always remember the magic of that time when my first seeds arrived in the mail.
My Ixia website shows many images and related information regards growing bulbs.It is the main reference site on Ixia in the world and is linked to many other websites. From across the globe, I receive many emails and letters for information on growing plants.
This led to me becoming a contributing editor for Suite 101 and all of the articles I published there are still available online. Some of my articles are also featured on the International Bulb Society website as well as articles on organic gardening elsewhere. Although I grow many bulbs at home, the Alcornia Lily Patch has been established in Warragul, West Gippsland in the Botanic Ark Nursery established by my botanist friend Steve La Valley.
My other passion is Dog Obedience Training and I have been an instructor of this discipline in Melbourne and Gippsland in three clubs. I currently deliver classes in Gippsland. I have trained a black Miniature Schnauzer for a title in Companion Dog (CD). He was the first Schnauzer of any variety to gain this title in Victoria. He came from the Cerini's stud prefix of Konoglich who imported the first black Schnauzers into Australia in the 1960's.
I bred and showed West Highland White Terriers for many years during that period of time.
Currently I have two Yorkshire Terriers who have done Obedience, Tracking and some Agility work.
You can find many more albums of my flower photos on Snapfish and Flickr as well as my Ixia site
