Margaret Blue

After growing up on my family’s farm, I have been a farmer my entire working career. I have always had a great love of my natural workplace and the native plants, birds and insects I share it with.

It has been a joy to work through the RBGE course and learn to really look and see when studying how to draw and paint plants and learn about how each plant has its unique place in our natural world.

Title of the Project:

Alpine plants of Branches Station

About the Project:

For my final year project, I chose five alpine plants that grow in the alpine environment of the farm my partner and I manage.

The farm, Branches Station, is located up the Shotover river and is made up of a small area of river flats with the bulk of the 33000-ha steep rugged mountainous country, where the sheep roam. We live in the alpine zone of the New Zealand Southern alps with Branches ranging in altitude 500 mts to 2000 mts. It is a harsh but fragile environment with long cold and snowy winters and long hot dry summers. The alpine plants that grow here are hardy and have adapted to short growing seasons and extreme weather conditions.

Illustrations: