Bill Terry (author)

Since 1994, Bill Terry has lived on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, with his wife, Rosemary, pursuing a lifelong ambition to create the perfect garden. Bill specializes in plant propagation and has taught this subject in the Capilano University Continuing Education program. He also lectures on the Blue Poppy and its relatives and raises the plants for sale. His collection of Asiatic poppies (Meconopsis) is the most diverse in North America. He is a member of The Meconopsis Group, the Royal Horticultural Society and other gardening organizations. Now retired, Bill worked as a CBC executive, with a broadcast career that spanned thirty-five years and encompassed thirteen jobs in radio and television production and management in four Canadian cities. Bill believes gardening is the most optimistic of occupations, which explains why gardeners tend to live to a great age.

Blue Heaven

First cultivated in the 1920s, the Himalayan Blue Poppy was welcomed with enraptured applause by British gardeners, who scrambled to buy the brilliant new plant. In time, however, growing the perennial proved challenging. Many still believe it to be impossible. In Blue Heaven: Encounters With the Blue Poppy[1] Terry not only tells the story of the enchanting Blue Poppy, but also shows how, given a suitable climate, a patient and persistent gardener can raise this most alluring of plants. Gorgeous photographs accompany the text throughout, illuminating this rare and precious flower. ISBN 978-1-894898-82-9

Praise for Blue Heaven
  • "With wit and erudition, author Bill Terry examines the world of the fabled Himalayan Blue Poppy and its relatives. Ranging from the sloped of the high Himalayas through the gardens of contemporary poppy lovers, Terry - himself an accomplished meconopsis grower - also provides clear guidelines for the successful cultivation and propagation of these notoriously temperamental beauties. Buy buyer beware! Meconopsis obsession may ensue." Des Kennedy Author of An Ecology Of Enchantment: A Year In The Life Of A Garden.
  • "An irresistable book. Bill Terry's ardent account of the fabled Blue Poppy is elegant, humorous, and bracingly practical - a master class in gardening, the record of a 40-year passion, a chronicle of other gardeners and plant hunters equally possessed. Author and subject are a match made in heaven. I loved the book all the way to the end." Elizabeth Hay Author of Late Nights On Air, Winner of the 2007 Scotiabank Giller Prize.
  • "The history of the Blue Poppy is approached with enthusiasm and a sort of reverence. Terry's own stories about his journeys to China, Scotland and Quebec to muse and compare notes with other "Poppy People", are delightful... This gem of a book is bound to entice you to your own Blue Poppy quest." Mary Ann Moore Reviewed in More Island Living Magazine July/August 2009.
  • "A stunning collection of images and stories telling the history of the enchanting Himalayan Blue Poppy, and showing how, given the right climate, a patient and persistent gardener can raise this alluring perennial plant" Cover feature and review in Books For Everybody Spring/Summer 2009

References and Links