Panayoti Kelaidis, Curator of Plant Collections at the Denver Botanic Gardens, was the designer of its Rock Alpine Garden, one of the best collections of alpine plants in North America. An internationally known plantsman and recipient of many awards including the 2003 Award of Excellence from National Garden Clubs, Inc., Panayoti travels extensively to study and collect plants, lectures worldwide on rock garden plants, and is the author of numerous books and articles. His wife Gwen is a noted writer, editor, lecturer and designer of alpine troughs and gardens. The Panayotis live near Denver.