Proceedings Library

The first records of the use, indicating the importance of South African plants in horticulture, can be traced back to the second half of the seventeenth century.

The Dutch, who arrived in the Cape in 1652, were stunned with what they were exposed to in their new country. It was not only a new world, geographically speaking, but the diversity of birds, insects, mammals, and plants in particular kept them gazing in disbelief. Many of these plants soon found their way to Europe. Simon van der Stel in particular, exported many species to the Netherlands. Descriptions and coloured prints of plants in the magnificent two volumes produced by Jan Commelijn (1697) and his nephew Casper (1701) of plants grown in the botanical garden in Amsterdam, include many of these plants from South Africa. Although many of the names have since been changed, the plants can unmistakably be identified from the descriptions and colour plates. The following serves as examples: Aloe arborescens, A

Hostas are a group of popular shade tolerant herbaceous perennials known more for their foliage effects than for their flowering characteristics. Increased market demand by consumers due in part to the long market window of a plant sold primarily for its attractive foliage, and the number of cultivars available, has resulted in limited supplies of popular cultivars.

Hosta taxa are commonly propagated by division or tissue culture. Sexual propagation is used by hybridizers to develop new cultivars, but is not a commercially viable propagation method because seed propagation does not produce a plant identical to the parent. Hostas are slow growing (Armitage, 1997) and simple division does not produce adequate numbers of new plants. "Mowing" and "the Ross method" (Grenfell, 1996) and the application of benzyladenine (BA) (Garner, et al., 1995, 1996, 1997; Hoover, et al., 1998; Keever, 1995; Keever, et al., 1995a and 1995b; Keever and Bass, 1998; Schultz, et al.,1998) increase

A detailed study was performed in order to compare root-exudate production and chemistry in six different sorghum accessions (SX - 15, SX - 17, 855F, 8446, Della, and johnsongrass). Comparisons were based on the quantity of root exudates produced and related chemical constituents within each extract. In order to provide mass quantities of root exudates, a novel system of root-exudate collection was developed using a capillary-mat system for seedling growth. Six sorghum accessions were then grown on this system and roots exudates were collected, dried, and weighed. Components of these root exudates were then separated via

Standardized seed vigor tests must be developed for greenhouse-grown flower species. Current vigor tests used to evaluate large-seeded agronomic crops are generally not useful for evaluating smaller-seeded flower species. One alternative is to use radicle length in seedlings grown under controlled environments as an indicator of seed vigor. For that purpose a seed vigor test was developed that uses digital images taken using a flat bed scanner to measure radicle length in small-seeded flower species. The superior resolution of the flat bed scanner for collecting images has allowed for easy computer-aided measurements of the small seedling parts seen in flower species. A novel, clear substrate that provides similar moisture holding properties to standard germination blotters used by commercial seed analysts has allowed for quick image acquisition without removing seedlings from the Petri dish. In addition, improved commercially available software allows for accurate

Weed control in container plants can be a daunting task. Nurseries which only grow one type of plant can easily find suitable chemical herbicides for effective weed control. However, smaller more specialized nurseries, such as Lorax Farms, with literally hundreds of different species must carefully considered the choice of herbicides. Alternative methods do exist and the theory is straight forward. Many of our most annoying weeds depend upon light for adequate seed germination — excluding the light automatically stops seed germination. The late Jim Cross of Environmental Nurseries used pine straw as a mulch for container plants, others in my experience have used cocoa shells a costly but effective mulch material. In both cases the mulches were effective at inhibiting light from reaching the weed seeds. Articles in American Nurseryman and the Journal of Environmental Horticulture suggests that pelletized paper might make for an effective mulch (Smith, 1998 and Smith et al.,

Integrated pest management, IPM, is being accepted by more and more nursery professionals, as another tool in daily nursery practices. The cost of various chemicals, liability of worker exposure, environmental concerns, and other considerations, have led nursery professionals to seek more economical alternatives of insect or other vector control and elimination.

Mention the term IPM and people look at you like you are speaking a foreign language. These various procedures offer safer and less toxic ways to deal with vectors of infestation and disease. The use of insect traps will allow the nursery operator or propagator to make more accurate determination of what insect is causing damage to a particular crop or plant. This further helps to determine which product or course of action to follow to effect either reduction or elimination of a given pest.

Let's examine several ways that traps can be utilized in the nursery by the propagator. First, there is the issue of a

After seeds germinate in the spring, and prior to a killing freeze, we cover sensitive species with 1.5-oz yd^-2 fabric. These days we can cover six seedbeds at a time. The material is supported on galvanized steel rods, bent into a curve, and pushed into the ground on either side of the seedbed. The edges of the cloth are held in place with sufficient soil to prevent wind damage. These row covers are removed in early summer after all danger of frost has passed and the growing season begins.

The bee balm resistance studies referred to here are the result of similar tests at two dramatically different sites, the Chicago Botanic Garden in Illinois and in the North Carolina Mountains. The tests were similar except that plants in Chicago were irrigated "as needed" while those in NC received over an inch of rainfall per week as well as almost daily morning fog during June, July and August.

Container production has been increasing rapidly and represents about 30% of Canadian-grown nursery stock. While U.S. nurseries effectively control weeds in containers with a spectrum of licenced herbicides, Canadian nurseries have traditionally resorted to different means — primarily hand weeding, in conjunction with weed discs, and a limited number of herbicides (recently registered) for container use (OMAFRA, 1997).

The typical weed control disc is round and has a slit so that it can be fitted around the stem of the plant. It should be easy to apply; should fit snugly on top of the container mix; should not easily be dislodged or wind-blown; should allow penetration of water to the mix; should not support weed germination and growth on its surface; and should be durable and cost effective (i.e., perhaps costing less than 5 or 10¢ for a 2-gal container).

In the early 1980s, Connon Nurseries (AVK, Rockton, Ontario) introduced the Weed Guard in Ontario. This disc is made

In the spring of 1997 and 1998, one to four lower branches were removed from each of three phenotypically superior trees of black walnut (Juglans nigra), white ash (Fraxinus americana), white oak (Quercus alba), and northern red oak (Q. rubra). Branches were cut into 24 cm long segments ranging from 2.0 to 8.0 cm in diameter. Branch segments were place

Ritchie (1991) surveyed the production of forest trees from cuttings and reported that the annual world production at that time was more than 65 million rooted cuttings. He also noted that half of this production was in Japan where Cryptomeria japonica had been grown by this method for more than five centuries. Another 10 million or more cuttings of radiata pine (Pinus radiata) were reported to be grown in Australia and New Zealand at that time. Canada, Scandinavia, and the U.K. together were annually producing about 21 million cuttings of various spruce species (Picea spp.). New Zealand sales of P. radiata cuttings in 1992 were 6.1 million and this rose to a peak of 24 million in 1996 and have steadied to 19.8 million sold in 1998 (Anon., 1999).

The propagation of P. radiata in New Zealand was for many years based solely on raising open-ground seedlings. Seed was initially collected from existing forest trees to provide bulk seed. Then in the early 1950s breeding

Current trends in the pot plant industry still indicate that production methods should aim at uniformity and high quality ("A" products) if nurseries are to survive the intensified competition of the future. In the future, quality will be determined not only by the nursery but also by customers, for whom decorative value and long life are important quality parameters. The production processes must also use fewer growth-retarding chemicals. To meet these demands a wide range of cultivation parameters must be carefully controlled; the most important of these are connected with the development of robust, compact plants which have plenty of lateral shoots and flower buds. In other words, cultivation practices should aim at high plant activity to ensure optimum water and nutrition uptake leading to a high transpiration rate which will result in robust and compact plants.

The environment in which plants grow influences their rate of transpiration. High humidity conditions will

Besides improving the optimum air to water ratio, Cocopor^® clearly increases the capillarity and water-transport properties in the substrate. The rewetability of the substrate and the important drainage of excess water is clearly improved. Compared to other coconut-based additives on the market Cocopor^® has a particularly low salt content, does not affect the pH of the substrate, and is very suitable for automatic pot filling due to its well defined fiber length. An important characteristic compared with other structure-improving

Systematic development of wood fibre products for horticultural purposes was initiated in France at the end of the 1980s by Elf Aquitaine (Horti-Fibre). A critical part in these developments was played by the two Swiss, Gerhard Baumann and Prof. Penningsfeld. Prof. Penningsfeld was at that time head of the Institute of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition at the University for Applied Science, in Weihenstephan. A fundamental problem encountered during early development was the substantial nitrogen fixation that occurred with wood fibres which could not be solved using the technology available to Horti-Fibre at that time. But Baumann and Penningsfeld refused to give up and continued to develop new ideas. These ideas have been further developed and improved, and still form the basis of the Toresa^® product today.

By 1990 these developments had reached the stage of the product being patented and the first production site for Toresa^® being established in Switzerland.

Experience was

Approximately 5000 years ago the people in Scandinavia started to grow crops.

When crops are harvested it implies that the soil is robbed of its vegetation which would turn into mold and nutrients for the crops to come. This makes it necessary to replace the removed organic matter with other organic matter, and if this is not done we shall disturb the ecological balance of nature.

Back in the nineteenth century nearly all organic matter was brought back to the soil in the form of cattle manure. In the twentieth century industrialization began and fertilizers made their entry in agriculture and later on also in gardens. The humus content of the top soil, however, does not last forever. Fortunately, many have started to realize this and think it is a good idea to use nature's own biological reserves to maintain the humus content.

For a long time sphagnum has been the backbone of growth media because it is available in relatively large quantities in Scandinavia and the

As a substrate producer one is often asked whether there will we be peat enough for the next century or not. The answer is a clear yes, but we will see a bigger part of the peat coming from the eastern parts of Europe.

The area covered by peat bogs or mires worldwide is estimated to approximately 400 million ha of which about 80,000 ha are harvested as horticultural peat. Main peat reserves are in Russia (150 million ha) and Canada (111 million ha). Europe produces ca. 70% of the worlds horticultural peat, while 25% is produced in Canada.

Some years back, environmental discussions focused on the local exploitation of mires in Germany and Great Britain which have lead to a search for alternatives to peat, e.g., bark compost, wood fibres, etc. The search for alternatives will continue in the coming years. I do, however, not expect that alternative substrates without peat can provide satisfactory media for the greater part of the I.P.P.S. member's productions. At least not

Favourable physical and chemical properties as well as a low content of weeds and pathogens make peat an ideal growing medium for plants. From harvesting till processing the peat is stockpiled. During this storage period self-heating may occur. Self-heating causes not only substantial losses of peat (Gärdenäs and Thörnqvist, 1984), but also results in a peat product that may inhibit seed germination and plant growth (Wever and Hertogh-Pon, 1993).

Traditionally peat has been considered to be an almost sterile medium. However, it still contains microbiological activity and the conditions in the raised bog influences the composition of the microflora. Fungi thrive in the acid environment where primarily Penicillium dominates. Furthermore, genera such as Aspergillus, Trichoderma, Pullularia, Alcurisma, Cladosporium, Cephalosporium, and mycorrhiza-forming fungi are present. Bacteria demand more adaption and are dominated by Bacillus and Pseudomonas, but Micrococcus, Arthrobacter, Achromobacter, Chromobacter, and Mycobacterium are also present. Although the microbiological growth in the raised bogs is small and very slow it should not be neglected (Küster, 1990).

Peat is the dominant growth medium used in ornamental potted plant production. However, in many areas of the world, including Denmark (Aaby, 1996), exploitation of peat bogs is restricted. Composts made from household or garden wastes may be attractive alternatives to peat. Such composts are, however, not uniform from time to time and may contain undesirable levels of salts, nutrients, and heavy metals (Grantzau, 1997). Therefore, commercial growers of pot plants are reluctant to use compost based on municipal waste or biowaste as growth medium.

In order to obtain a uniform, stable, and well defined final compost, Miscanthus straw was used as raw material in combination with different nitrogen sources. The purpose of this composting was to obtain defined products. These products were subsequently compared to peat-based growth media for potted plant production.

Organic vegetable production in Denmark has increased rapidly during the last decade. In 1997, the acreage of organic horticultural crops — mainly vegetables — had increased to 769 ha. Accordingly, there is a demand for development of propagation methods with special emphasis on organic farming.

In Danish propagation nurseries, it is common practice to raise seedlings of cabbage in plug trays filled with sphagnum peat. In organic farming, sphagnum peat is usually mixed with limestone and an organic fertilizer. Besides the ability to increase pH of the peat, limestone is an important calcium source. If dolomitic limestone is chosen, a large quantity of magnesium is added at the same time as dolomitic limestone contains about 10% magnesium.

The main purpose of the present study was to assess optimum quantities of dolomitic limestone and fertilizers as additives to sphagnum peat used as a propagation substrate for seedlings of white cabbage raised organically in plug trays.

Midwest Groundcovers is a large wholesale container nursery located in the Midwest. We have a fully developed 160 acres in St. Charles, Illinois, and a partially developed 300 acres in Glenn, Michigan. We think of ourselves as leaders and trend setters in the American nursery market. We strive to stay one step ahead of the industry. This requires us to sometimes think outside the box. If we always do what we've done, we will always get what we've always gotten. With Midwest Groundcovers participating in such groups as the I.P.P.S., it truly helps us to seek and share information. By visiting other nurseries we are able to see systems in use that we presently don't use. On one visit to Lancaster Nursery we saw a system called pot-in-pot. This system is a hybrid between field nurseries and container nurseries. This is one concept that Midwest Groundcovers decided to explore. We took that information we saw and evaluated it to see: (1) Can and will it work in our system? (2) How

I'll begin by telling you who we are. Midwest Groundcovers is a Wholesale Container Nursery started in 1969 by Peter and Irma Orum. We are propagators and growers of: groundcovers, perennials, roses, vines, and shrubs, and we service landscapers and garden centers in the Chicago area and Midwestern states.

I think we have all heard some version of the old saying: "The customer is always right." Although we may get a little tense about this sometimes, I think we all agree, we need to listen to what the customer has to say if we are to remain competitive in the marketplace. My presentation explains one way our company has tried to respond to customer demand in the market.

In our industry there is an increasing demand for larger sized landscape plants. We can sell half of our 5-gal deciduous crop in the same season it is produced. Spring is when we make 60% to 70% of our annual sales. This would suggest we are missing out on 30% to 40% of the potential spring sales of this

When testing germination capacity of seeds in soil or growth substrates the emergence of the shoot is normally recorded. Germination events in the soil are not observed. It would, however, be very beneficial to know more about what happens to the seed in the soil. When studying vigour in tree seeds, it is well known that high- and low-vigour seed lots display different emergence capacity. But what happens to the fraction of the seeds that do not emerge? These may die, stay alive without germination, or may develop a small root or shoot without being able to penetrate to the surface of the soil and, therefore, not establish themselves as seedlings. The fraction of seeds that will not be able to penetrate the surface is larger when environmental stresses increase, but it is not well known how different stress factors affect the destiny of seeds during germination. Increasing our knowledge of the different germination events in a population will enable us to better understand

The North American portion of the United States is vast with 9,375,000 km², 10 climatic zones, over 8000 native species of plants, and 1600 naturalized plant species (Flora of North America, 1993). The climates range from near tropical with rain forest, swamps to deserts, to high plains steppes, and high altitude mountains with arctic conditions at the summits.

Over all summers are hot, usually 25°C or higher, at times near 38°C, highly humid on the East Coast and much drier and less humid west of the Mississippi River. Winters are often cold in the northern portions with wide temperature ranges and snow.

More southernly reaches don't experience severe cold but this is relative with respect to plant populations. These vast climatic differences account for the great potential for natural plant development since many species occur over several climatic and geographic ranges. Plants of the same species found in New York will often be different from those in South Georgia or

Breeding and genetic studies of various herbaceous perennial and woody ornamentals have been initiated by the author at North Carolina State University. These efforts, in conjunction with ongoing efforts by Dr. T. Ranney in the development of pest-resistant ornamental taxa, and the continuing commitment to new plant acquisition and testing by the J.C. Raulston Arboretum (JCRA), under the direction of Dr. Robert Lyons, reflect the department's commitment to the development of new cultivars for the nursery industry.

The author has initiated breeding efforts in various ornamental taxa based on available genetic resources currently available in the JCRA, and based on discussions with colleagues and nurserymen. In this report I will discuss the current efforts in Stokesia, Cercis, and Buddleja breeding. In addition to development of new ornamental cultivars, the research program will also focus on other related objectives including studies of reproductive biology, genetic

My lifelong goal is to trial, discover, and develop low maintenance ornamental plants uniquely adapted to the South. Most of the plants I work with are tropical in origin and produced by cuttings. Others are old-fashioned heirlooms and I have a particular interest in perennial bulbs and reseeding annuals. This presentation includes a sampling of my recent projects.

Lupinus texensis ‘Texas Maroon’ (maroon bluebonnet). An aggie maroon strain of the Texas State flower. This took years of selection from original blue tinges on pink flowers in a production field of pink bluebonnets. This was a joint introduction between Dr. Jerry Parsons and myself of Texas A&M University (TAMU). The selection was introduced by Wildseed of Fredericksburg, Texas, and is a 2000 TAMU CEMAP (The Coordinated Education and Marketing Assistance Program) promotion. This program is an industry - university cooperative program in which Texas A&M University and industry leaders partner in the identification

Hawksridge Farms, Inc. is a production nursery in the western foothills of North Carolina. Although we are a fairly large nursery and produce a lot of the more common plants in the nursery trade, our interest really lies in new or seldom-used plants. We bring in, on the average, around 40 to 50 new varieties per year. Our acquisitions of new material vary from arboretums to mail-order sources. We also acquire many plants from out of the country through our import license. We have made some excellent contacts with various nurseries outside the United States and hope to expand this more in the future.

We immediately begin to propagate these plants once acquired. As soon as possible we try to plant a sample in our test gardens to evaluate its adaptability to our growing conditions. We are located in Zone 7a.

The following is a list of plants that we are currently evaluating. Some of these plants are being sold now and the rest we hope to have in the market in the near

This is the beginning of useful or useless seed propagation. There are several methods of collecting your seed. Some devised are simple and effective, others slow and cumbersome. Collection by hand is the most common practice, but not necessarily the best. It is very time consuming, and the seed is not always ripe, therefore time is wasted. This is also a common occurrence from kind old ladies who come into our nursery. We find that two of the most effective ways of collecting seed is the use of net bags, which are placed over seed heads and the laying down of shade cloth catch sheets. Net bags are most effective in collecting seed from plants which have spring-loaded seed capsules, such as Geranium, or plants that have fruits that are desirable to birds and animals. By using net bags, seed can be left to ripen completely and are easy to pick with no waste. Catch sheets are best when collecting off large trees, such as Podocarpus,

Happy Hollow is a very small nursery, located in the southwestern corner of British Columbia. We have about 1.2 ha (3 acres) of production and specialize in growing some of the harder-to-grow plants — in as economical manner as possible. We are located near the U.S. border and about 64 k (40 mi.) inland from the Pacific Coast. Our climate is typically mild and wet — a West Coast rain forest. Our winter is mostly gray skies and cold rain, interrupted by possibly 2 weeks of freezing weather with or without snow. We can occasionally expect temperatures to drop as low as - 18°C (0°F) for several days to several weeks. These cold spells can happen more than once, and can happen anytime from early November until late February. Spring and fall often have extended periods of sunshine (2 weeks), interrupted by several days or so of rain. Our summers can get hot — up to 32°C (90°F) for several weeks at a time. If we go for 3 weeks without rain, we are having a drought! Annual rainfall is

Environmental issues are always on the front burner when dealing with the production of ornamental crops. Issues such as water quality, runoffwater, fertilizer leaching, pesticide movement, and others are paramount at production facilities. As nursery producers, we need to think out of the pot—instead of thinking about making plants grow 95 miles an hour — think about what is taking place out of the pot with leachate and runoff from production beds.

In the last few years, there has been a lot of research concerning container leachate, how to maximize controlled-release fertilizers, and utilization of cyclic irrigation for reducing runoff from production pads to minimize production practices that affect the environment. Many of you have been operating with Best Management Practices (BMPs) for many years or have implemented BMPs in the past few years to decrease or eliminate irrigation runoff from production facilities.

Before you can begin to write or use any scheduling program, you will need to compile data for the program. You will need relevant information on your company that covers labor and supply expenses, soil mix volumes, and container volumes. After you start to compile all of this information, you may realize that you are not totally prepared to computerize your scheduling. In order to use any computer program to assist with scheduling, a complete understanding of the materials, steps in production, expenses, and timelines for your crops is needed.

My program was first created to schedule annual flower production for greenhouse space and availability for sale. The first step towards the program was creating a list of plants I wanted to track and what basic information I wanted from the program. The basic information I wanted included the following:

• Dates of flower plug arrival and the average date the planted flowers would be saleable.
• Numbers of flats per variety and total

Since Classic's beginning, the idea of "Sudden Service" has meant there would be an emphasis on customer service. This has led to a program of shipping plants as quickly and efficiently as possible and still having them arrive in good condition.

Classic Groundcovers, Inc. is a 36-year-old nursery that propagates and grows groundcovers in 6-cm (2¼-inch) and 10-cm (4-inch) pots as well as bare-root material. We ship nationwide and do some overseas deliveries. We also propagate over 4,000,000 cuttings per year and can ship 1000 packages per day, averaging 2500 packages per week.

We use waxed chicken boxes from the poultry industry for our shipping. Wax is important because we pull orders daily in all weather and the waxed boxes hold up when wet. Each box holds 24 10-cm (4-inch) pots or 70 6-cm (2¼-inch) pots and is packed with newspaper on the sides and top to prevent shifting. We also sell bareroot material, which is bundled, the roots are dipped in a gel polymer solution.

The U.S. National Arboretum, established by an Act of Congress in 1927, is a research facility and living museum in northeast Washington, DC. Administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the mission of the Arboretum is to conduct research, provide education, and conserve and display trees, shrubs, flowers, and other plants to enhance the environment. The Arboretum is a unique federal institution linked by partnerships to many governmental agencies, the scientific community, other arboreta and botanic gardens, and various private-sector groups. As a national center for public education, the Arboretum welcomes over 600,000 visitors annually to a stimulating and aesthetically pleasing environment.

Located on 185 ha (446 acres), the National Arboretum has plant collections, historic sites, and special attractions that appeal to visitors year-round. These attractions include separate landscaped collections of Asian plants, azaleas, conifers, dogwoods,

My brother and I own and operate a wholesale Nursery in the Lower Blue Mountains on the east coast of Australia. This nursery is approximately 80 km (50 mi) west of Sydney. We are very proud to be one of only six nurseries to earn Quality Assurance: AS/NZS ISO 9002. This was achieved in February 1997.

The climate is ideal for Camellia species. We have an altitude of 500 m (1640 ft) and there is little frost. Minimum temperature in early mornings in winter rarely drops below -1°C (30°F). We have only seen snow in this area twice in our lifetime. In the 1950s when we had 5 cm (2 inches) 1 year, and 1.3 cm (0.5 inches) 2 years later.

Producing planting stock for reforestation using rooted stem cuttings is becoming an increasingly widespread practice around the world (Ritchie 1994, Zobel 1992) Vegetative propagation can deliver planting stock of higher genetic quality compared to the system of bare-root seedlings derived from wind-pollinated seed that is currently being used in the southeastern United States.

Producing rooted-cutting planting stock for forestry presents some unique challenges as compared with vegetative propagation for horticultural applications. The foremost difference is acceptable cost. Reforestation stock is a high-volume, low-cost product. Over 1.2 billion seedlings of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) and slash pine (P. elliottii Engelm.) are produced in the U.S. each year at a cost of only a few cents per seedling. Most horticultural crops are worth much more per plant and fewer plants are needed to meet market demand.

Another difference is the genetic make-up of the plants to be

Quercus species are commonly produced from seed. Seedlings are variable in growth rate, foliage qualities, and adaptability to soil, light, and space restrictions. Seedlings are also variable in their tolerance to insect and disease problems. Selections of Quercus species are usually vegetatively propagated by grafting or budding. This method of propagation has had mixed results due to incompatibility with seedling rootstocks or the limited supply of seedling rootstocks for grafting or budding. Growing cultivars of Quercus species from stem cuttings would overcome the scion to rootstock incompatibility problem.

Scion to Rootstock Incompatibility. Incompatibility of the scion to rootstock has been the greatest limiting factor in the successful propagation of cultivars of Quercus species for the nursery industry. Hybridization between oak groups (white oak, red oak, and black oak) has been suggested as a factor for some of the incompatibility of scion to rootstock.

Sophora microphylla and Sophora tetraptera are small trees with attractive yellow flowers in spring. Their mature seeds have hard yellow seed coats, which must be scarified to allow the entrance of moisture before germination can begin. Unscrarified seed can lie in the soil for many years without germinating. If only a few seedlings are needed the hard coat can be cut with secateurs or a sharp knife at the end farthest from the micropyle. Soaking in water for 24 h will swell the seed to twice its size and it can be sown.

Propagation of ornamental grasses is dependent on several criteria including, but not limited to, the time of year, the age of the stock plant, and the method by which the grass is propagated. To complicate matters, all of these criteria are often interdependent on each other. Methods by which ornamental grasses may be propagated are by seed, cuttings, and division. In this paper, the factors influencing successful propagation of ornamental grasses are discussed.

Farfugium japonicum Kitam., a perennial plant in the Asteraceae Family, is grown for food or as an ornamental plants in the forest area of the south-west coast of Japan. The plant is propagated usually from seed or by division. The technique of micropropagation, however, is considered to be more effective for obtaining a large number of elite clones of the plant. We studied the effect of hormones on the propagation of plantlets by in vitro division and on the formation of adventitious buds from petiole explant.

Flowering dogwood, Cornus florida, comprises about 16% of all woody ornamental plant production in Tennessee. Annual sales of this species accounts for $50 million. Flowering dogwood is an important and widespread component of eastern woodlands. In recent years, two destructive diseases have severely impacted native stands of flowering dogwood, and to a lesser degree have caused problems in nursery and landscape situations. Dogwood anthracnose (Discula destructiva) was first observed 20 years ago in Connecticut and has since spread rapidly through native stands in the Appalachian mountains and highlands. In the last 5 years, flowering dogwoods have been under an epiphytotic attack throughout the eastern U.S. by powdery mildew (Microsphaera pulchra). While generally not life-threatening in the woods, powdery mildew severely reduces growth of nonsprayed seedlings in nurseries, thus impacting budding operations. The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture (UTIA)

For the past 6 months I was on sabbatical leave at the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens and Arboreta, in England. They have possibly the largest collection of woody plants in the temperate world. I have been studying, photographing, collecting, traveling, and visiting kindred spirits. This has resulted in more than 5000 photographs, 400 pages of field notes, 112 gardens and nurseries visited, eight major articles written for NMPRO magazine, and over 100 new plants for evaluation in the span of 6 months. I have made terrific contacts that ensure the flow of new plant material. The English are as interested in U.S. plants and our breeding activities, as we are in their material. I met fanatical plants people from the greatest plant collector (Roy Lancaster) of my generation, to a former butcher (Richard Duke) who has the passion and collector's eye seldom seen in the most ardent professional. All shared information, plants sources,

The main problems of growing tree seedlings in containers is development of the root system and blow-over of the plants. Improving root system quality and preventing wrapping and circling can be achieved with RootMaker^™ and other air-root-pruning containers. An assortment of devices have been created to keep larger trees from blowing over. However, most of these techniques are not practical for container-grown trees during the first 1 or 2 years.

Each time a black plastic container blows over and the side is exposed to direct sunlight, roots on the exposed side are killed. In a study to determine these effects, sides of containers were exposed for precise times. The shortest exposure used was 15 min, which was sufficient to kill roots on the exposed side of the container. As a result, I had the idea of growing tree seedlings in the cavity of a cinder block with a liner made of fabric. Seedlings cannot blow over, roots are insulated from heat, and the plants are properly

Water is an essential component of all life on earth. The application of water to nursery and greenhouse plants is the most universal treatment in greenhouse and nursery culture, the most important treatment for crop success and the most discounted and neglected. It is estimated 80% of crop success is due to proper management of water and light. Water quality has a major influence on nursery and greenhouse plant nutrition, growth, and crop quality. The influence water quality imparts is most significant when dealing with young plants or propagation materials.

In woody plants, water has four important functions. First, water is an essential constituent of the plant protoplasm. The water content of plant cells ranges from 10% of dried seeds to 95% of some fruits and young leaves. Water generally represents 80% to 90% of the fresh weight of actively growing tissue. Second, water is the solvent in which gases, salts, and other solvents move in and out of cells and from

Yorkshire Plants is a wholesale nursery located in the north of England approximately 200 miles north of London. Temperatures range from -10°C in the winter up to about 30°C in the summer. We have rainfall of about 24 inches per year. This is not totally unfamiliar to the climate of the Northwest; just not as cold nor as warm and not as wet. Winds, gales, and spring frosts are our other main climatic challenges. Our main crops (Cotoneaster, Euonymus, Larix, Photinia, Prunus, Salix) are top-worked patio trees on an 80- to 150-cm stem. These trees are convenient for retail sales and not too large (they cannot fit into a small family car) but not so small they can still be considered trees. We have tried to search for unusual hard-to-find trees, but with garden appeal (e.g., variegated, purple foliage, large leaves, cut leaves, or contorted forms). Conifers (Picea, Pinus, Cedrus, Abies, Taxus) are grafted plants with high value.

Diseases caused by species of Botrytis (Table 1) are probably the most frequent and widely distributed diseases of nursery plants, with B. cinerea being the most common. Symptoms of Botrytis diseases generally appear as blights or rots of various plant tissues. Under humid conditions the characteristic gray cottony sporulating mycelia appears, thus the common name of gray mold. In addition, symptoms can consist of leaf spots and cankers. Diseases caused by B. cinerea. are also some of the most difficult diseases to control due to the pathogen's prolific asexual reproduction, ability to survive as a saprophyte, and the continuous susceptibility of plants to infection.

Hopefully, for most plants that are introduced into the nursery trade, there has been considerable time given to testing and trialing to determine the stability and uniformity of the plant. Failure to do so may lead to unhappy customers and sometimes embarrassment for the grower who developed it.

In the process of developing a new plant for the nursery trade, the hybridizer spends many years and sometimes a lifetime working on specific plants. She or he may make thousands of pollen crosses and save millions of seeds and grow and evaluate unfathomable numbers of plants before one may finally meet

When a packet of seed arrives on your desk, it is to all intents and purposes dead. It doesn't appear to move, grow or breathe. Unfortunately it sometimes is dead on arrival (DOA). Most species of plants flower and once pollinated, develop into seed. Once seed is shed it goes through a period of conditioning that allows it to germinate when conditions are near optimum so as to ensure maximum survival. In most cases this conditioning involves removal of chemical inhibitors surrounding or within the seed coat. These inhibitors are removed by; washing (rain), acid drench (bird and animal digestive system), temperature (stratifying), light, fungal, or a combination of the above.

We are fortunate that by collecting and storing seed we are able to hold seed in a relatively dormant state until we germinate. To do this we need to understand and apply the methodology needed to break down the chemical inhibitors. Substitutions for natural conditionings can be used to facilitate ease

A walnut grower from California reported that the cold spring weather adversely affected their field-grafted walnuts so that graft survival could not be determined until May. This was unacceptable and he asked if anyone in the group had tried using a pipe to provide heat to the graft union in a field setting so that the rootstock could remain in the ground. No one in the group had knowledge of this being done in the field.

Mr. Frank Byles, a grower of Japanese and related maples in Olympia, Washington, described a pipe and shelf system that he developed for hot callusing the graft unions of containerized Acer palmatum. Mr. Byles reported observing more than eight hot-callus operations before designing his system. None of the systems he studied were alike, they varied by factors like:

This paper is not intended to be a review of plant micropropagation. Rather, it is an examination of the relatively unexploited benefits plant tissue culture may provide our plant growing industry. In the following text we will examine two areas:

1. Producing and maintaining high health plants.
2. Producing, screening, and preserving beneficial variation.

A small experimental nursery at Hazorea has for a number of years been developing techniques intended to produce lightweight nursery trees adapted for transportation to remote and possibly primitive destinations. Subtropical and tropical fruit and nut trees, such as are usually grown commercially in bags, are produced with highly compacted roots in pads whose dimensions are similar to thin pocketbooks. This flat configuration allows for efficient packing, insulation, air-freighting, and cartage under rough conditions. The rootpads can be used with wide-ranging tree-nursery-propagating systems.

Tests included both open ground and intensive greenhouse practices; all of the techniques involved air root pruning, copper root control, or spun-bonded polypropylene fabric as used in growbags. Most trees were vegetatively propagated.

Modifications were made recently to accommodate more efficient irrigation practices. These resulted in incorporating the rootpads into a kind of

The Arboretum at Flagstaff is located at an elevation of 7150 ft on 200 acres of the world's largest ponderosa pine forest. It is the mission of the Arboretum to study and display native plants and plant communities of the Colorado Plateau. It is also our mission to identify, evaluate, and introduce into cultivation plants adaptable to the climatic conditions of the Plateau.

With an area of 170,000 square miles, the Colorado Plateau includes elevations from 2000 to 14,000 ft. Parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado are located on the Plateau. Known throughout the world as the site of the Grand Canyon, the Plateau is one of the most environmentally varied and sought-after environments in North America. It was here that C. Hart Merriam pioneered his system of life zones, with all of the six zones represented on the Plateau.

Health and safety issues are often perceived as time-consuming, costly, and nonproductive. This perception can become reality for the propagator/manager that adopts it with a negative attitude. However, for the nurseryperson who embraces a proactive approach, the rewards are significant and long-lasting.

This paper is not intended to be an instructional "how-to guide". It is, however, intended to encourage a second look at safety conditions in our nurseries and to

The need for an alternative indicates there is a problem with the current method. Our need for an alternative has risen from the fact that the herbaceous liner market has become very crowded, and in most cases, our competition has a distinct climatic advantage at key times of the year. What I will discuss here is how we at Skagit Gardens try and counteract some of the disadvantages of propagating herbaceous plants at our latitude during the winter months.

Control of adventitious rooting is complex, involving regulation by several compounds which vary during stages of root development (De Klerk et al., 1999; Kevers et al., 1997). Regulation of rooting involves interactions between carbohydrates, nitrogen compounds, enzymes, and hormones (Haissig, 1982). In our lab, we are investigating hormonal and nutritional regulation of root growth during propagation of common ericaceous plants grown in Pacific Northwest nurseries. There is little available information describing hormonal and nutritional changes in ericaceous plants during vegetative propagation or during container production. This paper presents information on the relationship between rooting and tissue nitrogen and protein content of ericaceous plants.

Heritage Seedlings seed propagates more than 30 Acer species from Asia and North America. We focus on the more unusual, difficult-to-germinate species, but we also grow more easily germinated species, such as A. palmatum. This paper describes some of our experiences with maple seed, especially the effect of drying seed after collection. Selected maples are grouped by germination pre-treatments. Specific techniques to enhance germination results with difficult species are described.

During the past three decades, micropropagation has proven to be an economical and technically feasible method of propagation for some crops. However, individuals are often discouraged from setting up a lab because they believe it is very expensive. A large lab is expensive to set up. The cost to construct and equip a lab designed to produce 500,000 plants per year has been estimated to be $250,000 (Sluis and Walker, 1985). Establishing a small-scale lab to produce 100,000 plants per year should not be prohibitively expensive. In addition, it can provide an opportunity to train staff, develop culture protocols, and to evaluate the business with minimal capital inputs. If it shows promise, more expensive, specialized lab equipment can be purchased down the road to increase the lab's efficiency.

Before starting a lab, all propagation options should be considered, which includes hiring a lab to do contract micropropagation. Micropropagation is not an easy business to make

Klupenger Nursery and Greenhouses, Inc. is a 50-year-old company specializing in rhododendrons, florist azaleas, Japanese maples, grafted conifers, and many other assorted shrubs. We have been in the same location for the past 37 years. Using houses and benches that have been used for many years creates some challenges, one of which is cleanliness. We do as much as we can to maintain a clean and usable propagation area. Our benches are treated yearly with wood preservative, the glass is cleaned on a regular basis, and the trails get top-dressed with gravel as needed. We even spray an entire area with chlorine prior to putting in a new crop. Despite these measures, the fact that things have been around for a while, disease has a lot of places to hide.

The purpose of this presentation is to discuss, in practical terms, the nature of plant disease in high humidity propagation houses utilizing fog and mist systems, and to present workable, tested control strategies from both research and personal experience. An integrated approach to disease management is crucial, since chemical control alone is seldom effective. There is no one strategy that will, by itself, control pathogens under the intense disease pressure that exists in fog and mist houses. However, good control is possible by utilizing many different strategies.

We are located in the North Central U.S. and so are heavily influenced by an inland continental climate. The growing season is 125 days on average and can vary from about 115 to 145 days. The average frost free days are probably our greatest limiting factor in seedling production in North Dakota.

Climate is rated as USDA Zone 3 with winter lows below -30°F in at least 7 out of 10 years, occasional lows dip below -40°F. Moisture averages 16 inches annually in Bismarck to 20 inches at our nursery in Oakes. Snow cover may range from heavy to nearly non-existent in some years, typical of the plains environment.

A question was posed to the group about the use of coconut coir. Most people in the session use peat moss, and many have tried coir. Quality problems with coir include; high salts potentially and coir may make nitrogen unavailable to the plant. It was suggested that when purchasing coir, use inland sources that may contain fewer salts. It was also discussed that coir may tie up nitrogen in the soil making it unavailable to the plants. A comment

The next topic of discussion

Grafting is a technique used to unite "parts" of different plants by bringing the cambium of each into contact and then creating a situation under which the cut surfaces can unite and grow together (Macdonald, 1986).Grafting is the main reason so many unique conifers with unusual forms can be offered in today's retail market. Conifer grafting usually involves bench grafting. Bench grafting covers grafting and budding techniques completed inside a covered structure, normally a shed or greenhouse (Macdonald, 1986). The type of bench

Pots. Unrooted cuttings can be stuck in 2¼-inch pots filled with standard rooting medium, placed in flats and arranged on beds made of concrete or gravel. Fifty-percent shade is used. Bottom heat is required in the winter (Southern California). Mist intervals were set from 1 to 60 min depending on weather conditions. A 30-inch wind barrier helps prevent the mist from drifting. Animal control is necessary. Success has been achieved with a select group of plants: Berberis, Camellia, Buxus, Euonymus, and Juniperus. Increased airflow was credited when Bougainvillea cuttings, stuck in summer in outdoor beds, resulted in increased rooting success.

Field Beds. Semi-ripe cuttings of plum, poplar, and willow can be stuck in raised beds in November, providing the soil is still warm. Rooting hormone is applied to the base before sticking and the cutting is inserted to its mid-point. The raised beds are covered with sawdust to prevent heaving.

Alternatively, cuttings (6 to 8 inches)

1. Good cutting wood and cutting stock.
2. The experience of the person taking the wood.
3. Soils, hormones, and timing.
4. Methods and techniques.

As propagators, we were fascinated by the possibility of rooting cuttings without mist (Zhang and Graves, 1995). Subirrigation is a alternate method of propagation that can reduce labor costs and water use, (Wen-fei, et al., 1998) while promoting healthy cuttings with rooting percentages equivalent to mist. Rooting cuttings without mist would help prevent water-logging of the rooting medium, eliminate dripping mist lines, and reduce disease. We thought that one of the greatest advantages to the subirrigation system would be in managing the cuttings. Multiple varieties of cuttings could be placed within a single propagation area. The cuttings would use water as needed and therefore avoid the problems associated with controlling mist. In addition, using subirrigation to root stem cuttings may be an alternative method for approaching difficult-to-root cuttings (Mezitt, 1978). Since we were unable to find any literature based on studies in a northwest climate, we began a

Demand for high quality woody transplants has been increasing worldwide in forestation and reforestation for global environment conservation and energy/food production. Transplant production by micropropagation methods is more beneficial than transplant production using seeds or vegetative methods with respect to genetic uniformity, virus-free or pathogen-free propagules, and scheduled year-round production. However, producing woody transplants using micropropagation techniques will only become cost effective when: (1) the photosynthetic ability of the transplants is fully expressed; (2) no symptoms of hyperhydricity or physiological and morphological disorders exits; (3) normal root development (formation of lateral roots and normal vascular systems) in the in vitro stage occurs; and thus, higher percent survival of transplants in the ex vitro; and (4) no acclimatization is required.

Until now, adventitious bud formation has not been reported for balloon flower in tissue culture. The objective of the present study was to examine adventitious bud formation and plant regeneration as affected by cultivar, hormone, explant source, and culture conditions with Platycodon grandflorus.

The tuber tips with the meristem proved to be good explants for tuber culture of Gloriosa. When meristems

Here are two ideas that immediately come to mind:

1. Did you know that smoke helps many Australian and South African native seeds to germinate?
2. Petrol can be used to clean sticky seeds.

When I first came to Japan to the conference in Miyazaki 5 years ago I had a wonderful time. It was a totally new experience. I left, however, with an impression that Japan was very Americanized but how wrong that proved to be.

I met my dear friend Shozo Watanabe at an I.P.P.S. conference in New Zealand a few years back and since then my visits to Japan have been more than memorable. Shozo has shown me the real Japan. He has shared

With the Tondemonai pot the container medium has the water evenly distributed throughout the pot. The medium in this pot is well drained and has a stable water content. The 24- and 30-cm-diameter pots have an octagon face and the 15 cm diameter pot has a hexagon face. The stair-shape of the pot sides induces the roots to grow to the corner of the pot and the air. This structure

At my nursery plants are grown in containers for public landscaping. I grow Mainly conifers.

Currently, the economic situation is very critical for nursery-stock growers because spending on public landscaping has been reduced. On the other hand, home gardening booms and people have a strong interest in green plants. However, there are very few plants available which satisfy this new demand of plant lovers. To find a way out of this critical situation nursery-stock producers are introducing new plant cultivars, producing new tree forms, and developing special tree standard forms. Not only are the plants that will be grown by nurseries changing but the systems required to produce those plants will have to be changed. This change will be promoted by using new types of labor-saving agricultural implements, materials, and facilities.

Two types of demand dominate cut flower sales (more than 80%) in Japan; one Is business occasions such as ceremonial needs and the other is domestic Consumption such as casual flowers. The remaining approximately 20% is demand by flower fanciers who have a passion for flowers. They may have studied flower Arranging and take it for granted that one decorates with flowers when visitors come. Flower fanciers have a higher sensitivity with regard to flowers, are better at flower arranging, and may act as a driving force in the flower market leading to the next generation of casual flower sales. Therefore, breeders should pay more attention to their demands and produce/introduce new plants that can create new images with flowers. Traditionally the forces driving plant breeding have been predominately productivity increases and disease resistance.

Tissue culture has been adopted successfully for the mass production of many rhododendrons. However, the micropropagation of the tsutsusi group of evergreen rhododendrons is not commercially successful at the production level. We are conducting research to establish the protocol for the red-data species (threatened speices) found only in one spot on Shikoku Isle. In this paper we report preliminary results on the regeneration of shoots from seedling hypocotyls of Rhododendron yedoense var. yedoense.

Hybrid lily cultivars with new characteristics have recently been developed from wide crosses by pollinating cut styles and embryo culture. We have tried many wide cross to produce improved cultivars. However, the life cycle in lily from crossing till anthesis takes several years and it was felt that shortening this long life cycle would increase breeding efficiency. In this research the most suitable seed developmental stage and promoting effect of scarification were studied for the efficient rearing of oriental hybrid lilies.

In a previous study on oriental-hybrid-lily seed germination it was ascertained that the most suitable developmental stage for embryo culture was 60 or 70 days after crossing. It was also shown for in vitro culture that scarification of immature seeds promoted germination of immature embryos. In this study we investigated whether the scarification method was also the best for four additional hybrid combinations.

The concept of "greening" has been well established in Japan for 30 years, however, its role has change recently. The initial aim of greening was to provide a more comfortable atmosphere for people through free plantings. Public areas such as parks and street-tree planting locations, as well as private enterprises such as golf links and tree-planted factories were developed on a large scale. Until now, because of these types of demands, production of standardized and inexpensive nursery plants replaced traditional ones to a great extent. Recent demands from consumers for new tree shapes adapted to Western-style gardens and the emphasis on plants for their foliage and flower characteristics have been increasing. Such demands will often require different horticultural production techniques and thus the producers who are only currently growing standardized plants are suffering at this time because of decreased demand for their product. Today I will discuss the difference

According to the Red Data Book there are 5300 species of native plant in Japan. However, 895 of these species are threatened with extinction; of these 144 species are orchids (Japan Society of Plant Taxonomists, 1993).

In Mito Municipal Horticulture Center two Japanese native orchids, Pecteilis radiate (syn. Habenaria radiata), which is categorized as endangered in Red Data Book and Vandopsis luchuensis, have been propagated by nonsymbiotic seed propagation for the restoration.

These grafting techniques were developed in Japan a long time ago. A German, Philipp Franz von Siebold (1796–1866), introduced the techniques to the world in 1828. Prior to this introduction, the Japanese disliked publicising the advanced techniques and traditional propagators worked hard to find new and better ways of grafting that differed from other propagators. This led to the development of many new and useful techniques. A new technique was kept as a secret technique by the master propagator and was only taught to very few pupils. This is why, with the death of master propagators and the few pupils who had received their knowledge, over time numerous techniques were lost. It is unfortunate that the philosophy of "Seek and Share" did not exist in the past in Japan. Due to the past secrecy surrounding these techniques, it is sad that few Japanese today have expertise in practising these advanced plant propagation techniques. The

Bracts of flower stalks were removed before or after sterilization. Decontamination rate of nodal sections was higher when they were sterilized with bract. Subsequent growth of lateral buds was affected by the timing of bract removal. More lateral buds developed vegetative shoots when bracts were removed before sterilization.

Micropropagation from a plantet was also investigated using in vitro cloned plantlets. The basal 1.5-cm part of a plantlet was cut into 2.5-mm or 5-mm sliced segments which were cultured on new phalaenopsis medium (Hirose, 1998) with or without coconut water (CW) and/or 6-benzylaminoprine (BA). Regeneration of shoot(s) and callus-like body was dominant in the slice segments derived from 5 to 10 mm part from the base of the shoot and was promoted by addition of CW and/or BA.

It is generally known that a plant grows to a small size when the plant is grown under light that has a high red to far-red ratio in the spectrum. Mitsui Chemical Inc. utilized this phenomenon to development new types of covering materials for plant-height-growth regulation. For growth inhibition the film and panel material types have a high capacity to absorb light in the red spectral range present in the sun's radiation. We have tested those panel and film materials on ornamental and vegetable crops. In this report we report the potential of utilizing this material in plant production.

About 1200 unpruned plants, which are over 100 years old, of Rhododendron kaempferi, R. transiens, R. ×obtusum, and others are growing in this park. The oldest azalea is over 800 years and 5 m in height and 9 m in width. Local personages in Meiji and Taisho Era also planted valuable cultivars Edo-Kirishima bred in the Edo period. These old shrubs are a valuable genetic resource because of the accumulated flower mutations and other characters. At the end of April the park is in full bloom with azalea flowers which make this

I entered the orchid growing business when the Japanese economy was very prosperous. Until the downturn came at the end of the economic peak their market value increased because the demand for orchids as gifts was high. Prior to the downturn it was hoped that orchid production would become a large horticultural industry bringing in as much as a trillion dollars per year. During this rapid growth in demand for orchids many nonhorticulturists, such as people working in electric companies, began producing orchids.

Interest was further stimulated during this period when the world's largest orchid conference, World Orchid Conference, was successfully held in Tokyo. In addition, many books on orchids covering topics from picture books of orchids to specifics about raising them were published. So, it seemed that even the book publishing companies would make a lot of money from orchids not just those who raised, marketed, or traded them.

However, the economy took a downturn

With the purpose of highlighting the landscape architect's involvement with plants in the course of executing the planning phase of a project, and to show where and how plant material is applied during this process, it is necessary to describe the various steps of the landscape design process briefly. Once this background is set, the impact of current availability of indigenous plant material on the success of the designs will be considered. The conclusion will focus on the needs of the landscape architect in the form of a wish list and a few recommendations for the future will be made.

For some time, the beneficial effect of Trichoderma on plants has been known. Laboratory and field experiments have shown it to have antifungal properties as well as growth-promoting effects in field cropping situations (McPherson & Hunt, 1995). More recently, its use has been promoted in growing media (Brooke, 1998) and seed treatments (Bjorkmann et al., 1998).

Previous attempts to use Trichoderma-based products by Sunraysia Nurseries in vine propagation failed to provide any improvement in vine quality. However, as researchers have discovered more about how to better handle and utilise the organism, more reliable preparations have become available. On learning of these improved formulas at the 1998 I.P.P.S. conference in Perth, it was decided to revisit the trial. Two products were tested. The first was a nutritive pellet impregnated with Trichoderma spores called Trichopel®. The second, a wettable powder formulation called Trichoflow^™. Both these products contain strains

North Forest Products (NFP) has recently commissioned a new 10 million per year capacity container nursery in N.W. Tasmania to produce Eucalyptus nitens and E. globulus seedlings, mainly for its own tree farm program in Tasmania.

Our OPPORTUNITY is to be able to shop around to get the best value for money.

Our OBLIGATION is to analyse our potting operations, look to future trends and directions, and tell the manufacturers what industry standards and shapes we need, to be better propagators.

Over the centuries many great minds have written on the subject of "quality". Robert Pirsig in his book, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, devotes many a page trying to define the intrinsic characteristics of quality, without real success. It is amazing that with the amount of usage the word receives, very few people can give a good definition of what it is. Yet we use it when describing food, accommodation, entertainment, clothing, art, and just about anything else we are likely to spend money on. The advertisers would have us believe that everything their client sells is "top quality" and everyone else's is poor quality.

When you add this conundrum to the fact that what is quality for one

At the New Town Station production nursery we had a history of spasmodic over and under production. I was your classic hit and miss plant propagator. Firstly, I took too many cuttings from some plants because I knew they would strike easily and, therefore, I would have the numbers to sell; or I sowed too many perennial seeds just because they were cheap and they germinated quite easily. Unplanned I was hoping the market would somehow absorb the surplus. However, in most cases it would not, so my surplus heap got larger and larger.

The plants that the market did want I often could not supply because I did not take enough cuttings at the right time and/or I did not have access to enough propagation material. Basically I seemed to be operating without much of a plan. I also had the plants ready for sale either too early or too late for the market place. My timing was off! Therefore, my stock management had to improve so that I had enough cutting material and at the right

Members of the Dianella genus are perennial monocots forming tough rhizomatous clumps with tufts of long leaves that are flat and clasping at the base. Leaf length, width, and colour varies with the species and particular habitat. All have blue flowers and wonderful blue to purple berries. The genus extends from south east Africa through south east Asia to Hawaii and Australasia. Australia has 15 species, 11 of which are endemic (The Flora of Australia, 1987).

Tasmania has four species represented, all extending to south east mainland Australia. Dianella tasmanica has leaves 1.5 to 3.0 cm wide and 20 to 90 cm in length. Young leaves emerge upright arching gracefully downwards as they mature. This species is easily distinguished by a rough saw

An orchid is a big spectacular delicate flower that grows in steaming jungles, it is rare and difficult to grow, and takes 7 years to flower and is surpassingly feminine. Not true.

An orchid is a tough, exceedingly common flower that will grow almost anywhere. It may be small and drab and can hardly be seen without a magnifying glass. It is one of the easiest plants to grow and produces flowers every year. Far from being feminine it is, in name at least, superlatively masculine. The ancient Greeks were the first to take botanical notice of these curious plants. Theophrastus, the father of botany, writing on the European ground orchids, gave the name Orchis to the plants from the resemblance of the paired underground tubers to masculine anatomy. This suggested to the Greeks and medieval herbalists that orchid roots may "provoke Venus" and eating them might influence the sex of unborn children (Marden, 1971).

The species of orchids found in Tasmania comprise one epiphyte,

Dicksonia antarctica

Our set up involves six separately insulated, thermostatically heated benches. The fog is very fine, about 5-micron droplets, and is activated by a relative humidity (RH) control box. A wet/dry bulb acts as the sensor. The whole glasshouse is covered with a retractable shadecloth cover which we use in the hotter months. Normally RH is set at 80%.

Generally, I am happy with the system. It does allow for use of very soft tip cutting material, even in summer. The cutting medium doesn't stay excessively wet and we operate virtually organically, without

• "A weed is a plant in a place where it is not wanted"
• "Environmental weeds are plants that invade native vegetation, usually adversely affecting regeneration and survival of the indigenous flora and fauna"
• "Weed is a concept created by bipeds to justify the control and extermination of unwanted plants"
• "A weed is a plant whose virtues are yet to be discovered"

Weeds can inspire many emotions in people from anger and frustration through to admiration and passion. The botanist who named Shepherd's purse, Capsella bursa-pastoris, was deeply moved, not by the heart-shaped seed case, but by its resemblance to the scrotum of sheep.

What makes many plants so successful as weeds? Listed below are some of the features that would be possessed

While much research has been undertaken on the technical aspects of plant propagation, little has been recorded about the equally important aspects of personnel management. Following a study trip to the West Coast of North America to look specifically at personnel management in propagation, an attempt was made to redress this imbalance by reporting my findings to the I.P.P.S.

Using the information and experience gained from my travels in the U.S.A. and from studying and observing personnel management techniques in the U.K., I will endeavor to explain what the benefits can be to staff, management, and the business. Putting personnel management techniques into practice is a challenge. This paper provides an account of how I have applied my findings while employed as a manager in the U.K.

There is little doubt that the present difficulties associated with labour resources across the nursery stock industry are a major concern to nursery managers. They have in fact become a global problem and many nurseries now share similar concerns as much of the work remains labour intensive, so attracting considerable materials handling costs. Seasonal tasks such as potting, planting, order collation, and despatch are prime examples. Handling adds cost but adds nothing to profit. A further consideration is that the labour force now available to land-based industries, such as horticulture, has been in decline for some considerable time and there is more competition than ever before for good staff, particularly from the service industries.

Nurserymen now need to compete in an increasingly difficult and challenging global market which is frequently price sensitive. A declining labour force is one of several problems. Import competition remains fierce and to maintain

The Government, through the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food (MAFF) has a beneficial interest in plant propagation and production and this can be illustrated with reference to two aspects of MAFF activity. First, there is the policy towards regulation of the sector and, secondly, its efforts through the research and development programme.

Investors in People is the UK's national standard which sets a level of good practice for improving an organisation's performance through its people. It offers a framework for integrating human resource strategy with business strategy.

The Standard helps improve business performance and competitiveness, through a planned approach to setting and communicating business objectives and developing people to meet these objectives. The result is that what people can do, and are motivated to do, matches what the organisation needs them to do. The Standard supports individual improvement and development.

It also draws on the experience of some of the U.K.'s most successful organisations, both large and small. It, therefore, provides a comprehensive benchmark of good practice against which any organisation can audit its policies and practice in the development of people.

The Standard assists in making effective use of all resources, by developing a culture of continuous improvement.

When a new member of staff joins Hillier Nurseries they receive, as part of their induction package, a brief explanation of the Investor in People scheme and how it works in practice at Hillier Nurseries. When the induction material was first written, soon after the company achieved the award in January 1993, this was needed because few people had heard of the Investor in People initiative. Today, in the U.K., 7.75 million people work for organisations which have achieved Investors In People.

Hillier Nurseries was fortunate in being offered an early opportunity to obtain the award as part of a pilot scheme involving a small number of businesses in Hampshire. It seemed to be tailor-made for the company as it comprised a framework which would use the various personnel and training initiatives already in place at Hillier, and integrate them with the company's business objectives. It would also provide the scrutiny and deadline of an external assessment.

It took 18 months for

Commercial horticultural production in the UK is based on approximately 10,000 holdings employing 60,000 people, including proprietors. There are 25,561,000 working people in the UK so the industry represents about 0.2% of the working population. Ongoing technological advances and large-scale investment in plant propagation over the last 30 years has meant that the industry's need for technically and managerially skilled staff continues to rise. In the period 1950 to 1980 the industry was adequately supplied with staff, recruited locally or via the land-based colleges. More recently there has been a serious shortage of suitable new staff in virtually all areas of production horticulture, with many advertisements for both technical and managerial staff failing to attract the desired applicants and the majority of enquiries to colleges failing to yield any candidates at all. The incentive to attract good staff and develop existing staff to their full potential has never been

The first correspondence college was the International Correspondence School which started in 1887 in America. It is now big business and all the colleges not already offering open learning or distance learning packages are catching up as fast as they can. The Horticultural Correspondence College (HCC) in the U.K. was started by a Mr. Ibbett in the early 1930s.

Eighteen months ago I left a very good job on a large nursery to buy an existing small nursery. It is approximately 0.5 ha, half of it under protection.

Like many I.P.P.S. members, I went into the nursery business because of a love of plants but as I moved up the career ladder I found myself managing people, becoming increasingly office-bound, and having less to do with plants. Acquiring a nursery of my own seemed a good way of getting back to plants but with the added challenge of running a business.

To build up a nursery from scratch takes time and buying an existing business outright requires capital. I was fortunate to come to an agreement with two of the existing shareholders at Chevin Nurseries: I bought the majority shareholding with the agreement of buying the remaining shares by the end of 2000. Mike Booth, the other shareholder and director, agreed to stay on to help me settle and learn the business. I was very lucky to step into an established business with a

Darby Nursery Stock Ltd. is situated in a region of intensive agriculture and horticulture. Agricultural production is predominantly on arable farms growing cereals, sugar beet, and potatoes. Horticultural production is mainly field-scale vegetable and soft fruit production. Because of this high density of growing, related companies, such as vegetable processors and packers, have also grown up in and around this area.

The labour requirement for this type of industrial production is still relatively high. However the demand is seasonal. Planting and harvest often requires a high labour input. To fulfill this short term need growers will often really on seasonal staff in the form of gang workers.

The business is based near Spalding in the Lincolnshire Fens. It has six departments, each with its own specific labour requirements.

The largest department is Soft Fruit Propagation. This covers traditional field production of strawberry plants, raspberry canes, and other fruit bushes such as gooseberries, currants, and blackberries. Many of these are Ministry Certified cultivars, aimed at fruit farmers, retailers, and other outlets. These are grown on more than 40 ha in South Lincolnshire and West Norfolk. The main labour requirements are for planting, weeding, de-blossoming (a requirement for Ministry Certified strawberry plants), runner training, lifting, grading, and packing for cold storage.

Cross Keys Nursery is a recently developed part of the business which has been set up to grow strawberry plants in modules from misted tips. Many members of I.P.P.S. GB&I Region will be familiar with the Nursery Stock Division which grows a

There have been many changes in the way the Australian nursery industry trains its propagators and other nursery staff during the past 10 years and there are likely to be continuing changes into the foreseeable future. The industry in both Australia and in Great Britain and Ireland share the challenges of being more receptive and aware of the new skills and knowledge base propagators need. In Australia, the Nursery Industry Association is taking on the responsibility of ensuring that the next generation of propagators is able to produce quality plants in a seemingly more sophisticated and demanding world.

Until a few years ago, the Australian Federal Government fully funded post secondary vocational training, including university courses. This was achieved by funding state-owned training organisations. These organisations designed and accredited their own courses and also offered and controlled qualifications. They had no requirement to liaise with the industry they

We all know that South Africa is a dry country with limited water resources. Droughts are normal. The increasing demands made on present water resources are likely to reduce future supply. Legislation restricting the use of surface and underground water resources will expand.

The country can ill afford water consumers that have no basic plan to conserve water. No industry should be without a blueprint as to how it can conserve waste water—least of all the horticultural industry. It is inevitable that the Department of Water Affairs will begin monitoring the use of water by the horticultural industry. Therefore, the industry must become more pro-active insofar as water conservation is concerned. Future legislation could be tempered if the industry is seen to save water.

We are mostly aware that we nursery operators are wasteful users of water. None more so than the seedling industry. We often do have to over-irrigate to ensure even watering. We know that we often rely on a well

As the manager of a 1.6-ha garden and plant centre I increasingly hear my customers tell me that they "have stopped buying plants at garden centres". This paper looks at who these customers are and why this should be. Obviously the majority of the gardening public will continue to buy plants at garden centres but for small specialist growers, the challenge is to attract those disillusioned garden centre customers and to provide for them the atmosphere, the range of plants, and the novelty they are looking for. In particular I shall consider the role of the display garden in achieving this.

For crops such as Viburnum tinus and its cultivars, Photinia, Leptospermum, Callistemon, etc. the costs of producing a quality liner would be 14p, but this

Several study tours to New Zealand have been accounted for in past I.P.P.S. papers, many of which I have read and enjoyed. Naturally this account is the most important one of all to me, and I would like to share my love and enthusiasm for the plant life of New Zealand with as many as are interested.

My visit to New Zealand in January of 1999 was made with the intention of seeing the native plants in their natural habitat. Establishing contacts with I.P.P.S. members was also a priority.

My work at the time, as manager of a small liner nursery in Ireland, had brought me into contact with many New Zealand plants, notably Pittosporum, Leptospermum, Phormium, and many of the tussock grasses. I, therefore, had background knowledge of the main plants in the flora. The New Zealand flora is more valued for its foliage than for its flowers and on most plants the flowers are insignificant although usually scented.

As a new botanical institution, Eden will offer innovative and contemporary responses to the prevailing agronomic, land use, and conservation challenges. These challenges are posed by humankind's impact on the natural world and result from the developing needs of our species. Within this framework, Eden's focus will be on the relationship between humans and plants, although recognising that proposed solutions will have wider implications.

The policy and activity of Eden will be directed by the principles enshrined in the Convention on Biological Diversity (the Rio Convention) and Agenda 21: in turn projects will be designed to support the stated priorities of the IUCN — the World Conservation Union.

At present the mission statement of the Eden Project is "To celebrate plants and promote and explore the balance between conservation and the rational use of plant resources, emphasising the historical and dynamic relationship between humanity and the land, through collaborative

The silent auction will close this evening so you will have plenty of time to make your bids.

Our program chair, Dale Deppe, spent the last year bringing this program together. When you see him, also thank him for a job well done.

This is the fourth year for the poster session and I believe that we are the only region that has one. We have had over 100 posters present and this has allowed members to make presentations who did not have the time to do regular papers or did not wish to present a paper. There are many good ideas presented so take advantage of the posters. It is certainly one of the most positive things this Society has done the past 4 years. It will be available the entire conference. This

This paper is a review of seed dormancy in vegetable and flower seeds. Due to page constraints only a portion of it appears here. A complete discussion of this topic including tables on individual species with different dormancy types has been previously published (Geneve, 1998).

Following seed dissemination from the plant, orthodox seeds exhibit one of three conditions. A seed may be nondormant and germinate immediately; it may be nondormant and quiescent; or the seed may be dormant. Quiescent seeds are inhibited from germinating because the environment is unsuitable (i.e., the seed is dry or the temperature is outside the range that permits germination). Dormancy differs from quiescence because dormant seeds fail to germinate even when environmental conditions (water, temperature, and aeration) are suitable for germination.

Seed dormancy is a common condition found in many species. It is an adaptation that allows a species to determine the timing of germination for seeds

The devil maple, Acer diabolicum, a species native to Japan, is rarely found in botanic gardens and arboreta in the United States. This rarity is due to its flowering and fruiting characteristics, as well as difficulty in propagation. Since it is a dioecious species, viable seed is usually not available. Devil maple is a member of the rather obscure Lithocarpa section in the Acer genus, and as a result, cannot be readily propagated via grafting or budding due to a lack of closely related, compatible rootstock species (van Gelderen et al, 1994).

The common name for the species refers to the two horn-like styles that attach to the inner sides of the nutlets between the seed wings (Vertrees, 1978a). The species is perfectly hardy in central Kentucky (Zone 6a) and should be considered for use as a small-sized tree for the homeowner. It has smooth, gray bark reminiscent of beech, and a broad spreading crown profile. The foliage is an appealing deep green in summer; fall

The results indicate that certain combinations of the treatments may have commercial application, but that more trials are needed. These particular seedlots apparently exhibited low seed vigor and no matter what treatments were applied, it was a difficult project to redeem.

More work is needed on seed-soaking techniques with hydrogen dioxide. Perhaps soaking seeds in water prior to the dip would have been a better procedure.

Since 1928, Musser Forests has developed primarily as a bare-root seedling and transplant nursery. Sand was an early mulch used over seed to obtain germination. It was shaken through a screen by hand after being wheeled down the path in a wheelbarrow. Later improvements came using a tractor-drawn sanding machine that could be loaded with a high lift and that vibrated its way down the bed. This was also fairly slow, as the hopper needed constant reloading.

In the mid sixties, Musser Forests came into a new era of seed covering with the hydro-seeder. This machine applied the familiar green-dyed silva fibre mulch in a slurry, with starter fertilizer at the staggering rate of 2 to 3 miles of seedbed in an 8-h day. This of course involved a nearby water supply, pumps, and a 100-plus-HP tractor to handle the 4-ton load.

During three experiments, nondormant seeds were exposed to continuous constant temperatures and alternating diurnal temperatures. Seeds were germinated on germination paper inside clear petri dishes, using dark temperature-controlled incubators.

Cumulative germination was modelled by the Weibull distribution function, correlating closely (R2≥ 0.99) to the observed germination data. No germination occurred at constant 10°C. Significantly (P ≥.05) reduced germination occurred at constant 15°C and at irregular fluctuating temperatures, while 25°C was assumed as a cardinal constant temperature. Controlled fluctuations did not significantly reduce germination.

It is recommended that only hermetically sealed verbena seeds are germinated according to current germination recommendations, at any temperature regime between 28°C day and 14°C night temperatures, ensuring constant amplitudes during temperature fluctuations.

Public demand for color seems insatiable. Some have questioned whether the market can absorb all the perennials being produced today. As one wag recently commented, the pie is getting bigger, but the pieces smaller. The only way one can remain competitive in today's booming economy is to bring to market new plants and to more efficiently propagate those already in demand. How? Expand your knowledge base, go to those International Plant Propagator or PPA meetings, and network. So you can quickly propagate and bring to market that new Dysosma (Podophyllum) you received from a plant hunting expedition in China, or bulk-up the latest yellow Helleborus strain. To accomplish this the propagator must apply skill and timing along with a good working knowledge of plant physiology and anatomy.

Perennials are propagated by most of the same methods used for woody ornamentals, but the methods and timing are somewhat different, depending on the plant's timing demands, when you or your

The four plants were Michelia figo, Erythrina ×bidwillii, Pedilanthus tithymaloides, and Indigofera kirilowii. Each presented its own challenges. The first step is to research each plant, where it originates, growth habits, and environmental requirements. The second step is to observe the plant's growing habits (e.g., whether truly evergreen or semievergreen, when it flowers, and stages of growth) in your area. The rooting hormones used are Hormodin #1 and a solution of Dip 'N Grow and water at a ratio of 1 to 20.

The first plant Michelia figo or ornamental banana is an evergreen shrub belonging to the magnolia family. It is only hardy to Zone 8. The stem is fleshy, with waxy medium-size leaves with close internodal lengths. It is an excellent candidate for liquid treatment. With sufficient water and adequate drainage, the stems

Stock plants are a valuable resource in woody ornamental plant propagation and nursery production. Stock plants may be specimen trees, shrubs, hedged stock blocks, or specialized plantings used for seed production, stooling, layering, and even root-piece production. Many nurseries have come to appreciate the value of stock plants from the perspective of having better control over the plant propagation process, rather than trying to tie propagation into a production schedule.

Stock plants or blocks have many positive attributes, particularly in comparison with propagating from plants in container or field production. For example, risks such as mixing up cultivars, taking substandard quality cuttings or suffering from a gradual deterioration of plant quality are avoided when propagation occurs from established plants that are well maintained, well labeled, and not part of the plant production schedule (Hartmann et al., 1997). The history of a stock block is known in regards

Failures in the rooting of cuttings can often be attributed to unhealthy or stressed stock plants. Since stress levels detrimental to plant health may be present before they are visible to the naked eye, a method of measuring this stress would be useful in stockplant selection, as well as in monitoring cuttings throughout the propagation process.

Chlorophyll fluorescence is a technique increasingly used to measure plant photosynthetic health. When chlorophyll molecules absorb light in the processes of photosynthesis, a small portion of that light is re-emitted, or fluoresced. Measurement of this fluorescence provides an estimation of photosynthetic efficiency, which is an indirect measure of plant stress (Adams et al., 1990; Genty et al., 1989). Variable fluorescence over maximum fluorescence (F_v/F_m), the measurement used in these studies, has been used extensively in environmental stress studies, including dormancy assessments in douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)

Although alpines and dwarf conifers have remained my passion for 35 years, it was the addition of large perennials and shrubs which made it possible to attract a larger pool of customers to our nursery and incidentally introduce them to rock gardening. We propagate 90% of the plants we sell, so this view of our propagation methods covers what we actually do at Rice Creek Gardens throughout the year.

Propagation does not occur in a vacuum. I see propagation, sales, and overhead in dynamic balance, like three sides of a triangle. The propagation

Several considerations must

Rooting percentages varied considerably from year to year, and from cultivar to cultivar. In 1995, cuttings from five cultivars ranged from 22% to 96% successful rooting, with an overall average of 57%

Installation of a PIP growing area is not very complicated process. First determine items to be grown, the size container and the row spacing for the items. Select a site that is suitable for the crop. The site should have available water source and can be sloped or relatively flat. If drain tiles are to be installed stony ground may make trenching rather difficult. We grow all of our PIP items in bed configuration

Major greenhouse crops, (poinsettia, chrysanthemum, and geranium), as well as many woody nursery crops are propagated by softwood cuttings. The typical propagation system used to root cuttings is open bench misting. Although, cuttings from many species are remarkably tolerant of variable environments in the mist bench, mist propagation as currently employed can be an inefficient use of inputs such as water and electricity. This is the consequence of static control systems for controlling the interval between misting events. In some cases, inappropriate control of misting intervals can reduce or delay root formation by allowing cuttings to wilt, leaching nutrients from the leaf, or saturating the medium with water. In contrast, dynamic systems for controlling mist rely on plant or environmental signals to estimate the water status of cuttings. Several alternatives to static control have been developed including simulated mechanical or electronic leaves, light sensor, and

After many years of work with rooting cuttings of both perennials and woody plants I have formed some opinions on what works, however, not all of these hunches and intuitions are accurate.

We should reexamine our convictions from time to time to insure their accuracy. One such hunch is to suppose that deep celled pots are superior to those of lessor volume or depth. I am not alone with this idea as a recent conversation with the vice president of production at a major nursery will attest when he suggested the very same thing! What we both believed to be true did not tell the whole story and the data presented here suggest that other factors in addition to volume and depth play a major role in the successful rooting of cuttings in plugs.

The first key is cutting size. Cuttings are taken in September and October using a 3- to 4-inch many branched cutting from 2-year liners. When rooted these cuttings already have a well formed habit. Cuttings are dipped in a 2500 ppm KIBA solution for 5 sec. They are then stuck in a 9 inch × 13 inch × 3 inch propagation flat into an equal peat and perlite mix (1:1, v/v). Flats are given hot-water bottom heat at 70 to 72°F with light mist.

Western Lake County has heavy soils so we utilize raised beds for all liner production. Beds are formed with a standard 5-ft bed maker. All beds are dressed with 2 to 3 inches of a peat

As the figure below shows Connecticut indeed has a much more temperate climate than Minnesota. We can, however, have extremes in our temperatures. During the 1990s, all but two of our winters have been at or below normal levels. How do you determine how to prepare for a winter in southern New England? Well there is the Farmers Almanac, the woolly bear, El Nino, La Nina, how many nuts are on the trees, etc. Then there is the more scientific approach where the weather meteorologists give their predictions and than you wait and see how wrong they are. Realistically the best

We use tissue culture primarily in the propagation of new cultivars of Betula which need to be asexually reproduced. During the past 11 years we have sold 193,000 tissue-cultured ‘Crimson Frost’ and Royal Frost^™ birch. These have all been produced in our own lab, rooted, and grown on for sale as liners. Our costing systems reveals that the sale of these tissue-cultured plants adds to our profitability.

Aesculus parviflora, bottlebrush buckeye, is a native shrub that grows 8 to 10 ft tall and 8 to 12 ft wide. While being native to much of the southeastern U.S.A., it is hardy in much of the eastern United States as far north as Zone 4. Panicles of large white flowers, 6 to 12 inches long are carried in profusion above the foliage in midsummer (in the mid Atlantic states usually in early to mid July). The plant prefers a moist well drained soil, but will adapt to lesser conditions. As this past summer has shown it is very drought tolerant once established. Aesculus parviflora grows well in full sun or shade.

Plants in the landscape are pest free and appear to be highly resistant to deer browsing.

Because of all these attributes the demand for A. parviflora has been huge, but there is a problem, the supply has not been able to keep up with the demand.

In a presentation, given to this group in Philadelphia in 1994, Dick Bir talked about "Why Some Natives Aren't Mainstream…

Starting about 3½ years ago, the company began a program to upgrade irrigation throughout the department. The first major step was to find and install a state-of-the-art control system for environment and irrigation. It would have to replace all the old control devices as well as expand with us into the next millennium. The Argus Control System was chosen for its versatility, expandability, and excellent software. The first phase was installed in late Spring 1997 to include most of the full-heat propagation houses and the outside mist huts. The second phase was begun in Spring 1999. When completed, the system will have control over all aspects of

All of us are familiar with the brown fuzzy kiwis that the New Zealanders did such a wonderful job marketing to North Americans. It has become a staple fruit that is now raised in warmer regions throughout the world. Not as many, however, are aware that there are many species of kiwi (genus Actinidia) and that some of these kiwis are extremely hardy.

We first became aware of the hardy species in the early 1980s. We were actively seeking fruits that could survive winter temperatures of -35 to -40°C (-40°F) and that could ripen their fruit in a growing period that averages only slightly more than 100 frost-free days. The two species that interested us most were A. arguta, commonly called the hardy kiwi, and A. kolomikta, the arctic kiwi. These species are native to northeastern Asia in the region between northern China and the Sakhalin peninsula of Russia. The weather conditions of this area are very similar to our own in the maritime provinces of eastern Canada.

We were able

This presentation is a review of a novel and effective way to provide light to plants to facilitate optimum growth and quality, while trying to reduce operating costs.

Quality plant growth requires water, nutrients, media, proper temperatures, an environment free from pests and pathogens, and light in proper quantity and of sufficient quality. Light is the energy source essential for survival and proper growth. Typically on the 21st day of June the maximum light in terms of quality, quantity, and duration is available via the sun alone. On the 21st day of December there just is not enough light to achieve the same result. Also, proper light enables maximum quality potential barring other limiting factors.

I have observed and participated in efforts where plant quality has been compromised due to insufficient light. Because of this, I have sought to find methods to improve lighting systems but remain cost effective.

In addition to the direct experiences I have acquired lots

I would like to share with the Society just a few of our technologies and practices we use to achieve a more synchronous crop. A few of the tools we use in our seed operations include hand-held seeders, strainer, spray bottles, PG6000 media, and flats.

One way we achieve synchronous stands in our seed flats is to soak seed that exhibit exogenous dormancy (if hard seed coated) in polyethylene glycol (PEG6000). PEG6000 acts as a softener with Baptisia, Lathyrus, Lupinus, and Thermopsis. The PEG6000 is dissolved 1 tablespoon liter^-1 warm water. The seed is soaked for 1 to 3 h, then

In giving this paper I feel that I may provide more questions than answers. In spite of its all-embracing title I intend to deal with just one or two aspects of the propagation of native plants. I must say that, the more I travel around the country and talk with various people, the more I discover that there is a wealth of knowledge out there. The main problem with it is that so much of it is only in a particular person's head and is not recorded for others to use.

Some of this is because of professional jealousy and that phrase which is becoming so common these days — "the information is commercially sensitive". Quite often I believe it is because the person concerned has just not thought about recording it, or does not feel that anybody would be interested. I well remember the very generous help I was given when I was in the process of gathering information for my book The Propagation of New Zealand Native Plants. Four people, in particular, provided me with a great deal of

Lilacs have traditionally been the cornerstone of many landscapes throughout the midwest. The colorful and fragrant flowers were a subtle reminder that the spring season was in full swing. The ever-changing family of lilacs offers numerous cultivars with a wide selection of shape, size, flower color, and leaf texture. The emphasis of this paper will be on Syringa vulgaris and the propagation of cultivars using softwood cuttings stuck directly into the soil. The amended soil used is formed into temporary beds using lumber to keep them in place and throughout this paper will be referred to as ground beds.

We at Scarff's Nursery have built a consistent and ever increasing request for large lilacs to be used in landscapes mainly on the East Coast. We are presently growing 10 cultivars and planning to add more. In order to supply the market we needed to produce a liner quickly and transplant it to produce a finished product in 5 years. There were many options to consider when

• Primary, secondary, and high school.
• Basic education groups.
• Higher education groups.
• Education at university level.

The objective of creating a low-pressure fog system is to achieve an ideal rooting environment in which plant evapotranspiration is minimized without saturating the rooting medium.

With over 150 different species and countless cultivars of Viburnum presently known and new species being found in China, Nepal, and Bhutan on a consistent basis, we are very fortunate to have such a large and diverse group of plants to enjoy in our gardens.

Viburnums, as with all plants, need proper cultural conditions to prosper. One of the main ingredients to good health is an adequate moisture supply to maintain these densely leafed and full-sized shrubs and small trees. Over the past decade it has been the exception and not the rule to have consistent moisture by way of precipitation through the growing season. The majority of the past decade has been spent dealing with either a 2– to 3-month dry period through the heat of the summer or a full growing season drought. The Arnold Arboretum has limited irrigation options across its 265-acre sight. The main Viburnum collection receives supplemental water but not enough to alleviate the drought effects. There are a few

Ephedra minuta (miniature joint fir) forms a dense mound of leafless blue-green stems to 10 inches and prefers well drained sites and full sun. It is hardy in Nebraska, with no winter protection. Zone 4/5.

Dianthus ‘Dale Lindgren’ is a sport of D. ‘Prairie Pink’, and is named in honor of Dale Lindgren of the University of Nebraska. It has 18-inch stems, blue-green foliage, and delicate pink semidouble flowers all season. Zone 5.

Clematis fremontii (Fremont's crowfoot) has stout erect stems to 2 ft supporting lavender-purple bell flowers. It is a summer bloomer, native to the plains states. Zone 4.

Clematis fruticosa (Mongolian gold) is a shrub reaching 3½ ft tall. It's native to Inner Mongolia, and has yellow flowers in the summer and persistent seed heads in late summer to fall. It is a 1999 Great Plant for the Great Plains winner.

Spiranthes cernua (ladies' tresses) is a U.S. native found from

Acer miyabei ‘Morton’, State Street^® Miyabe maple. A clonal selection of a little-known Asian species, this deciduous shade tree has an excellent branching character, uniform broad-pyramidal habit, superior heat/drought tolerance, clean dark green foliage, and good yellow dark green foliage, and good yellow fall color. Of medium growth, it will eventually reach 60 ft in height with a 50-ft spread at maturity. State Street^® Miyabe maple is a more cold-hardy alternative to A. campestre (hedge maple) in northern growing conditions, and a more heat/drought-resistant alternative to A. platanoides (Norway maple) further south. Adapts to a broad range of soil types and site conditions. Very tolerant of salt and pollution. Its attractiveness, excellent adaptability, and stress tolerance provides for a broad range of landscape applications in commercial, residential and urban sites. Easily transplanted either B&B or from a container. Hardy to at least USDA Zone 4. Selected from the

A tree crop, which may be of interest to the New Zealand nursery industry, is the yew (Taxus baccata). A member of the family Taxaceae it is a slow-growing and long-living, dioecious evergreen tree which can grow to a height of around 20 m. It is extremely tolerant of variations in temperature, light, soil moisture, and pH. The yew, which is a native of Europe and West Asia, is widely cultivated and is often found near churches and other meeting places, as it was considered a sacred tree before Christianity, and is still associated with places of worship. In the Middle Ages it was valued as a wood for long bows and is now often used in gardens as an ornamental species and for topiary.

The yew is poisonous and was blamed for untimely deaths as early as 51 B.C. In North America; native Americans are known to have used the bark from Pacific yew (T. brevifolia) as a disinfectant and as a treatment for skin cancer (Nicolaou et al., 1996).

In situ, shoots developed from 100%, 75% and 18% of terminal buds (Position I), lateral buds within the distal 1/3 of the twig (Position II), and lateral buds within the proximal 2/3 of the twig (Position III), respectively. When grafted, shoots developed from 39%,54%, and 42% of the buds from the same positions, respectively. Therefore, shoots from grafted and in situ buds originated from two positionally different bud populations. All shoots were subjected to a rooting trial. Overall, cuttings from grafts had greater rooting (48%) than cuttings developed in situ (14%). However, for grafted and in situ bud pairs which both produced shoots, rooting success was similar. Rooting was not influenced by twig position or origin for in situ shoots. For cuttings from grafts, rooting was significantly related to position on the twig with 25%, 46%, 67% success for Positions I, II, and III, respectively.

Though it is well known that rooting differs for shoots from widely varying crown positions, these results suggest that rooting differs on a much smaller scale, among buds along a twig. Results suggest that buds which normally develop into shoots in situ are not as competent to root (and perhaps more determined in their development fate) as those at more proximal portions of twigs that usually maintain dormancy in situ but form shoots when grafted. Although increased rooting through grafting is often attributed to physiological or ontogenetical rejuvenation by juvenile rootstock, these results suggest that grafting may serve to select for buds with high rooting potential by allowing their development into shoots and indirectly select against buds with low rooting potential through reduced shoot development.

The plant material includes both bedding plants and woody perennial species. Results demonstrate that the key limiting factor in the use of SMS for plant production is high soluble salts (>30 mmho cm^-1. Leaching can reduce these high soluble-salt levels. In addition, special consideration needs to be given to the reduction in potted media volume over time due to the continued decomposition that occurs during plant production. Spent mushroom substrate as the sole growing medium was not as effective as when SMS was amended with a nursery growing mix (pine bark, peat, and gravel). Both Tagetes ‘Yellow Girl’ and Spiraea ×vanhouttei were grown in 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% mixtures of SMS and a nursery potting mix. Both species grew well in SMS and nursery growing (pine bark, peat, and gravel) (1:1, v/v) mix.

This year we decided to trial a coir medium for some of our hard-to-root species as well as those species that take longer periods of time to root. The mix we used was Sun Gro Horticulture coir mix available in 3-ft³ loose bags. The components of this mix are simply coir pith and coarse perlite (3 : 1, v/v).

Coir is a waste product of the coconut industry and is produced in Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Indonesia, Mexico, and parts of the Caribbean and South America. Sri Lanka is the leading processor of coir product and is reportedly one of the most reliable and consistent sources. Coir produced there also has the lowest electrical

Weston Nursery started to accept leaves and yard waste on site in the mid 1990s when towns were mandated by state authorities to stop dumping leaves, grass clippings, etc. into landfills. During this period the nursery recognized a need to staff the leaf collection site. It was at this time that Weston Nurseries instituted a tipping fee to offset the cost of staffing.

Until recently the nursery accepted leaf and yard waste only. In 1997 the nursery recognized a demand to accept brush. Since its initiation, the compost site accepts approximately 1500 yards of brush annually. A tipping fee of $7.50 is charged per yard.

The planter was needed to plant hosta, daylilies, grasses, peony, and astilbe but still be flexible enough to plant Taxus rooted cuttings, Buxus cells, and even seedlings if required. This flexibility was a must after speaking with many growers who had perennial planters gathering dust. Also the bed width needed to fit our land use, harvest equipment, pruning riggs, and spray equipment. The biggest obstacles were: a pocket which could grip a small or nonexistent stem and the irregular shape of many root systems. A pocket was designed with a rubber yoke to hold a division below the soil level. Also two metal fingers supported the

Although the plant propagation course is conducted in the winter semester of the first year, attention is given to propagation throughout the 2-year program in courses such as Herbaceous Plants 1 and 2, Woody Plants 1 and 2, and Greenhouse Applied 1 and 2. As students become familiar with plant identification, they are also taught cultural requirements including specific

Knight Hollow Nursery has been micropropagating selections in the genus Ulmus for over 15 years. We have always found elms growing in vitro problematic. Shoot proliferation is poor and generally single-node pieces are required to obtain bud break. This multiplication protocol requires a significant amount of tedious labor for each subculture. Additionally, in vitro elm shoots produce large numbers of "blind" buds, nonviable buds in the leaf axils, thus complicating multiplication using nodal explants. The shoots that are produced in microculture are slender, almost thread-like. Consequently, the rooting success of microcuttings is variable with a 50% rooting/acclimation success being considered a good response. Time required to root, acclimate, and grow elms using microcuttings to a shippable size is approximately 12 weeks.

Many of the elm propagules we produce are shipped into states with strict import limitations. Plants must be micropropagated and grown in a greenhouse

The typical C. japonicum ‘Pendulum’ grows from 15 to 25 ft tall and unless staked and heavily pruned, will form a dense tangled mass of weeping branches. ‘Amazing Grace’ forms a larger spreading specimen up to approximately 40 ft tall or more with an equal or greater spread. The plant will form a sturdy graceful but ascending main trunk with only minor support initially. Branching is far more open than ‘Pendula’ and produces a superb specimen in the landscape.

Foliage color in C. japonicum ‘Amazing Grace’ is a soft blue-green in the summer, changing to a bright golden-yellow in fall. This is in contrast to the typical C. japonicum ‘Pendulum’ which often fails to produce much in the way of fall foliage color.

This new release is a selection