Proceedings Library

Waste management could easily be the most significant issue confronting world horticulture by the year 2000. Some countries are already addressing the problems of pollution of waterways, leaching of nutrients, and recycling of packaging materials, but there will be increasing pressures for horticulturists to manage all the waste from production systems.

Society is demanding that the responsibility for disposing of waste must lie with those who create it and that waste products must not be dumped into the environment.

Words which are sometimes interchangeable with "waste" include "refuse","superfluous", "rejected", and "worn out". Waste products can be defined as "materials produced or used in a process, that are discarded during or on the completion of that process."

This paper reviews some of the horticultural waste problems around the world and indicates strategies in use or being developed to address the problems.

The nursery and landscaping industries are always looking for new and exciting plant species. There is great economic potential in relatively unknown Australian plants from which these industries could benefit. In my opinion native Australian plants have not been explored to their full potential.

I am in charge of the permanent pot collection at the Australian National Botanic Gardens. It comprises Australian native plants that are either difficult to grow in cultivation or have a conservation status. While these plants have proven difficult to grow in Canberra's heavy clay soils, they perform very well when containerised. The plants in the collection represent different ecological areas from within Australia, which include plants from temperate to arid environments. The plants in this collection are genetically identical to wild or naturally occurring plant populations.

In total the collection holds 378 different taxa. Included in the collection are small trees, shrubs,

Systemic insecticides are not effective and contact insecticides are not practical because of the size of the trees. Therefore, cultural controls, such as, proper irrigation and pruning practices and the planting of resistant species are the recommended control strategies (Table 1).

Complex experiments, such as the effects of different fertilizer rates and irrigation regimes on the growth of New Guinea impatiens, are made possible by the computer software's capabilities to monitor, log, and control all aspects of the greenhouse and its environment. The QCOM computer uses inputs from various sensors to operate the cooling, heating, and retractable shade systems. Tensiometers are used to monitor soil moisture tension, and sensors monitor light, humidity, and temperature.

Facilities listed:

Douglas Research Conservatory
   Ecological Research Area
   Entry Shade Garden
   Marilou Goodfellow Grove
   Elisabeth C. Miller Horticultural Library
   Issacson Hall
   Merrill Hall
   Northwest Horticultural Society Conference Hall Otis
   Douglas Hyde Hortorium

The Center offers academic programs to undergraduate as well as graduate students. Pamphlets provide specific information on the following programs:

Myoga (Zingiber mioga Roscoe) is a member of the ginger family and a native of Japan. It is grown commercially for the spring shoots and subterranean flower buds it produces in autumn. Myoga flower buds (often called hanamyoga) are used in soups, tempera, pickled, and as a spice with tofu or bean curd. The young shoots are used mainly for making soups (Follett, 1986). Production is strongly seasonal and as a result high quality shoots and flower buds supplied out of season can fetch high prices on the Japanese markets. In order to take advantage of these high prices, a number of New Zealand growers are in the early stages of myoga production. Their first commercial crop of flower buds will be available for export in late Summer and early Autumn 1995. Currently there is little interest in the production of myoga shoots for export.

Many tree nurseries grow rooted cuttings, either using juvenile stool beds to raise cutting material or making field collections of cuttings from young plantation trees. Stool-bed cuttings are more expensive to produce than seedlings, if the cost of seed is ignored, because of the cost of maintaining the stool beds and of manual collection and setting. Currently, however, the high cost of control-pollinated seed makes stool-bed cuttings cheaper to produce than seedlings. Improvements in stem form have been demonstrated with cuttings compared with similar genetic quality seedlings, particularly with field-collected cuttings planted on fertile farm sites. This has created a demand for field-collected cuttings, even though they cost nearly double the price of stool-bed cuttings

One New Zealand company is using micropropagation to produce plantlets for establishing clonal plantations, and embryogenesis technology is being evaluated by another company. Currently, these technologies are expensive, but can give high multiplication rates, and also have the advantage that juvenile can be maintained by cold storage or cryopreservation during clonal field testing.

Integration of these tree improvement and propagation technologies is allowing New Zealand to advance towards clonal forestry with radiata pine.

I have noticed, as well as other observers, that there is a pronounced effect on the way that the bulbs flower following the fire. There are many references to very good flowering seasons after bush fires, especially in the bulb rich areas of South Africa.

The effects of clearing all shrub and other plant materials must be to let light in, plus the ash will be adding potash which bulbs enjoy. In addition, there must be chemicals in the smoke which trigger dormant bulbs into growth. Many bulbs will have been

What is the meaning of Quality? the Collins Dictionary defines it as—"the basic character or nature of something" and the Oxford Dictionary defines it as—"A degree or level of excellence".

Why do we strive for quality?: "job satisfaction" (pride in our work) and "to succeed in business" (quality is producing what the customers want and when they want it) are two reasons.

Whatever the reason, keeping track of quality control is important, and records are necessary.

We at Omahanui Native Plants have devised a system which I wish to share with you, and which may help in your recording system.

All seeds and plant material brought into the nursery are entered in a register by using the last two digits of the year collected, followed by a numeral, e.g., 94103. This registration number follows the plant throughout its cycle in the nursery on the back of each label. Our registration book has headings for "species", "date collected", and "where collected and by whom". This could be used for plants

A Hebe breeding programme commenced at the Auckland Regional Botanic Gardens in 1982 with the objective of producing outstanding cultivars of superior appearance and improved garden performance. The susceptibility of hebes to disease, particularly in nursery conditions, has restricted their commercial potential. Initially our main aim was to produce hybrids with reduced susceptibility to septoria leaf spot (Septoria exotica) and downy mildew (Peronospora grisea). Hebe speciosa, one of our most important parents as the source of bright floral colours, is susceptible to both of these diseases. Species which generally remain free from such disease problems (e.g., H. diosmifolia) were

The evaluation and commercialisation of many Australian daisies has been limited by poor germination (Schaumann et al., 1987). Achenes of the Asteraceae consist of an embryo encased in a membranous coat (testa) which is surrounded by a fibrous outer coat (pericarp) which often has pappus hairs to aid dispersal. Both the testa and the pericarp have been identified as barriers to germination with exotic members of the Asteraceae. Removal of these layers, puncturing them, or soaking seeds in various solutions such as gibberellic acid are all reported to improve germination although the result is generally species specific (Atwater, 1980; Taylorson and Hendricks, 1977). Investigations were conducted to test the effects of scarification of the testa and pericarp, gibberellic acid, and light, on germination and dormancy of selected Australian daisies.

When I stumbled across a book entitled Production of Landscape Plants by Dr. Carl Whitcomb, I was excited about his concepts. He had done research on this very problem and had come up with some new ideas in pot designs. His work centred around the concept of air root pruning to produce trees with a high number of lateral roots originating from the root stem interface, and no root circling.

He came up with the Root Maker Pot which provides a means of air root pruning the taproot, thus stimulating secondary root growth and creating a fibrous root system without any circling.

It is recommended that direct seeding or cuttings only be employed when growing a tree, as pricking out can create kinking in roots which negates any further efforts at creating a well developed root system. Once a well-structured, fibrous root system has been initiated with the Root

Gevuina avellana Mol. belongs to the Protaceae, and is related to Macadamia, producing similar nuts with edible kernels. This plant is a source of cosmetic oils and the timber is used for joinery and turning. Several common names are used for the plant, including Chilean nut and Chile hazel. The latter gives rise to the mistaken belief that the plant belongs to the genus Corylus. Gevuina avellana grows to form an attractive native tree in the Valdivian forest in Chile. It is known in Great Britain as an ornamental and is grown in the milder areas of Cornwall and Devon.

Our research shows that this plant has been grown in New Zealand since the 1940s, although poor types with small nuts have meant that it has only been grown as an ornamental. Tolerance of frost to -8C makes G. avellana hardier than Macadamia, thus making it of interest as a potential new crop for New Zealand. Roasted nuts are sold in Chile at prices of about NZ$7 per kg (Crop & Food Research, 1993, Halloy et

In the past 30 years in Australia there has been a major swing away from the production of woody plants as a field production system in favour of producing plants in containers. A container production system has many operational and marketing advantages over field production. The climate of Australia is more conducive to the production of woody plants in containers. The lack of any real winter dormancy over most of the country is a major factor in this country-wide trend to container plant production with woody plants.

The family Corynocarpaceae is a small genus of a few species native to New Zealand, the New Hebrides, and the New Caledonia region of the south-west Pacific.

Corynocarpus laevigatus, the New Zealand species, is a medium-sized tree, maturing at 10 to 15 m tall. It grows in lowland and coastal forests throughout the North Island and in coastal forests as far south as Jacksons Bay on the South Island's west coast, Banks Peninsula in the east, and the Chatham and Kermadec Islands.

Corynocarpus laevigatus, known as karaka by the Maori people and called the New Zealand laurel by early European settlers, has handsome obovate to oblong, rich-green glossy foliage, with entire margins. Small five-parted greenish-white flowers, arranged in terminal panicles, develop into 3-to-4-cm fleshy drupes, bright orange when ripe, with a nut-like seed. This was an important food source for the Maori people, who planted the karaka near their habitations. The fruits are extremely toxic and a great deal

Alstroemeria. Long known and grown as a long-lasting cut-flower, the development of more compact and dwarfer forms offer the opportunities for much wider garden and pot use. The success in tissue culture of selected cloning, and the recognition of the potential of alstroemerias as pot or garden plants by the cutflower breeders, will see a great increase in their popularity. The first of these new cultivars are starting to appear from both overseas and local sources now, and are likely to appear in a steady stream over the next few years. The introduction of some of the more hardy species into breeding programmes will also see the range of garden uses of Alstroemeria increase.

Aquilegia. Charming plants

Marcotting is the internationally recognised horticultural term for aerial layering, originating from the French word "marcotte"; that is "to aerial layer". This method of vegetative propagation is widely used throughout the world to clonally propagate fruit trees which are difficult to reproduce by any other means, e.g., lychee and longan. It is also an easy way to propagate most types of plants without the need for specialised equipment, growing houses, or skills.

Marcotting uses large amounts of propagation material and is labour intensive. Both these factors limit the commercial use of this propagation technique when compared to the more cost-effective methods used in the highly competitive nursery industry. It can also produce a weak-rooted plant that is prone to lodging if the root system is not properly trained when the marcot is removed from the parent tree and grown on.

Through the ages heaths (Erica) and heathers (Calluna) have long been associated with humans from the thatching of dwelling houses, the making of ropes and pegs, the construction of roads, and dyeing of cloth to the recognised observation that some of the finest brands of whisky obtain their most delicate piquancy from heather in Scotland. However, heaths and heathers also have immense ornamental value: flowering year-round in a range of colours; having attractive spring foliage with red, white, or cream tips; and having golden, silver-grey, or dark and soft green foliage which, in the autumn, gives rise to fiery red hues. Garden cultivars have arisen through collection from the wild which in turn have given rise to sports and some cultivars have also arisen from breeding. Breeding and introduction of new cultivars have given rise to over 700 different types being grown and catalogued in Europe.

In the last 20 years, the professional growing of heaths and heathers has

Most Nursery Jobs are on Incentive Pay. At our nursery, most jobs in propagation from taking cuttings to filling flats are on incentive pay or piecework. The incentive rates we pay vary from one job to the next. The rates are determined by using a study for distance and time. Each job has a job code number and a job code rate which it pays.

Incentive pay can increase your production as much as 300%. This must also be closely supervised for quality and consistency. On average, our crews usually consist of 10 workers.

Over 250 Job Descriptions In Plant Propagation. We have over 250 job descriptions just in propagation. For taking cuttings, each plant cultivar may have a different incentive pay scale. There are three different rates in taking cuttings: low, average, and high. This is determined by the availability of cuttings on each plant group.

Computer Software Systems. Our general operating software is maintained inhouse. Software for inventory, production planning,

Camellias are relatively easy to root. Our biggest problem is obtaining enough cutting wood. This is especially true with the Camellia japonica cultivars. At Hines Nurseries, Houston facility, we grow camellia cultivars of C. japonica, C. sasanqua, and C. hiemalis, and selected hybrids.

Customer demand for herbaceous perennial color has steadily increased over the past few years, and will continue to increase as customers become educated in the landscape attributes perennials have to offer. Methods of propagating, producing, and marketing herbaceous perennials are as diverse as the number of species and cultivars available. It is the intent of this paper to present methods of propagation, production, and marketing of herbaceous perennials in the Gulf Coast region of Texas.

The market for water garden plants has recently become one of the fastest growing facets of environmental horticulture. The most popular flowering water garden plants include species and hybrids of both tropical and temperate (hardy) water lilies (Nymphaea). Reliance on inefficient vegetative propagation techniques, requirements for large production space, and extended time periods to produce a salable plant limit the producers' ability to rapidly adjust to changes in market demand. Consequently, demand for specific water lily cultivars, particularly new introductions, can exceed growers#39; production capacity. Unlike other horticultural crops, information on the specific cultural requirements for efficient nursery production of water garden plants is lacking (Kelley and Frett, 1986; Brumback, 1990).

Clearly, more efficient propagation techniques for water garden plant production, including use of micropropagation techniques, are needed to enable aquatic plant nurseries to

Of the 1050 Hosta cultivars registered by the American Hosta Society through 1994, nearly half were hybridized by bees, yet the introducers of these cultivars dared to call themselves hybridizers. To date, there are only 12 serious hosta breeders in the U.S.A.

While controlled crosses are the norm with iris and daylilies, such is not the case with hostas—yet! Surely, with controlled breeding efforts, we could far surpass the random efforts of our winged friends.

Getting Started with Wetland Species. Three years ago I started researching constructed wetlands. Today, Flowerwood Liners is producing over 50 species and more than 200 cultivars of aquatic plants. From water lilies to native grasses, we are developing our own aquatic program to go along with our standard woody ornamental and liner production materials. Most of these plants are easily produced but there are few written resources on how to propagate these plants. Mike Kane (see the Comb. Proc. Intl. Plant Prop. Soc., Vol. 44) reported on the progress being made in tissue culture production of aquatics. In this paper, I will present a general overview of the uses and propagation techniques of some of the other wetland species.

The Three Distinct Markets for Aquatic Plants. There are many uses for both native and exotic aquatic plants. There are three distinct markets for aquatics: mitigation or restoration, constructed wetlands, and ornamental water gardens. Each market

Plant growth regulators (PGRs) are chemical compounds which alter plant growth and development through hormonal action and are annually used on over 2.5 million acres worldwide on a diversity of crops (Thomas, 1982). Most applications of PGRs are to high-value horticultural crops to enhance crop quality or aid in more efficient crop management (Gianfagna, 1987). Specific uses of PGRs on floricultural crops include: promotion and retardation of growth, promotion of flower initiation and development, inhibition or promotion of flower and/or foliage abscission, and enhancement of lateral shoot development (Larson, 1985). While PGRs are used less extensively in the nursery industry (except for auxins, which increase root development in the propagation of cuttings), greater potential benefits may occur with their wider use. Possible uses in the nursery industry include: growth suppression to produce a plant form for a given market or to reduce the frequency of pruning, and

Staghorns (Platycerium superbum) are naturally found in subtropical to tropical areas of Australia, Singapore, and the Philippines. They are a magnificent epiphyte and are sought after to such an extent that they are becoming rare due to the removal of their natural habitat through logging, clearing, and bush harvesting operations. This species has a single growing point and therefore cannot be propagated using off shoots as is the case with the elkhorn (P. bifurcatum). Spores are produced annually by mature specimens. Production from spores in a greenhouse requires a time frame of 2 to 4 years and is considered to be an unreliable method of propagation.

No references can be found for in vitro production of staghorns. Previous work with P. stemaria (Beauvois) Desu by Hennen and Sheehan (1978) produced 300 explants in a 16-month period using the shoot tip from a mature plant. By comparison there are numerous references to in vitro production of (P. bifurcatum) where 150

High quality, vigorous-growing bareroot tree whips (1.2 to 1.8 m (4 to 6 ft) tall ornamental tree liners) are the ultimate goal of the Hidden Lake Division of Greenleaf Nursery.

All of the time and effort of producing such a plant can quickly turn into a total loss if the tree whips are not properly cared for during the digging and storing process. What may seem like a small, minor procedure can quickly become vitally important to the quality and survival of the plant—particularly since the exposed root system of a dug, bareroot whip is very vulnerable to the environment.

The Digging Process. The initial steps in preparing for the actual digging process include:

1. Removing any suckers.
2. Grading the tree tops for size and quality.
3. Marking the base of the trunk with paint for later identification.

Any tree that does not have a satisfactory top is simply broken off and destroyed, so it cannot be sold. Also at this time, any trees that are to be sold are tagged with a

Production of 1-Gal Conifers. This paper deals with one particular aspect of our quality improvement program, the production of 1-gal conifers of various Juniperus and Thuja species. This program was initiated simultaneously at our nurseries in Cherokee County, Alabama, and in Cherokee County,

When trying to maximize growth, especially with high N soluble fertilizers, K frequently becomes deficient. When "pushing" with N and K, Ca and/or Mg, and S deficiencies usually occur. It is extremely difficult to keep all nutrients in balance when trying to maximize growth.

Problems with Trying to Maximize Growth. Fortunately, plants can and do survive on less than perfectly balanced nutrition. My purpose today is to alert you to problems associated with trying to maximize growth and to suggest guidelines for optimum nutrition. Problems caused by imbalances/deficiencies are not worth

Water is a primary consideration for growing any crop. Plants are 95% water by weight and it is considered to be the universal solvent. Water carries all the essential elements taken up by plants from the soil and is responsible for the transport of nutrients and metabolites throughout the plant. Often times we concern ourselves with water quantity and not as much on the quality of the water supply. The objectives of this paper are to compare some laboratory water analyses with an inexpensive test kit for on-site testing of water.

Water Quality. Many Colorado greenhouse and nursery growers use mountain water, which is nearly pure, and many growers out on the prairie use water from shallow wells, 10.7 to 15 m (35 to 50 ft), and that water is often alkaline. The water quality from these wells also varies considerably during the year depending upon aquifer depletion from irrigation as well as the use of anhydrous ammonia on area farms. Water used in irrigation of nursery

The concept of micropropagation as a power tool is, admittedly, a silly idea, but consider the similarities. We like power tools because they get the job done quickly, save labor and resources, yield more uniform results, and generally make projects easier.

Power tools can also do great damage if you are not careful. The key to taking advantage of power tools is in learning how to use them properly to maximize results and minimize risks. One must wear the proper safety equipment. One must also continuously screen the procedures and product to make sure that what you end up with meets or exceeds the industry standards for quality. After all, only quality sells long term.

The following are some of the ways micropropagation is being used effectively in the trade today. Many of the largest and smallest nurseries in the United States view micropropagation as an essential power tool which helps them maintain their competitive edge by growing better plants more efficiently.

Humankind first used plant material ornamentally when Eve employed a strategically placed fig leaf I can imagine that Adam thought that the fig leaf was too large; Eve insisted that the fig leaf was appropriate and Adam immediately began seeking out a new and improved smaller leaf cultivar of fig for Eve. Adam and Eve in the evaluation of their new selection began the ongoing process of seeking out plant types that offer greater value than their previously used selection.

New Cultivar Development. The emphasis our industry is placing on new cultivar development and introduction is in response to the buying public's demand for new styles, and our own realization as horticulturists that we need to produce better cultivars. Seed companies spend huge amounts of time and resources on breeding programs to develop new flower colors, plant and flower forms, heat and cold tolerance, higher yields, disease and insect resistance, and many other characteristics that both improve

We spend a lot of time and effort trying to keep everyone informed as to what is happening on the nursery. Try as we might, the lack of communication among divisions was creating problems that at times were frustrating. In an effort to improve this communication gap we developed a series of computer programs that have helped us in streamlining our production at Lancaster Farms. Our computer system is an Intel based PC using a UNIX operating system with programs written in Microsoft® Basic.

Developing a Computer Program for Propagation. The following discussion is a description of our simple propagation program. The first step is setting up a logical set of standard assumptions:

1. Number of pots/trays per house or m² (ft²).
2. Production area.
3. Ingredients and their proportions used in standard mixes.
4. Rooting hormones used and their concentrations.
5. Production week calendar scheduling.

I cannot overemphasize the importance of establishment of these standards. Take

The Leguminosae is one of the largest plant families, and the source of many valuable food, fodder, grazing, and ornamental plants. Most of us when we think of legumes, focus quickly on food, that is peas and beans, or on fodder, that is lucerne or clover, and those of us who are also gardeners, certainly know of lupins and sweet peas.

However, there are a number of little-known, or completely new, leguminous species which possess attributes that lend them to broader horticultural application. There are also wider benefits in growing legumes. Not only do the majority have attractive flowers and foliage, but they are also soil enrichers via their symbiotic relationship with nitrogen-forming bacteria, known as rhizobia. This symbiosis is particularly valuable when we use annual plants as green manure, a fertility-building system that works equally as well in the ornamental garden as in the vegetable garden. This ability to fix nitrogen is particularly useful when legumes are

President McCloud: It's a beautiful day in Pennsulvania and it is my pleasure to call this session of the Forty-fourth Annual Meeting of the International Plant Propagators' Society-Eastern Region, to order. I can guarantee that the weather will be improved from yesterday and you will have much improved tours. We have an excellent program lined up for you and look forward to the next 3 days of seeking and sharing. If you are new to our Society you should be aware that we have a question box. As the meeting progress we know that you will have questions for speakers. Put your questions in the question box and we will have them answered for you. Ralph Shugert and Bruce Briggs are in charge of the question box.

AWARDS PRESENTATIONS

President McCloud: This morning we are

Today, a hundred years later, attitudes similar to those of the 1880s still prevail. Even in botanical gardens, many people feel that any temperate garden plant species of worth has already been collected and tested. Yet, in my travels in

To generate abundant nursery sales a plant must fulfill certain requirements. Among these are that it should have market appeal from superior flowers, foliage, fruit and/or form. It has also been suggested that the plant should be attractive in spring when most plant sales occur. For retail sales, eye appeal seems more important than disease or insect resistance. In fact, if the plant can be marketed while in flower certain other characteristics, such as tolerating widely varying landscape conditions, may not be as rigorously questioned (Raulston, 1990).

For nurserymen, at least one other requirement must be met—it must be possible to produce the plant profitably. This usually means that propagation problems have been solved. In addition, growth must be rapid enough that the plant can be brought to the undervalued North American landscape plant market at a low enough price to attract sales as well as profit potential for both the wholesaler and retailer.

If a plant is

Gibberellins have a powerful effect on the course of germination for many species, and they can be an absolute requirement for germination. Many cacti such as Echinocereus pectinatus are tiny plants growing in harsh environments. To survive the blazing sun and infrequent rains the seeds must germinate in shade in a pocket of deep leaf mold. The seeds have evolved a clever method for detecting such a place. This is to require for germination a specific chemical,

Let's turn our attention first to the concept of patents.

The importance of innovation and investment in research and development was recognized by the framers of the U.S. Constitution back in 1789. In Article 1, Section 8, the Constitution states that: The Congress shall have power … to promote the progress of science and the useful arts, by securing for limited periods of time to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.

In 1793 Congress formalized this sentiment by adopting a patent act, authored by our third President, Thomas Jefferson.

A fundamental rationale for granting a monopoly to an inventor was the recognition that society

Around 1450, long prior to the voyages of Columbus, Portuguese sailors were sent westward by their king to see what lied beyond the Atlantic horizon. According to ship's logs, they sailed out about a hundred miles. Then they returned and pronounced their judgment "nothing there." Of course the king and everyone knew this to be the case anyway, and it would be 40 years before this assumption would again be challenged.

Unfortunately, their tragic mistake didn't die with them. In our search for new marketing territory, we too, make abbreviated voyages of discovery, turn back, and pronounce "nothing there."

Today we live in a world that demands a global perspective. The popular country-western star, Joe Diffe eludes to global perspective when he sings: "Welcome to the earth: third rock from the sun." What we earthlings often fail to do (and I am as guilty as the next earthling) is to venture a bit farther, to try an alternative direction, to believe that if infinity lies ahead

We have opted to collect the pods while they are still in the pliable stage and just starting to dry but are definitely not green. To remove the seeds from the pods, we use a Lawn Boy mower with a grass bag attachment. This has been very effective for either a small or large amount of seed. Some key points are as follows:

• Spread pods on a hard surface—preferably concrete.
• Spread pods in a low pile, slightly narrower than the mower.
• Adjust mower height to clear the pile of pods.
• Be sure mower bag is empty and clean of weed seeds

Most grasses are produced by seed or division. Much has been done in this regard and references abound for seed and division techniques. However, many grasses are sterile, seed supply is limited, and division of clumps can be time consuming and inefficient. Grasses from cuttings would be an important propagation tool.

Corley (1989) did a thorough study on grasses suitable for the southeastern United States. Species that he found that would propagate from cuttings were Phalaris, Chasmanthium, Uniola, Elymus, and Pennisetum. Thomas (1987) wrote a brief description of rooting P. setaceum ‘Burgandy Giant’ from cuttings.

There are many obstacles to overcome to get these seeds to germinate. With the exception of well organized collection trips, these seeds come with many unknowns, such as when they were actually collected, if they are viable, and how they were stored. Sometimes I've never even heard of the genus, and can only track down the plant family to give me some clue as to how it can be processed. If possible, I do a cut test to determine seed viability when I have enough seeds.

There are two techniques I use which I will share with you. These have dramatically improved my germination rates with seed from species that require stratification.

The first technique

Metrosideros thomasii is a native of New Zealand. In its native habitat a height of 25 m can be reached, but in cultivation they seldom exceed 6 m. The tree is attractive and neat in appearance, leaves are green with a silver felted appearance. The flower is dark red and of a bottle brush type. The plant flowers at Christmas time and is often referred to as the New Zealand Christmas tree. In Australia, particularly Queensland, the tree will also flower in autumn and winter.

These trees are salt and wind tolerant on the coast, and make tidy trouble-free street trees which can tolerate polluted city air. Metrosideros thomasii is also suitable as a hedging plant. The species can grow in a variety of soil types.

Selection of Cutting Stock. The following attributes are necessary in the selection of material for cutting propagation: vigorously growing stock plant, good tree shape, flowers well, and free from disease.

At Bluebird Nursery, we have been using gibberellic acid (GA₃) for several years; primarily to break dormancy and get a more uniform stand of plants, or to obtain an early batch of cuttings before the shipping season begins in March. In the fall of 1993, we were faced with a dilemma. We had added Scabiosa ‘Pink Mist’ and ‘Butterfly Blue’ and Heuchera ‘Snow Angel’ (a Bluebird Nursery introduction) to the catalog and as of November 1993 we had not gotten any side shoot development (cuttings) from either of the Scabiosa and very few cutting of the Heuchera since spring. To compound the problem, the above plants had all started showing signs of going dormant. At this point, we decided we better do something if we were going to have any of these plants to offer and decided to try GA₃. In the past, we have had mixed results using GA₃, ranging from little to no reaction to extreme rates of growth.

The market for dwarf conifers has changed greatly over the past 20 years. What were once considered to be collectors items have now found their way into the vast nursery plant market, in large production numbers. We might ask why this has taken place. Basically, this has occurred because of need and not out of collector interest. Our landscapes are changing, and our clients are attempting to satisfy the new generation. Properties are smaller, free time for plant maintenance is less available, and the need for self-contained plantings exists.

In the mid 1980s our mother ‘Burgundylace’ bore a delightful offspring, a red head like herself, but very petite and extremely delicate. We've watched her mature with consistently fine features and feel she is now ready to go out into the world.

‘Red Feather’ makes up faster and fuller than ‘Red Filigree Lace’ without manipulating it to do so. The leaves are just as fine but the color is a bit more subtle, almost smokey. The branches layer attractively and the leaves feather out all over the plant. Discovered by former manager, Ronald Byleckie.

The practice of establishing seed orchards for christmas tree seed production has been used for some time in the northeastern United States. Several tree growers have established seed orchards of their own tree selections that produce top quality Christmas trees under their growing conditions. They are selecting trees for: good color, form, late frost resistance (late flushing trees), less shearing required (naturally dense), and resistance to insects and diseases (a more recent attribute). The trees are established in a seed orchard usually in an area isolated from other trees so they can be monitored, evaluated, and pollinated either naturally or controlled for the production of superior Christmas tree seedlings and transplant stock.

With numerous introduced species, such as purple loosestrife and phragmites, taking over thousands of acres of native habitat, environmental regulators have attempted to stem the tide by legislating against the used of non-native species. Even the White House has gotten involved as President Clinton issued a memorandum calling for "environmentally and economically beneficial landscaping" practices at federal facilities and federally funded projects.

As you know, almost everybody can grow plants. The hardest thing in this business is getting rid of them at a decent profit—right? That's where marketing comes in. There are many aspects involved in marketing and I would like to share a few of those with you today.

This potential can

Where do new plants for the green industry come from? First, botanic gardens and arboreta offer a great diversity of plants from their collections. Second, individual nurserymen, through their knowledge and experience in growing and observing plants, often have made their own outstanding plant selections. And last, organized breeding programs are developing new plants that otherwise would not naturally occur. For the green industry to benefit from these new selections, it must have access to them.

Often times, new and potentially useful plants remain unknown "pets" of botanical institutions or nurserymen because the plants have not been fully distributed or properly promoted; thus the green industry does not understand their ornamental attributes or horticultural use. A strong marketing plan and industry involvement are both essential in successfully introducing a new plant selection. Based on an introduction program initiated by the University of British Columbia in

In 1978,

Field covering begins during the second week of November and is finished by Thanksgiving. Several years ago the temperature reached -6F on the Friday following Thanksgiving. At this time there were 5 inches of snow which saved thousands of dollars of plants. Experience has shown that most container perennials growing above ground in pots will not survive if root temperatures reach 10F. Care must be taken to ensure that the soil temperature in the pot is maintained above this critical level. Weather is very unpredictable

Few things in life frustrate me more than buying mixed or misnamed plant cultivars. When was the last time you noticed a cultivar mix-up? If it' been more than a few months, then you should start looking ASAP. The professional credibility of our nurseries is at risk because we sell misnamed, and cultivar mixed-up plants. Our employees are comfortable with things as they are. They do not even recognize mixed up or misnamed plant cultivars. Cultivar mix-ups have become so common in the industry that few nurseries are even trying to solve this "rapidly growing" problem.

Think About the Following Examples

• A landscape site is planted with specimen trees. After review it is determined that the trees are misnamed. The cost to replace these trees with the proper cultivar is thousands of dollars. Both the contractor and the property owner are upset with your company.
• A wholesale nursery has 50,000 boxwood plants die in the field from a hard winter. Then it discovers that

Greenbrier Nurseries is in our 5th year of container production. Being a new player in the nursery business we realized that we definitely had to be different or no buyer would have reason to consider us as a new vendor.

We grow for two very different markets. The first is for 1-qt and 1-gal rare and unusual trees, shrubs, conifers, and perennials. These plants are sold mainly to larger nurseries for shifting and lining out and for mailorder retail nurseries for catalog sales. Our second market area is in specialty items for upscale retail garden centers

Methods to modify and improve plants have been practiced for at least 10,000 years. Early farmers produced better crops simply by selecting the seeds of desirable plants. During the past century, plant breeding has become a refined art due to technological advancements. Today, the plant breeder may use genetic engineering to add diversity to plant characteristics and to develop superior plants.

Successful plant development and improvement are dependent on genetic diversity followed by genotype selection and evaluation. Plant tissue culture and plant biotechnology offer new and efficient ways to expedite genetic selection. Plant tissue culture is the art and science of aseptically growing plant cells, tissues, organs, protoplasts, and whole plants on a nutrient medium under controlled environmental conditions. Micropropagation is a major part of plant tissue culture.

Although genetic engineering is more complex than traditional plant breeding both procedures

How did this come about? Dr. Styer had always believed that plants should receive the same kind of recognition as people in the horticulture field. Many really superior plants, both old and new, were ignored by the buying public for lack of widely available information about their merits. So in 1978 he made a grant to the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) to develop an awards program to identify, evaluate, and promote outstanding but under used woody plants. Ernesta Ballard, then president of the Society, asked Jane Pepper, then of the Haverford College Campus Arboretum, to head up the Styer Award Committee.

Members for this new committee

In contrast to many comparable countries Australia has no history of formal plant introduction and evaluation schemes. Typically our botanic gardens have very good collections but often little consideration is given to how those plants could be made available to the professional user of plants or to the nursery industry. Botanic gardens, of course, have not been the only source of plant introductions. Specialist nurseries and enthusiastic amateur horticulturists have a long history of introducing plants into the Australian garden landscape. In the case of the specialist nursery, the motivation for introducing new plants is often a combination of plantsmanship and pure commercialism. With a few notable exceptions, these nurseries are small and often highly specialised and their influence on the broader nursery industry has been, and remains, limited. The enthusiastic amateur horticulturists who introduce plants into Australia, or who seek to improve existing plants, have

Diseases are a major constraint in the propagation of certain crop species. Losses have been so high that it was uneconomic to propagate some popular lines. With all the modern pesticides, technologies, and expertise, the problem has not been eliminated. But with an integrated approach, losses have been successfully reduced to non-significant levels in a number of crop species.

The actual crop loss due to pests and disease is difficult to estimate in the nursery situation. The high number of varieties propagated by cuttings vary in susceptibility to the endemic pests and diseases. In order to minimise losses, recognition of the value of maintaining strict hygiene procedures during all stages of taking and rooting cuttings must be made. It is easier to prevent attack by disease organisms than to try to stop their progress once established. From a disease attack where hundreds of thousands of cuttings are involved, losses can be considerable. Efforts to conduct propagation

Demographic studies illustrate quite clearly that it is not until the fifth generation after initial migration that people become fully integrated into a new environment. European settlement in Australia is in its fifth generation and it is only now that we are looking to commercialise our own fauna and flora. Part of this process is the development of an Australian cuisine. We are labelling it "Bush Tucker". With the guidance of aboriginal people and early settler records we are searching our native flora for new tastes and garnishing possibilities.

The quandong or native peach, Santalum acuminatum, is now being cultivated in commercial orchards to meet the demand for its highly prized fruit.

Some 20 years ago Dr. John Possingham, chief of the CSIRO Division of Horticulture, set about domesticating this delicate desert dweller. Santalum acuminatum has evolved as a partial root parasite of other plants for its survival. The species varies enormously in many of its

Water is the most important input in the production of plants in the nursery industry and, if we are honest, probably the most badly used. We have grown up in a time when water has been cheap and in most cases readily available when we need it. Water has not been the limiting factor in the development of most nurseries; it has been the capital needed to provide automatic irrigation systems which has been our major limitation.

We have taken for granted the readily available supply of cheap and good quality water but this cannot continue indefinitely. There is an ever increasing demand for water and this will gradually force up the cost of water for irrigation use. It is likely we will also have to face increasing pressures to avoid using high quality water supplies for nursery irrigation and to have greater reliance on the use of waste water such as sewage effluent.

The nursery industry in Australia has traditionally been an urban-based industry with most nursery producers

Chemical names used: 6-furfurylaminopurine (kinetin); 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP); 1-H-indole-3-butyric acid IBA); a-naphthaleneacetic acid a-naphthoxyacetic acid (NOA).

Bursaria spinosa, commonly known as sweet bursaria, is a widely distributed member of the Pittosporaceae family. Variously described as a shrub or small tree, the species is found in all mainland states except the Northern Territory. It is a common and widespread member of many different vegetation communities. Bursaria spinosa var. spinosa, one of a number of named variants of the species, is identified by its smaller, obovate leaves (to 25 mm) and spines located along the branches. The inflorescence consists of a terminal panicle of fragrant, white-cream flowers in late summer/early autumn, followed by brown clusters of two-celled, purselike capsules, each housing a small number of seeds (Costermans, 1981; SGAP, 1991).

Both seed and cuttings are used for propagation of the species, however, seed is the preferred method for most revegetation activities. Information gained from a number of nursery propagators (see acknowledgments), suggests that there are a number of

The Australian flora is unique, with 80% of species being endemic. We have the opportunity to maintain and develop this flora but this chance may be lost. There are already 76 species of Australian plants that are extinct and another 952 which are known to be threatened. This represents about 5% of all the species of vascular plants in Australia. Education of the public is the key to preserving this valuable resource.

Cyclamen are native to parts of Europe, Western Asia, and North Africa, with the majority of species indigenous to the Mediterranean area. The genus belongs to the family Primulaceae and consists of 19 species which are generally suitable for growing as massed drifts in the garden in dappled shade under trees. Florists cyclamen, which flowers from early autumn to late winter/early spring and are familiar to everyone, are all derived from the species Cyclamen persicum. Unfortunately, the majority of species are rare in cultivation.

• The plant origin—50-mm tubestock from a reliable source
• The potting mix used—moisture and nutrient levels
• Problems associated with pests and diseases
• Environmental conditions

In this case everything appears to be satisfactory. The potting mix drains well, there is adequate moisture and nutrient levels, and there is no sign of stem rot or problems with insect pests. The leaves have a slight yellowing but are generally healthy. It's winter time in Queensland, with

In the last 20 years there have been many changing fashions in the landscape designer's use of amenity planting. In the early 1970s, the emphasis on the rehabilitation of derelict sites encouraged the use of plant species that were tolerant to impoverished or contaminated ground conditions. The landscape design profession was small, relatively young and inexperienced, having had few opportunities to design large amenity planting schemes.

Most of the projects were restricted to the public sector using government grant aid, such as, Derelict Land and Urban Programme Grants. In the private sector, there was not a sufficient level of commitment to landscaping, as it was generally seen as a cosmetic addition to building development.

Towards the end of the decade, there was much debate on the malaise of British cities, with large areas of derelict land particularly in former dockland areas. This led to the setting up of urban development corporations in Liverpool and London to

Grodania A/S, Manufacturers of Grodan stonewool products for horticulture, has in recent years been diversifying into new sectors of horticulture, in addition to the traditional glasshouse salad markets. Many horticultural substrates and additives have tended to be waste products from other industries (bark, coir, etc). Grodan stonewool is made from a natural raw material, diabase rock, and is fabricated into various shapes of slabs, blocks, multi-blocks, and granulates.

Some of the new products which have been developed include:

• Single Block System (SBS) for rooting cuttings
• Water repellant granulates for peat mixes
• Water absorbing granulates for peat mixes
• Stonewool Mix—total growing medium for nursery stock, interior planters, orchids, pot plants
• Special slabs for roof gardens, sound-absorbing walls
• Stonewool for hardy ornamental nursery stock
• Granulates as an ingredient of growing media mixes

Stonewool can be made water repellant or water absorbent, and in two different

A general water shortage, expensive or bad-quality water, or environmental pressures may force container plant growers to collect rain water and to use a closed, recirculating irrigation system. If done in a proper way, economic and ecological advantages can be achieved together. Utilizing such a water management procedure means two potential problems have to be taken into account. Firstly, re-used irrigation water should be free from pathogenic organisms that attack plants, because the risk of spreading diseases throughout the crop is increased. Secondly, with closed systems water may be collected in excess, and if leaving the nursery site it may not meet local or EC standards for quality and freedom from residues. Run-off water may need to be disinfected for recirculation and/or purified for discharging into ground or surface water.

In Germany there are approximately 4000 nursery companies; 1500 of them are members of the Federation Bund Deutscher Baumschulen or BdB. The total area in production is approximately 25,000 ha. The production volume is worth 1.5 billion marks (1994), making Germany the biggest producer of nursery stock in Europe. Production is scattered throughout the country but there are three centres.

1. The district of Pinneberg in Hamburg, with 300 nurseries and 2200 ha of land.
2. The Ammerland, also with about 300 nurseries and more than 2000 ha of land.
3. The Rheinland, with 150 nurseries and 1300 ha of land.

In these three areas some 50% of the total plant production in Germany is concentrated. This is partly a result of very long nursery tradition but mainly because of the perfect climate and the excellent soil. It is primarily in these areas with highly concentrated nursery production that we are having most of the problems with environmental restrictions.

Since environmental lobbyists began their scrutiny of growing media, enormous sums of money have been spent on research projects, conferences, insurance claims, and even failed companies. This paper aims, from a manufacturer's viewpoint, to consider whether progress has been achieved as a result or whether it has all amounted to a time-wasting digression.

Progress can be monitored in terms of increased profitability, but increasingly the effects of our activities on the environment must come into the equation. Although there can be sound marketing reasons for considering growing media from an environmental standpoint, it is extremely important that the considerable advances that have recently been made in compost quality, with their consequent benefits for profitability, are not compromised in any way.

This paper aims to do two things:

1. To encourage more of you to record and write down the knowledge you have, and to provide a glimpse of what is involved in getting your ideas published.
2. To raise some issues about nursery management which frequently warrant more attention than they get.

The total area of nursery production in the Netherlands has grown rapidly during the last 10 years. More than 50% of the plants are exported. High standards of quality lead to the use of large amounts of fertilizers and pesticides, especially soil fumigants. These amounts are still way above the long-term targets associated with government environmental policy. The Multi Year Plan for Crop Protection aims to reduce the use of pesticides in nurseries by 25% by 1995, 39% by 2000, and 58% by 2010. In addition, the use of fertilizers is to be restrained to avoid polluting surface and ground water.

As growers will continue to face competition from imports they will have to maintain high standards of quality so economic and environmental aims have to be optimized. In 1990 the Research Station for Nursery Stock at Boskoop developed a programme to investigate alternative production methods (Dolmans, 1992). This has resulted in research projects at three different levels:

Initial screening of peat-free container growing media at this nursery in 1991 identified various products with potential as alternatives to peat. Surplus material from these trials was tried in propagation to see what would happen. Results suggested that these materials were worthy of further investigation and a decision was taken in 1992 to investigate their potential.

As winner of the Richard Martyr Award, I attended the Southern Region International Conference held at Greensboro, North Carolina (N.C.) in October 1993. After the Conference I drove west up into the Appalachian Mountains where I spent more than a week looking at the production of Abies fraseri, the Fraser fir, from seedling transplant to 7-m tall, competition-winning Christmas trees. Though many of the natural stands of Fraser fir are dying due to balsam woolly aphid, these are now being replaced by farmed trees as A. fraseri becomes an increasingly popular Christmas tree. I visited many Christmas tree growers but this report describes two, Bob Jennings of N.C. State Forestry Station and Wayne Ayers of Roan Valley Tree Farm.

Modern horticultural crop protection involves a number of practices which are claimed to damage the environment. Growers still make considerable use of pesticides despite a reduction in available chemicals. Diseases continue to be wrongly diagnosed, which may lead to use of inappropriate fungicides and in some cases application of too many chemicals. Many nurseries still allow used irrigation water to drain into water courses and lakes which can result in loss of nutrients and pesticides and a build-up of these potentially damaging chemicals in the environment. The need for good nursery hygiene as part of integrated pest and disease management means many growers use pots, trays and other plastic materials only once before discarding them, thus dumping huge quantities of plastics annually. Specialisation and "factory" nursery methods have created increased risks of epidemic disease development and effective control remains the key to economic production of quality plants.

Water quality and quantity has probably been the hottest environmental topic in the past few years. In the western U.S.A. precipitation has been below normal for the past 8 years and this has led to numerous clashes between city authorities, environmental groups, industries, and agriculture, over who has rights to the water and how much should be used and how much conserved.

At Monrovia Nursery Company, water management has always been a top priority. Since 1968 we have been involved in water research and recycling. Our research director, Conrad Skimina, was instrumental in developing our water recycling system 20 years before it became a public issue. He has presented several papers on our findings at past I.P.P.S. meetings. In 1984 when Monrovia's Oregon nursery was started, 100% water recycling was built into its design. On our 565 acres there, each production bed slopes to its center drain tile to carry irrigation water back to the drainage canal and on to the collection

The significance of the so-called "green movement" should not be underestimated. Apart from the importance and significance of public attitudes to green issues, a well implemented and thought-out environmental policy can make economic sense in the propagation department and throughout the rest of the nursery.

When I first started growing alpine plants as a student at Ingwersen's nursery in Sussex, the industry was very different from the one we know today. The market for alpine plants was mainly split between retail sales direct from the nursery and mail order. There were relatively few wholesale nurseries supplying garden centres.

The current decade has seen a large surge in the market for alpines. Many small retail nurseries have launched themselves onto the circuit of horticultural and other types of shows in the U.K., both direct selling and as a way of publicising their mail-order business.

But where have all the rarer alpines gone? Nurseries seem to have been forced to mass produce fewer lines for sale to the public at their popular shows. This has led to an upsurge of trade for mass production propagators of plug plants, churning out countless seedlings of lewisias, dianthus, saxifrages, and campanulas. However, the demand from the retail industry is for choice cultivars

Nurserymen must achieve high standards of weed control. Herbicides have been used effectively for this purpose for decades but despite campaigning by environmentalists to eliminate their use, herbicide application is likely to continue, albeit at a reduced level. Legislation to control the amount of chemicals applied, leached, or discarded will intensify and so alternative methods of weed control, which eliminate or minimise herbicide use, are being studied. A greater understanding of the principles of chemical control and of alternative methods of weed suppression can also reduce herbicide use.

The four beds constructed were the standard Efford capillary bed, a capillary bed with water recycled, an overhead-watered bed with recycled water, and a flood bed (ebb and flow system) with recycled water.

Pyracantha rogersiana and P. ‘Orange Glow’ were the two trial plants potted in 3-litre pots into compost containing controlled-release fertiliser.

The recycling-capillary bed showed a significant water saving. There was no significant build-up of pests and diseases in any treatment. Although nitrate levels increased during the season, some of the rise was due to a rise in the levels in the mains water used and at no time did the levels reach phytotoxic concentrations. There was no significant difference in plant growth and appearance between the four treatments and this suggests that the use of recycled water does not adversely affect the plants while offering potential savings in water and fertiliser costs. It is recognised that commercial nurseries will treat the water to avoid the risk of disease.

The quality of drinking water has been reducing throughout Central Europe for many years. The main source of water pollution is seen as agriculture. The widespread use of pesticides, artificial fertilizers, and very intensive meat production units are causing much damage to water resources. Tree and shrub nurseries represent only a fraction of the land used agriculturally. However, because of the intensive production methods and the large concentration of nurseries in a few areas they are coming under more and more pressure to adopt environmentally acceptable production methods. Lower Saxony has become the first state in Germany to require building permission for container plant production units—others will follow. Water authorities are already monitoring the run-off from some container areas. To date they have been concentrating on the nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus.

A literature review by Alt (1990) showed that the yearly uptake of nitrogen by plants growing in the

The horticulture industry worldwide is under pressure to comply with new environmental standards and regulations. These vary from state to state but in most cases the issues at stake are common. The following paper reviews the approachs that different organisations are making towards tackling the problems. Observations are mainly taken from the U.S.A. and Germany where legislation has been enforced more rigourously and for longer than in the U.K.

Good water quality is a must in container production and propagation. In Denmark, there has been, and still is, ample water resources available. However, the quality of this water can vary considerably even within a small district. Since 1970, I have advised over 200 nurseries on the use of their water resources.

It is well known that maximum plant growth is dependent on an optimum water supply. Large amounts of water are passing through a plant, most of which is used for temperature regulation. It is generally accepted that 97% of the water taken up is transpired. This leaves 3% for other uses, and nearly all of this water is used in the growth process, whereas extremely little is utilized in chemical processes. The total amount of water used may be 350 litre (100 gal) per kg (2 lb) dry matter produced. Of the 350 litres of water, only 10 liters is used for growth, leaving 340 litres to be transpired. Small restrictions of water flow to the plant over a short time period would be harmless, if it only affected the water transpired. However, a decreased water supply quickly affects growth rate. Several factors are known to influence water availability.

Humidity. Under most growing conditions, the forces pulling water out of the leaf are so strong that transpiration has first

When I sat down to put this paper together, I asked myself: "What is it I want to get across to this group of propagators and growers?" I think the answer is:

• It can be done
• It is done
• It works
• It grows great plants
• It is economically feasible

So, I shall strive to do so.

The nutrient film technique (NFT) system was first tried out in 1941 in Shanghai, China, in a nursery called The Chemical Garden. This system was in operation until 1944, when it closed down because of the war. Its inventor stated that there were nutrient problems and that NFT was uneconomical. In 1956 the technique was again used in Sweden by a chemical firm but abandoned 2 years later because of nutrient solution problems. In 1964 BV Hydro Systems developed a system in Denmark for orchids and in the 1970s a large number of experiments were conducted. However, no really important developments occurred before 1972, when Alan Cooper in England conducted the first commercial experiments with NFT. Since then, a large number of people in different countries have attempted to use NFT with a varying degrees of success. The original NFT system developed in England is—as the name implies—a thin nutrient film running down a gully or trough. The system is based on the

Plants need water and fertilizer at the right time, in the right amount, and at the right pH level. The optimum fertilizer concentration and pH level differ by season, plant species, and plant age.

We are constantly searching for new hollies to meet these criteria. The following taxa are currently being produced:

• Ilex ‘Nellie R. Stevens’, a putative hybrid between I. aquifolium and I. cornuta, is a large dark-green evergreen shrub or small pyramidal tree 5 to 8 m high. It is hardy in areas which normally experience winter temperatures as low as -23C. This holly was introduced by G.A. Van Lennep, Jr. of St. Michael, Maryland, U.S.A., in 1954 (Dirr, 1983).
• Ilex ‘Edward J. Stevens’, is a large male clone useful for pollinating ‘Nellie R. Stevens’. It is more narrow in growth habit but essentially similar.
• Ilex ×attenuata ‘Foster's Number 2’ is one of a group of five interspecific hybrids of I. cassine and I. opaca. It has a compact, narrow growth habit to 10 m,

Junipers provide a wide range of colour all year round. In a variety of shapes and sizes, there is a species of juniper to provide feature plants, screen and wind breaks, ground covers, and tub specimens. Junipers are extremely hardy, tolerating temperatures ranging from -10 to 50C. They will tolerate long periods of drought and very wet conditions, provided drainage is good. Best of all, junipers are easy to propagate.

When I joined I.P.P.S., just 8 years ago, I was the only Japanese member of the society.

During my extensive work with micropropagation, a number of projects were accomplished and shared with others, i.e., micropropagation of Rhododendron, Haemanthus, a new yellow garden Camellia, and Cyclamen. I was pleased seeing these results and feeling a little proud of my work I had fulfilled my duty, namely, "SEEK AND SHARE".

I sincerely hope this new I.P.P.S. Japan will play an important role to bring together various researchers, nurserymen, farmers, and consumers, and will develop into a true "SEEK AND SHARE" society

In Japan, in recent years, production of Cyclamen has been gradually increasing with consumers wanting cheaper plants and larger flower colour choice.

To meet these trends in demand for new Cyclamen, our nursery set up a tissue culture laboratory and began a breeding project to develop new types of cyclamen. Now, we are very pleased to show our new elite cultivars, Kage-Yellow and Golden Boy, both with yellow flowers. Older cyclamen cultivars lacked yellow flowers. We succeeded in producing yellow-flower-colored types

Outline of Breeding Our breeding work started with finding yellow-flowered mutants among many seedlings of Kage's strain of ‘Pure White’. The flower of ‘Kage-Yellow’ is medium-sized with a yellow colour at the bud stage and pale cream when open. Its colour becomes deep yellow at lower temperatures (around 15C) and under full sunlight. ‘Golden Boy’

Sanyo-Noen Nursery set up a micropropagation laboratory in 1984. Since then, it has concentrated on the micropropagation of virus-free stocks of fruit trees. The major product of our company is grafting understocks for sweet cherry and peach. The understock plants are ‘Dandy Chair’ and ‘Meteor’ introduced from New Zealand. Both are useful dwarfing understock cultivars in Japan because they show good summer heat tolerance. Each year, 10,000 to 20,000 plants of both cultivars are

The application of 2,4-D at 1 mg litre^-1 was most effective for inducing adventitious embryos (induction frequency was 90%); BAP suppressed embryo formation.

Induction frequency was observed to be different between strains. Strain No.7 was the most prolific in embryo production. To save labour in isolating the small embryos, a simple protocol was established. This protocol involved mashing the embryo-forming callus in Murashige and Skoog (MS) liquid medium, filtering through nylon mesh, and plating a thin layer on the agar medium. By this process, it was

Rejuvenation efficiency was evaluated by percent rooting, number of roots, percentage of elongated lateral shoots, and flowering in vitro. Only the rooting results are presented.

In the cultivar Fashion Parade, the ease of rooting was the highest at five times subculturing and declined after five subcultures (Figs. 1 and 2). This suggested that the shoots may be aging. In contrast, with the cultivar Alba Meillandina, the ease of rooting was the highest at six times subculturing (Figs 3 and 4). Therefore, there were cultivar differences in "rejuvenation".

A wide range of plant pathogens are waterborne, and recycled irrigation water is recognised as a major source of inoculum. Phytophthora, Alternaria, Aschochyta, Fusarium, Pythium, and Helminthosporum are some of the nursery crop pathogens capable of entering water storages (Gill, 1970; Thomson and Allen, 1974).

Chlorination of nursery irrigation water from surface sources is currently the main method of disinfestation in Australia. Microfiltration, ultraviolet irradiation, bromination, ozonation, and the use of chlorine dioxide are lesser used methods.

A prior (unpublished) survey conducted by the authors indicated that chlorination was not being used successfully by nursery operators in most situations. A major reason for this was a general lack of appreciation by the survey participants of the need to routinely monitor chlorine demand and thus enable themselves to constantly maintain biocidal concentrations of residual free chlorine. The majority of operators included

Cooperative Extension (CE) acts as a conduit for information from DANR to their clientele and from the clientele to the DANR. CE advisors often try to interest basic researchers in DANR to conduct research which would be applicable to the industry. CE advisors also take basic research results and try to apply that information and seek adoption of new information and techniques by industry to improve their professionalism and their productivity. An analogy would be to look at DANR as a big old tree. We have all this information stored in our roots and

All our guests will be giving presentations during the conference and will be meeting with the Latin America Expansion Committee to firm up plans for I.P.P.S. meetings in Costa Rica and Argentina during 1995 and 1996. Watch for details and plan to attend one of our first I.P.P.S. meetings ever held in Latin America.

Please make an effort to greet each of our guests and get to know them. Perhaps you can share an idea or two about what you have found to be valuable about I.P.P.S. membership. This may help them as they return to their own countries and try to start I.P.P.S. activities there.

It is my pleasure to introduce three I.P.P.S. members from Latin America. To help us appreciate their diverse homeland, we asked each to share a taste of music and a scene from their country. From Mexico, please welcome Daniel

Almost every nursery is still a family enterprise. Now, the 3rd or 4th generation is working at plant

Greg Lloyd: One of the things I didn't mention was that one of the weaknesses of off-shore production is that it tends to be unreliable in many cases. There are good labs and bad labs. The reason we chose Costa Rica was because it was close to Florida and we put a lab manager from the company down there. We couldn't see a lab further away (e.g., China). We could ship back and forth easily and we could get our management back and forth for training. Costa Rica has a relatively stable government and fairly decent electricity. Other places don't have these advantages.

Gary Matson: Does the change in density upon germination occur with all seeds? Does it happen suddenly at germination? Can you provide a little more detail how to take advatange of this?

David South: I can only speculate, but as seed gets bigger in size during the germination phase it gets lighter in terms of specific gravity. I don't have the data from a number

Mike and his Program Committee have scheduled an exciting variety of subjects and events, that will challenge all of us. I am glad to see that the committee believes in the axiom—"The mind can absorb no more than the tail can endure." I am also glad to see that they have renewed the use of the GO - Caution and Stop sign that I developed some 20 years ago.

The topic for this little talk is "I.P.P.S.—Ready for the 21st Century." I wish to announce it is not only ready but it is off and running. Membership is up and new regions are lining up to join. My recommendations are: keep doing what we are doing, only better. I will make some suggestions later.

There is only one problem on the horizon. Our international body is under

In 1991, 1 met Raymond Evison of Great Britain, who is certainly one of the world's authorities on clematis. Soon we became a distributor of his young bareroot plants in California and other western states.

During Raymond's first visit to southern California, we toured a number of wholesale and retail nurseries to evaluate the local clematis market. We noted the presence of Clematis armandii in fair numbers. This native to central and southern China (Evison, 1991) is one of the few evergreen clematis and has very fragrant flowers in March and April. Its mature growth is frost-hardy to 15F, making the

Paulino's is a retail nursery and produces over 1300 types of perennials grown from seed, cuttings, and bareroot divisions.

The growing area for perennials covers 5 acres where over 300,000 1-gal-size and 500,000 4-inch-size perennials are grown. Soft cuttings are rooted under shade in humidity tents using one layer of 4-mil clear poly and another layer of 50% shade cloth.

Display gardens at the nursery help maximize sales and serve as trial grounds for new varieties. Paulino Gardens builds feature gardens and educational displays for organizations such as the American Rock Garden Society.

The old practice of seeding was to seed into flats using 1000–1500 seed per flat. After germination, transplant 64 seedlings to the same size flat. After 3 to 5 weeks, transplant those to the various finished product sizes. The only automated process of this practice was the flat filling and dibbling (dibble board).

The methods of bedding plant production as well as the distribution of bedding plants have necessitated changes in our industry All the changes have provided Goldsmith Seeds with an opportunity to produce varieties that exceed the requirements of our customers.

Goldsmith Seeds' chain of distribution for F1 hybrid seed renders many tiers of customers, each with their own distinct requirements for a variety. Seed is sold directly to seed brokers, who in turn sell the seed directly to growers. Seeds are then grown out and sold to garden centers and other plant merchants in packs and other

Aquilegia flabellata var. pumila (syn A. akitensis), A. vulgaris ‘Nora Barlow’, Anemone blanda, Anemone pulsatilla, Arenaria balearica, Aster novi-belgii dwarf, Astilbe chinensis, Aubrietia gracilis, Bolax gummifera (syn. B. glebaria nana), Claytonia parvifolia (syn. Montia parvifolia), Cyclamen hederifolium, Dianthus chinensis (syn. D. laciniatus), Erysimum dwarf, Euphorbia polychroma, Genista tinctoria ‘Humifusa’, Globularia repens (syn. G. nana), Gypsophila aretioides, G. aretioides ‘Caucasica’, Helleborus orientalis, Herniaria glabra, Iberis sempervirens ‘Pygmea’, Iris dwarfbearded, I. innominata, I. Pacific coast hybrids, Leucanthemum ×superbum (syn. Chrysanthemiun maximum), Lewisia cotyledon, Phlox ‘Santa Fe’, Pimelia prostrata, Potentilla crantzii, P. eriocarpa, Primula Gold Lace Group, P. Jack in the Green Group, P. prolifera, P. pulverulenta, P. seiboldii ‘Snowflake’, P. vialii, Raoulia subsericea, Saponaria ×olivana,

Jamie Kitz: Yes. It has to be an excellent F1 hybrid because that is the only type of bedding plants we work with. The breeders are constantly looking for new crops to bring to the market.

Steve Mullaney: Are the plants actually free of the hairs or are the hairs free of the primen?

Jamie Kitz: I believe the chemical is in the tissue and not in the hairs.

Bruce Briggs: How do you measure public demand?

Cynthia Chandless: Usually thje hobbyist and gardening magazines are generating or responding to those demands.

Bob Hugart: Do you see the trend in perennials going more toward smaller containers or more toward larger 1's, 2's, and 5's?

Cynthia Chandless: I don't think there is just one answer here. It does depend on the person or business itself and what market shares you are serving. On the one hand, I've got one client telling me that they are putting all their energy into 4 in. because their return was greater than when they sold gallons. In colder

The Zantedeschia or calla lily belongs to the aroid family (Araceae) and is commonly known as arum lily, pig lily, or yellow and pink arums. It belongs to the same genera as Anthurium, Caladium, Dieffenbachia, Monstera, Philodendron, Scindapsus, Spathiphyllum, and Syngonium. The genus was named by Sprengel in 1826, in honor of Professor Zantedeschi. There are numerous species: Z. aethiopica—the common white calla lily or arum., Z. rehmannii—narrow lanceolate leaves with flowers varying in color from ivory-white to deep-pink, Z. jucunda—yellow flowers in the summer, Z. elliottiana—yellow flowers with spotted leaves, Z. pentlandii—varying colors from white to yellow, and Z. albomaculata—strong growing with pale cream-lemon flowers.

The hybrids we are working with at the lab were developed in New Zealand from these species.

The calla lily cornes from the summer rainfall areas of South Africa, growing and flowering in the early summer and dying back in late autumn to a

Fred Rauch: In that particular case he waters them in very well and with the use of the plastic covering he's able to keep enough moisture in there especially for seeds that germinate quickly. If you had something extremely slow (serveral months) then this probably wouldn't be useful.

Anonymous: Do you have any strains from wester Samoa?

Chuck Ades: No.

Anonymous: They have plants with leaves that are 15 to 18 in. long with beautiful variegations?

Chuck Ades: Do these characteristics hold in the United States?

Anonymous: They seem to.

Anonymous: What kind of insect problems do you have on your plants?

Chuck Ades: The main problem wiht pothos (Epipremnum aureum)

The production of indoor tropical foliage plants in Hawaii has increased significantly over the past 20 years. This growth peaked in 1990 at a wholesale value of $14.6 million with about 30% of this production in palms.

Palms are generally slow-growing, but the growing conditions found in Hawaii give our growers an advantage. Palms are generally propagated from seeds, but growers have reported that many palm species are slow to germinate or are irregular in their germination pattern. I would like to summarize some of our observations and research findings relative to palm seed germination.

Several species from the genus Persoonia have been noted for their horticultural potential (Wrigley and Fagg, 1989), either as a floricultural or an ornamental crop. The genus belongs to the Proteaceae family. There are approximately 72 species ofPersoonia, all endemic to Australia exceptP. toru, which is found in New Zealand (Closs and Orchard, 1985).

The flowers and foliage of P. virgata, a species in south-east Queensland, are currently bush-picked and sold on the domestic market. Being an evergreen shrub that flowers year round, this filler has the potential to supply both the domestic and export markets continuously. However, as the propagation of this species has not been resolved, it cannot be cultivated. This limits the export potential of this product due to the fact that there is no guarantee of continuity of supply, uniformity, or quality of the product.

Pothos or more correctly,Epipremnum aureus ‘Gold’ (syn. Scindapsus aureus ‘Gold Pothos’), a native to the Solomon Islands, is one of the staple plants in the United States indoor houseplant trade. This is due primarily to its colorful variegated leaves, durability, and versatility. Additional cultivars include: ‘Marble Queen’, ‘Green Queen’ (a sport of ‘Marble Queen’), and ‘Leilani’ (a sport that I developed from ‘Gold’ Hawaiian strain) and Scindapsus pictus ‘Argyraeus’ (syn. ‘Satin Pothos’) from Indonesia and the Philippines.

Epipremnum aureus can be used as a cascading or hanging plant, a groundcover, or climbing plant. The leaf form most commonly seen is actually the juvenile form of E. aureus. The adult or mature form of the leaf is quite large, often more than 2 ft long and split similarly to the leaves of Monstera deliciosa, split-leaf philodendron.

The nursery industry is taking steps to reduce its use of irrigation water. Public concerns about water use and pollution prevention and increasing irrigation costs are motivating this change. Kabashima (1993) believes nurseries will reduce water use by recycling water, increasing the water application uniformity, and by improving irrigation scheduling. Water is conserved when irrigation is scheduled to apply only the amount of water used by the plant. Growers have found that certain plants need more water than others, while other plants are easily over-watered. Burger et al. (1987) showed that water use varied greatly between different plant varieties when they reached market size.

The amount of water used by container-grown plants is influenced by the climate, production practices, and crop characteristics (Regan, 1991). Plants use the most water on sunny days that are hot, dry, and windy. Growers can use local daily meteorological data or reports to schedule

The application of computer technology as an aid in the process of selection and design of irrigation systems has been growing rapidly in recent years. Previously, sprinkler spacings were based on "rule of thumb" guidelines established by the sprinkler manufacturers themselves. With overlapping sprinklers, phrases such as "head-to-head spacing" or "50% of diameter" were often used by manufacturers to assist customers in making the right decisions. These recommendations were based on previous experience and did not assure that uniformity of water applied would be acceptable. And to compound the problem, different crops had different requirements for acceptable uniformity. A pecan orchard in Willcox, Arizona, for example, required far less sprinkler uniformity than container-grown plants in Southern California because of the extensive and deep-rooted nature of the crop. Many resulting installations have applied extra water in order to adequately irrigate the driest areas

Everything started on weekend trips to the sierra. On these trips I was not only surprised by its beauty and majesty, but also with the great diversity of conifers, oaks, and other plants that grow on its slopes, rivers, and cliffs. There were trees and plants I had never seen before in the city and yet of unique beauty. Then the idea of learning more about the native species as well the techniques to propagate them, came to me.

In November, 1992, I had the opportunity of visiting South Africa. What surprised me on this trip was to see that in a country where there are no native pines, they have planted them on thousands of acres. According to Department of Forestry, Republic of South

Timber harvests in the United States have increased 57% over the last 40 years without a loss in timber growth. In fact, timber growth has increased 45% in the same period. In contrast, timber harvests in Mexico have declined 29% in the last 5 years because of deforestation, resulting in the closure of mills and the loss of jobs (Anon., 1994). Both countries have a large forested land base covering 30% to 40% of the country. Mexico has 0.58 ha forest land/person, while the United States has 0.75 ha forest land/person. The United States has reforested at least 200,000 ha every year since 1950 (Fig. 1). Mexico reforested 100,000 ha for the first time in 1991 (Fig. 1). Consequently, deforestation is claiming over 400,000 ha/year. Before the forest industry of Mexico can recover, deforested lands must be replanted and reforestation must become part of the land use plan. The objective of this paper is to compare the forest nursery production systems in the United

The flora that evolved under these circumstances is unique. Approximately 1,000 species of flowering plants are native to the Islands. Of these, 89% are endemic, the highest of any floristic area of the world. Unfortunately, 38% of these species are considered threatened or endangered while 10% of previously recorded species are considered extinct. Only the State

Richard Phillips: Inside of Mexican agencies like our USDA there are forestry researchers and agronomists. Other agencies are responsible for four major areas: reforestation, plantation, urban forestry, and environmental protection. The Army which has very little experience in nursery management has been asked to grow 123,000,000 seedlings. This has been very difficult in some cases, but in others it has succeeded due to personal interests of those involved. To date, there has not been investment necessary to bring the nurseries up to standards that will be needed to be competitive in the forestry industry.

Testing services provide information used to make more accurate, less risky management decisions that justify the cost. The point of testing is to prevent problems, to make better business decisions. There are things that can not be known about land, media, or water without some type of testing. Testing services DO work. They are based on sound research and years of experience. Some, who don't take the time to test, realize losses not profits. Testing uses a sample of a population to learn something about a population, instead of using the whole population to learn as many people do.

Several examples of problems created due to the lack of testing will be presented. Not all are

Illnesses of plants are caused by factors that are either living or nonliving and that may predispose to each other. For example, overly wet roots may be weakened and more susceptible to biotic root rot, and biotically infected roots may reduce water uptake and cause normally watered plants to suffer from lack of oxygen.

A suggested plan for the formulation of a production program includes:

• Identify any special production requirements of the plant species/cultivar for a new or existing stock line. Background information can be obtained from past production experience with related species and published literature. Concisely summarise these findings, highlighting the important agronomic traits.
• Conduct trials using existing nursery production programs. Grow trial batches throughout the nursery for at least a 1-year production cycle. This will give an indication of how

Ted St. John: It is not too late. You can certainly inoculate after the fact. It's not the best thing to do when plants are in large containers. With special plants or for research purposes, it has been done. For the first question, whether the fungus is suitable, the only real question here is whether your plants are the vesicular-arbuscular type. If they are, then these general fungi are suitable. In fact, the same species are probably found in their home countries. They tend to be globally distributed and there are 200 species. You do have to make sure it's the right kind of fungus and the fungi tend to be quite specialized for soil althought they are very unspecialized with regard to host. The fungus that comes from an acid spil will not work in a neutral or basic soil, for instance.

Christy Alterman: How can you tell the difference between

First, it's important to understand the difference between fog, micromist, mist, and sprinklers (rain size drops). The difference to the grower boils down to how wet things get, specifically plants and the growing medium. Big drops hold much more water than tiny droplets, so on a drop-by-drop

Besides visiting other gardens, arboretums, and mountain forests, I did have the opportunity to visit some nurseries to see the propagation techniques used. Much of it was very traditional and facilities were well below the standard used in the Westem world. Nonetheless, I was impressed with their enthusiasm and skills.

The nursery at the Nanjing Botanical Garden contained a wide variety of plants from their research programs and wild collections. One program is the hybridization of Taxodium for urban planting. A number of hybrids were made using T. distichum var. imbricatum

Longwood Gardens is a display garden situated on 1060 acres in southeastern Pennsylvania. Longwood is open year-round, attracting visitors to its 200 acres of outdoor displays and 3½ acres of conservatories and greenhouses. Longwood has been incorporating Mediterranean-climate plants into its conservatory displays since the mid 1980s. This was done to maintain lower greenhouse winter temperatures because of the escalating costs of heating fuel and to increase visitation during the winter months by providing the visitors with a kaleidoscope of plants in bloom. Longwood is located in USDA Hardiness Zone 6B, characterized by an average minimum winter temperature of 0 to -5F; as such, relatively few Mediterranean-climate plants are hardy outdoors in our area.

The Mediterranean-climate regions of the world include the true Mediterranean, the California chaparral, parts of coastal Chile, western and southern Australia, and the southwestern cape of South Africa.

Most growers, given the opportunity, would prefer to grow their plants outside. Not only is the outside environment the natural environment for all plants, but it also requires less capital to grow outside than in a greenhouse structure. However, due to the fluctuation in the outdoor environment from day to day and season to season, it became obvious that some sort of structure would be required to precisely control the growing environment. As a result, growers began to build greenhouses to protect their plants from adverse outside conditions.

While inside a greenhouse, the plants are protected against adverse conditions outside. However, when outside conditions warm up and dry up, and the sun comes out, the greenhouse environment becomes too hot and too humid. During these sunny, hot conditions, most growers experience some or all of the following problems when growing in a greenhouse:

• Plant stretch
• Higher incidence of pests and disease due to higher heat and

Richard Vollebregt: At this point, not yet. We have only been promoting this for production ranges. As growers become more aware of it we see fog used in propagation. We have seen it in Arizona were people have flat-roof houses and they were using the fog simply for cooling whereby they would have a retractable shade to reduce the light level and then the fog system would be used to supplement the colling of the air temperature.

Marge Sweeney: In your Mediterranean house, what was your watering system?

James Ault: Everything is being manually watered in there right now. Since we move plants around so much, trickle irrigation systems have been difficult to use.The soil mix in there is well-drained and you can have a plant that has a high water requirement next to a plant that has a low water requirement and not have problems with irrigating either one.

Plants exist in several temperature microclimates simultaneously. A microclimate is defined for this paper's purpose as a small environment that is confined by the structure of the greenhouse, the structure of the plant, and the root zone.

The primary aim of this paper is to heighten the reader's awareness of the existence of these microclimates and to outline the tools that are available today to control the temperature in each. It is essential to understand that providing the optimum temperatures to all the plant's microclimates is essential to achieving maximum quality and production.

To create a reference point for this, I suggest that you try to understand the way a specific plant evolved in nature. Very often this simple approach will yield a very good recipe for creative use of the tools that are available for this purpose. To illustrate the impact microclimate temperature control can have, I asked several growers for feedback as to what effect this approach

Information sheets

Dr. Don Dahlsten from U.C. Berkeley and Dr. Donald Kent from Walt Disney collected parasites from Australia and selected Tamarixia sp. for release in California. The Tamarixia adult females deposit their eggs in the pits under the psyllid nymphs. Upon hatching tamarixia larvae feed upon the mummified psyllid. Adult Tamarixia will live approximately 6 weeks and lay eggs in numerous psyllid nymph pits. Adults also feed on unparasitized nymphs.

Tamarixia seems to have established in several areas of California and will hopefully provide to have a level of control that will keep the psyllid populations from seriously damaging Eugenia foliage.