Rhododendron and
Azalea News

Bronze Medal Awardees

Don Powell has been a long-time member of the Olympia Chapter. During this time he has generously contributed his time, talent, and knowledge to promote the genus Rhododendron.

Don has greatly contributed to the success and support of the Olympia Chapter. He has held several offices and served his time in various way in the chapter, including president, vice president, and treasurer. He has consistently helped with the May Show held at Tumwater Falls Park every year. For several years he stored the racks that are used for the truss display at the May Show. At Thurston Country Fairgrounds the rhododendron planting he crafted and installed the sign that is currently there. He also installed the plaque that was made for the Bruce Briggs Memorial planting at Tumwater Falls Park.

Don has faithfully participated in the cleanup day at Tumwater Falls Park and with the chapter auction held in March. Don was also treasurer for the ARS convention held in Olympia in 2003.

It is with honor, pride, and appreciation that the Olympia Chapter of the American Rhododendron Society recognizes Don Powell for his diligent and generous dedication to our chapter and the goals of the organization. Presented this 26th day of July 2008.

It is with pleasure and grateful appreciation of Pete’s friendship and contributions to horticulture and this Society that we bestow on him our highest honor. Made April 12, 2008.

In recognition, Princeton is honored to present to her for her many years of faithful service and active participation, its highest award. Over this time, Fran has served as chapter treasurer and corresponding secretary, as a contributing member of the chapter's board of directors, as an organizer and arranger of meetings, as an hospitality chairperson; as an active worker at our annual truss shows, as an important participant at chapter auctions and plants sales, and, as co-chair of the most recent Northeast Regional Conference hosted by Princeton Chapter. In addition, Frances graciously opened her home and garden on numerous occasions to board meetings, mailings, and other District 7 gatherings.

For all this and more, Princeton gratefully presents this award, March 9, 2008.

With energy, enthusiasm, wit, wisdom, and good humor, Steve...as he is known to his many friends and associates...serves Princeton Chapter as our membership chairman and as an important member of our board of directors.

Steve is a man known for his meticulous attention to detail, his accurate record-keeping skills, and his conscientious desire to serve the chapter in whatever capacity needed. Steve is also an avid rhododendron collector, a successful grower, and a keen observer of cultivar characteristics. He has contributed in countless valuable ways behind the scenes that includes: volunteering and donating time in support of numerous activities and events...from our monthly meetings...to auctions, and to plant sales.

It is, therefore, with sincere appreciation that we present to him our highest achievement award on March 9, 2008.

It is with sincere and genuine appreciation that we acknowledge Lester and Melinda's numerous contributions. They serve our chapter in the capacity of hospitality co-chairs, and as valuable members of our Princeton board of directors. Modest and unassuming, this brilliant and talented couple, month after month have generously and unstintingly provided us all with a warm and gracious note of welcoming and inviting friendship. To seasoned members, their hospitality is like a comforting smile; to newer members, it is a warm "hello." In addition, their garden has been the beautiful backdrop for our cutting exchange and garden tour.

With this award, we gratefully recognize all they have done. With affection and warmest appreciation, Princeton Chapter presents to them the Bronze Medal, March 9, 2008.

Ann has served our chapter in a very unique way. For the past eight years she has faithfully arrived 45 minutes early to each meeting to start the coffee and hot perking and made sure trays of cookies arrive for our pre-meeting socializing. Then, she stays after the meeting to tidy the meeting room and lock up so that we continue to be welcomed at the meeting hall. Ann also arrives early for our April Potluck and November Pie Social to organize the table preparations for a bounty of food and fellowship.

Ann has also spent many hours sorting through and organizing the library at Meerkerk Rhododendron Gardens so we can browse and borrow books on rhododendrons and several other plant and gardening subjects with ease.

In grateful appreciation, this chapter is pleased to award this Bronze Medal to Ann Lee this 22nd day of October 2008.

Bob diligently attends the chapter meetings and diplomatically motivates members to buy a raffle ticket or suggests a visit to the dollar table. Each dollar he is able to talk us out of helps pad our budget to provide little "extras" for the membership.

In grateful appreciation, this chapter is pleased to award this Bronze Medal to Bob Turner, this 22nd day of October 2008.

His presidency of Southwestern Oregon for the past four years has been an enthusiastic one. Through his leadership the rhododendron truss show has flourished. He also brought an interest for the Maddenia series persuading a new enthusiasm for the species in the area.

The chapter is very pleased to honor him in this way.

For these and many other contributions in support of our chapter, we gratefully present our chapter's highest honor.

Dean is an active member of the VRS Propagation Group, a hybridizer and, more recently a champion for preservation of our native rhododendron R. macrophyllum. He is also part of the group that is planning to test the viability of macrophyllum plants from various clades. That study could identify types that are more vigorous and easier to grow for the home market.

In summary, it is with great pleasure that we award the ARS Bronze Medal to Dean Goard to recognize his outstanding service to the Victoria Rhododendron Society.

Bill has faithfully served on the board, including two terms as president, fulfilling the demanding task of show chairman for five years and is presently producing the chapter's newsletter, together with his wife, Theresa.

Bill organized a series of judging workshops in support of our annual shows and was co-chair of the recently completed successful Vancouver Island Species Workshops. Bill is the curator of the rhododendron section of Glendale Garden, a public display garden in Victoria. Whenever Bill is asked for help, he is there, where it be of give a talk to interested groups or to novices in their gardens.

His devotion to the genus Rhododendron has led him to join two international expeditions to China. The grounds of his suburban property are rapidly disappearing under a sea of rhododendrons and he is very knowledgeable about his collection.

Under Ken's leadership, a large number of VRS members have learned to grow rhododendrons from seeds and root cuttings and to graft difficult-to-propagate plants, and as the result of shared knowledge, significantly improve their rhododendron gardening skills. The chapter has benefited from the efforts of the propagators' group in the form of plants for the monthly raffle and bargain table, and for sales at its annual Show and Sale.

The propagators' annual visits to Tofino to view gardens and take cuttings from Ken Gibson's impressive collection are organized by Ken. He has also led several expeditions to the "difficult to find" collection of wild Rhododendron macrophyllum at Shawnigan Lake.

Ken and his wife, Madeline, have in recent years attended many of the American Rhododendron Society Fall and Spring meetings, ably representing our local chapter. Ken's gardening skills are well demonstrated in his splendid garden on Old West Saanich Road, and we have all been able to enjoy this garden at the annual picnics that Ken and Madeline have hosted.

Helen has been a dedicated treasurer for many years, tracking our membership as well as our expenditures and savings and doing the tedious recording of the plant sales, bids, and taking money while the auction moves at brisk pace. She has given plants generously for the chapter's plant sales.

In recognition for her many contributions, we present the Bronze medal to Helen Malby on May 21, 2008.

In addition, he has graciously opened his lovely garden for several tours during chapter and district meetings. For these and other outstanding contributions, we present this certificate. October 25, 2008.

Deaths

Burt Mendlin
Portland Chapter

What you might remember about Burt...he had a great sense of humor, loved to make people laugh, and was always happy to talk gardening.

• He served as the president of the local Rhododendron Society when Burt and family moved to Longview, Washington, in the 1960s.
• He served as vice president of the Portland Chapter.
• He served as the president of the Rhododendron Species Foundation, Federal Way, WA.
• He had a fabulous garden full of unusual and interesting plants.

What you might not have known about Burt:

• He loved to ski and made his last run at the age of 84.
• Burt joined the U.S. Army and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in 1944. He fought in World War II in four Pacific campaigns. During his military service, he received the Bronze Star and was awarded the Air Medal for meritorious service as an air spotter for his unit. He was honorably discharged with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in 1945.
• After service He attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and graduated second in his class with a bachelor of science and a master of science degree in business and chemical engineering.
• At MIT, he met Polly Ryder who became his wife of 58 years.

He truly is going to be missed.

Dr. Lawton Thomas
Tappan Zee Chapter

He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Dental School in 1940, served in the United States Army, and then practiced dentistry in Ridgefield Park, New Jersey, until his retirement in 1981.

When he first became interested in rhododendrons, he constructed a cold frame in his yard and started propagating plants. As a member of the Tappan Zee Chapter for over 35 years, this gentle, generous, mild-mannered man rooted and donated hundreds of plants to our chapter. He became an invaluable asset to the success of the chapter by allowing the use of his yard and barn as a staging area for our annual plant sale.

Tommy inaugurated the Tappan Zee Chapter's annual large-scale flower shows held at the McFaul Environmental Center, in Wyckoff, New Jersey, and facilitated the project by storing all of the necessary equipment in his barn. In recognition of his dedicated service, he received Tappan Zee's highest award, the Bronze Medal.

Over the years he became a prolific source of plants for individual members. In addition to many different varieties of rhododendrons, Tommy also propagated other types of plants and, with his eagerness to share his knowledge, he inspired many members to try different kinds of plants. It was our practice to sell leftovers from the annual sale at his house, and most people would ask for Dr. Tommy's plants first. To this day it would be difficult to find Tappan Zee members who do not have a plant started by Tommy in their gardens.

The proverb says, "He who plants a garden plants happiness," and Tommy has sown happiness in scores of gardens.

- Gus Cereni

Peggy Crane
Cascade Chapter

One of the couples we could always depend on when something needed doing were the Cranes. Even with all of the problems Peggy had over the years with her eyes, she would still be there with her big floppy blue hat to shield her eyes from the light. Because of their faithful service to the Cascade Chapter, we awarded them the Bronze Medal in 2001. She will be missed by all of us.

- Don Smart, President Cascade Chapter

James Gerdemann

Fred Cummings
California Chapter

In Fred’s professional life, he was an attorney with the law firm Aiken, Kramer & Cummings from 1958 until he retired in 1992. Fred has been an American Rhododendron Society member since 1960. He served as California Chapter president on three different occasions, was chairman of the 1981 ARS Annual Convention, and served on the Cal Chapter board continuously for almost 40 years.

We, at the California Chapter, remember Fred for his unassuming gentle manner and guidance, his piano entertainment at our potluck dinners, his flower arrangements, as well as for his love of rhododendrons, magnolias, and other woodland plants. He was a wonderful role model, not only for his plant knowledge, but his kindness, generosity, quiet leadership, and love of life and family. He had his own strong views on many subjects, but that did not interfere with his tolerance for the view of others.

Peter Schick
Noyo Chapter

Peter Anton Schick was born in Lemberg, Saskatchewan, Canada, September 11, 1915. He grew up on small farms in Canada and immigrated with his family to Berkeley, California, in 1961. He was an ardent member of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America in Berkeley while working on the Bay Area Rapid Transit as well as freeway and school construction. After retirement he moved to Fort Bragg in 1977 where he became involved with the Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden, the Noyo Chapter of the American Rhododendron Society, and Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church.

His love of plants continued and he became a world-recognized expert of tender species rhododendrons. In 2007, he was awarded the American Rhododendron Society's Gold Medal for lifetime achievement, a major highlight of his life. The tender species garden at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden was also dedicated to him in recognition of his support and many contributions to the development of the Garden.

Peter Schick was a humble man who never sought recognition for his endeavors. His work with rhododendrons was done out of a selfless desire to learn and to share this knowledge. He was responsible for any number of crosses, especially of vireyas, and shared this material with others who went on to register the plants. Peter wasn't interested. What he was interested in was preserving the species Rhododendron, gaining as much knowledge about these plants as possible and sharing his information with anyone willing to listen. His vision was to preserve the natural habitat and to protect the environment so that the original and native species will always have a place to thrive.

Denise Stelloh
Southeastern Chapter

Deni was a beautiful, vibrant, energetic, gracious and talented woman who lived life to its fullest. She was born and raised on Long Island, New York. Courses at the University of Arizona were the prelude to an entrepreneurial career as colorful as she was. She traveled the world as a stewardess with Pan-Am. After beginning as an account representative, she rose to become president of Medical Billing Services, Inc., Oakland, California. She began a dog training company in Maryland, a fashion consulting company, and a contract bridge club in North Carolina. She was superb at making new friends and at finding new interests and challenges to learn about and master.

She and Bob both became interested in azaleas soon after they married and moved to Potomac, Maryland, from Walnut Creek, California, in 1970. Typical of her enthusiasm and boundless energy, Deni jumped into gardening with both feet, and soon filling up their townhouse lot, front and back, with evergreen and deciduous azaleas. Active in the Brookside Gardens Chapter of ASA soon after it was formed, Deni eventually became their show chairman for at least ten years, and received their highest honor, the Frederic P. Lee Award, in 1988.

After a few years, they moved from their townhouse to a house on a half-acre lot. When that filled up with azaleas, they charged their real estate lady to "find us about five acres of oak trees with a house." Once there, they began planning and planting "Kairaku" (Japanese for "joint pleasure"), a large wooded hillside garden, just in time to be on tour as a young garden of promise for the 1988 ASA convention.

Deni's friendship with George Harding, one of the founders of the ASA, led to her and Bob having lead roles in the design and planting of the George Harding Memorial Azalea Garden at River Farm, headquarters of the American Horticultural Society in Alexandria, Virginia, dedicated in 1994.

Upon Bob's retirement, they followed such garden giants as Henry Skinner, Augie Kehr, and John Creech to Hendersonville, North Carolina in 1996. This time they found two sloping acres of mature oaks, tulip poplars, pines, sourwoods and dogwoods, R. maximum and mountain laurel, and even a few native R. calendulaceum, R. arborescens and R. viscosum...with a house. Soon a more manageable one acre "Kairaku" emerged, with over 600 mature plants from the old garden, in time to be toured on the 2001 ASA convention as another young garden of promise...and again on the 2008 ASA Convention. She was also the show chairman for the Southeastern Chapter ARS for a number of years, and received their Bronze Medal in 2001.

Deni lived her life fully, enjoying people, gardening, bridge, and animals. She was an inspiration to everyone she met. It was my pleasure to have had that inspiration for 38 years.

- Bob Stelloh

Peggy & Art Zabel
Olympia Chapter

To say they were rhododendron enthusiasts is putting it mildly. Art and Peggy Zabel epitomized the love of rhododendrons. For 27 years they opened their garden to the public for the whole month of May. It was not uncommon for over 5,000 visitors to visit during that month every year. Visitors would come from all over the world and Art loved to keep records of them. This garden encompassed three and a half acres right behind their home. Originally it was a nut orchard and was subsequently transformed into this beauteous space with hundreds of plants, flowers, trails, ground covers, and trees. Art was always there to greet people and answer questions. He loved to give candy to the kids, after they guessed which hand it was in. Peggy has a rhododendron named after her.

Art and Peggy met when they were attending Metropolitan Business College in Seattle. They were married August 29, 1936. As a young wife and mother Peggy continued her love of dancing. She had a short semiprofessional career prior to leaving Yakima and in Olympia taught briefly for Mary Sweeney. She mentored her two daughters and encouraged their lessons with several teachers. She loved performing with her daughters, and later developed strong interests in both Polynesian and Middle Eastern dance. Also, she worked with Art and other family members at the Capitol, Lacey and Sunset driveway theaters. Both Peggy and Art were active in the Westminster Presbyterian Church.

After retirement from the theater business, Art transitioned into a second "career"...volunteering. He always enjoyed children, cared about their welfare, and easily related to them. When the first childcare center was established in Olympia, Art began his long association with the now Olympia Early Learning Center. Other weekdays were devoted to helping children with reading and math, especially at Lincoln Elementary, including the YMCA after school program there, and at John Rogers and Roosevelt schools and Head Start.

Art received many awards and honors for his service to the Olympia community, among which are The Governor's Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service. The Sound YMCA Child Care Volunteer of the Year, as well as many others. He was awarded the Bronze Medal in 1990 by the Olympia Chapter of the American Rhododendron Society. He accepted recognition with much pleasure, but also quietly and humbly, as was his nature.

When a legacy such as Art and Peggy's garden has been a part of this community for so many years, it is only natural that we would ask what would become of it. After Art's passing, the community was told that the garden was purchased by the Angela J. Bowen Conservancy Foundation and will be maintained by them as a wildlife habitat. Sheri Fulton, Art and Peggy's daughter, said, "We thought it would be a comfort for the community to know that it would be maintained. That's what our parents would have wanted." Many articles have been written in The Olympian newspaper over the years. One article in May 2001 indicated that legislation had been introduced with the purpose that the garden would be cared for in the future. Unfortunately, that legislation did not pass.

A quote from The Olympian is an article published in February 10, 2008: "Art and Peggy Zabel were community icons and their gift of peace, tranquility, and beauty will be with us for a long, long time!"

- Connie Klein

William Griswold
Seattle Chapter

His business was his love and his passion which his wife and three daughters shared with him. He was renowned throughout the world for his knowledge of rhododendrons and azaleas which led him to visit nurseries on five different continents. His nursery has become famous for hybridizing rhododendrons and azaleas that have been registered with the International Cultivar Registration Authority. These can be found in many gardens throughout the world.

He was the past president of the Seattle Chapter and honorary life member of the Washington State Nursery and Landscape Association, a member of the American Rhododendron Society, a past member of the International Plan Propagators Association, and a past board member and honorary board member of the Washington Park Arboretum Foundation.

He was also a member of the Rhododendron Species Foundation and the Bellevue Botanical Gardens. He was honored with the Pacific Coast Nurserymen's Man of the Year Award and he received the Bronze Medal for his service to the Seattle Rhododendron Society. In addition, he received the Pioneer Award from the Washington State Nursery and Landscape Association.

For her many contributions, we awarded her the Bronze Medal. She was a participant in Nancy and Harold Greer's globe-trotting tours and made many friends on her travels. She and her husband, Bob, were founding members of the Victoria Rhododendron Society. Her now mature garden is on the rich-forested northern shore of Juan de Fuca Strait near French Beach in British Columbia, Canada. The garden is locally very well-known and has been visited by many from all over the world. Dora concentrated on species, many of which came from the Rhododendron Species Foundation of which she was a keen supporter.

Travel was a large part of Dora's life. Bob was a hydrologist and his expertise took him all over the world. Sometimes, Bob went to his new business location ahead of Dora and the children, but Dora often preceded Bob when returning to the United States.

Dora was born on August 30, 1913, near Cumberland, Iowa, to farming parents. The skills and confidence she acquired on the farm served her well throughout her entire life. She started and completed her undergraduate studies in sociology at the University of Iowa. Her studies were interrupted by having to work as a schoolteacher during the Great Depression. While working as a waitress, she met Bob who was doing graduate studies at the University of Iowa. They were married in 1938. Bob’s work took him many places, including Galveston, Texas, the Panama Canal Zone (including some of the war years in the 1940s), Minneapolis, Omaha, Lincoln, Buenos Aires, Baghdad, and Southwestern Iran.

When the family moved to Baghdad, Iraq, Bob went first. A year later, Dora, with five children, ages 3 to 16, followed her husband. En route, Dora and the children spent a month visiting seven European countries. While in Baghdad, Dora worked at the American School as a teacher. She and the three youngest children were among the last women and children to leave Iraq following the 1958 revolution overthrowing King Faisal. Bob stayed on for a few more months. Dora and Bob returned to the Middle East in 1959, this time to Iran.

In both Iraq and Iran, they explored the countries by car and Land Rover. In Iran, they also traveled into remote areas to meet the tribesmen who pursued nomadic lives herding their sheep and camels in seasonal travels between mountains and valleys. After leaving Iran, Dora decided to pursue graduate studies in library science at Eugene, Oregon. From Oregon they moved to Princeton, New Jersey, where Dora worked at the Woodrow Wilson Library of Princeton University and other libraries.

Retirement came in 1973. The following is how her daughter Kay describes that event:
"The retirement to British Columbia seemed to some of her children to be out of character. Mother and father had come to Vancouver Island on their honeymoon." They returned to explore Vancouver Island. They inquired of Evelyn Packham at her Point No Point teahouse whether there was any property for sale in the vicinity. She told them about the Seaside Drive property...They walked around the closed-up, curtained house, jotted down the realtor's contact information and decided a week later to wire money to purchase the house, which they had never been in."

The property that they bought had been logged off a few years before and had no landscaping. Through their landscaping decision, Dora's and Bob's passion for rhododendrons began. Over many years, they assiduously sought the finest forms of species. These thrived in the moist West coast seaside environment. Now some are 20 feet high. Dora loved to have visitors so she could show them her many plants and she would particularly emphasize the many big-leaf rhododendrons that she had…among them R. praestans, R. hodgsonii, R. macabeanum, R. mallotum, and R. sinofalconeri.

Their traveling days were not over by any means. Bob was not fully "retired" and accepted assignments in Kenya, Ethiopia, Pakistan, and other exotic places and, of course, Dora went with him. In addition to those foreign travels, Dora rode a wooden dory through the Grand Canyon and trekked the arduous West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island; she traveled with the Greers, attended most rhododendron conventions. At the age of 85, she went on a tour to Antarctica; at 87, she took her grandson David to Saint Petersburg; and three years later went to the Galapagos with three of her children and three grandchildren. Right up to the age of 91, she visited her daughters in Seattle and in Sitka, Alaska.

- Norm Todd
- Kay Kreiss
- Robert Kreiss

Fran Raughley, Jr.
Valley Forge Chapter

A life-long resident of Delaware, he was a project engineer at DuPont Company until he retired in 1985. He spent his retirement years pursuing his passion for gardening, attending the Barnes Foundation Arboretum School, volunteering as a garden guide at Winterthur Gardens, and being an active member not only of several American Rhododendron Society chapters but also of the Day Lily and Holly societies.

In 1986, Fran received the American Rhododendron Society's Bronze Medal award after serving as Valley Forge Chapter librarian and director for many years and as chapter president from 1984-1986. In 2002, he was honored by the University of Delaware's Goodstay Gardens for his work on its Horticultural Advisory and Education Committees.

Fran was proud of his beautiful garden and shared it with others on many occasions. He also will be gratefully remembered for procuring for us at almost every meeting a fine selection of gardening books that satisfied every need and interest. We will greatly miss him, and our thoughts are with his wife, Pauline, and his family.

Folmer Sogaard
Lewis County Chapter

Folmer graduated from Santa Ynez High School in 1939, enrolled in pilot training school and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1940. He served as a Command Pilot for 18 months at Port Mosby, New Guinea. Folmer was the pilot of the Boeing built B-17 which was named the "Fighting Swede" in his honor. Author James Murphy, in his book, Skip Bombing, said "Lieutenant Folmer Sogaard, the Swede, weighed about 118 pounds, dripping wet. He looked mild-mannered but was a fierce competitor, as the enemy soon learned."

Major Sogaard received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters. The 29-year-old pilot was a veteran of 56 combat missions, logging 200 hours of combat flying in the Southwest Pacific. Following the war he separated from the Army and received a commission in the newly created U.S. Air Force as an LTC in 1947.

He married Marine Sgt. Florence Toothaker in 1945 and had a family of three daughters. They pursued his military career, traveling widely in Europe and the United States. In 1960 he retired from the Air Force, and they returned to Centralia where Folmer became the manager of the Chamber of Commerce.

Folmer was a tireless promoter of Centralia and its business community, loved to organize parades and decorate for Fiesta Days. He worked selflessly to improve his community by planting rhododendron gardens and the arboretum in Fort Borst Park. Folmer loved to garden, and became an expert in the growing and propagation of rhododendrons. He was an energetic member of the American Rhododendron Society. He and Florence were awarded the chapter’s highest honor, the Bronze Medal, in 1981.

- Joanne Campbell

Dr. William Mark Zurich, Jr.

His great loves were his family, his garden, great food, and wine. He had tremendous pride in his four children and dedicated his life to educating and guiding them. He was happiest when everyone was home for the holidays. He was a devoted son to his parents, Joan and Bill Zurich, Sr., and loved them dearly.

He loved his garden and could so often be found strolling among his rhododendrons with a glass of cabernet sauvignon and his dog by his side. His quick wit and straight talk sometimes hid his heart of gold. He was a truly compassionate physician and brought comfort and hope to his patients with his always-positive outlook.

He loved traveling the world with his wife, Ginny, seeking places with local color. He had an inquisitive mind and was always eager to learn something new. Through his dedication to his family, his kind manner with his patients and his renowned garden, Dr. Zurich brought beauty to the world in extraordinary ways. He lived every day with passion and vigor, honor and strength, and principal and love.

- Karel Bernady

2009 ARS Annual Convention, District 2, Everett, WA

The Chapters of District 2 welcome visitors to the 2009 Annual Convention at Everett, WA, April 29-May 3, 2009. The Convention offers educational seminars, exciting speakers, and exciting tours for beginner and experienced rhododendron enthusiasts. Non-members are welcome to attend. Featured excursions include the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden, Meerkerk Gardens, Bill Stipe's Glynneden Gardens, Jeanine & Rex Smith's Rhody Ridge, and Frank Fujioka's garden. Do put this exciting event on your calendar now.

The New Zealand Rhododendron Association will hold its annual meeting in Auckland on the North Shore, November 2-6, 2009.  Renown gardens will be visited and outstanding speakers from around the world will participate in the event. This exciting meeting should not be missed.

A thought to cherish...

Write it on your heart that every day
is the best day of my life.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson