Rhododendron and
Azalea News

Loder Rhododendron Cup to Mrs. Jay W. Murray

The Loder Rhododendron Cup is awarded annually by the Rhododendron and Camellia Committee of the Royal Horticultural Society in recognition of both floral display and the value to horticulture of the work of the recipient, whether this work shall include the production of flowers or not.

It is awarded to Mrs. Jay W. Murray in recognition of her valuable contribution to rhododendron horticulture.  Jay has been a registrar for the American Rhododendron Society since November 1985 and over this period has been responsible for collating several thousand registrations.  Her efforts have ensured a high level of accuracy and completeness of the Society's rhododendron register.

Additionally, Mrs. Murray was involved in the draft of the New International Register, which was completed in 2004.  She checked all 27,000 entries meticulously, providing an extraordinary amount of extra data on existing entries together with hundreds of accounts of cultivars missing from the records.  She is also a determined promoter of rhododendron cultivar registration, writing articles, and speaking at conventions.

Deaths

Elsie Skinner
Portland Chapter

It is with great sadness to report the passing of fellow chapter member...and good friend...Elsie Skinner.  Elsie died on July 24, 2006, at the age of 86 and is survived by her husband and daughter.  A memorial service was held on August 10.

Elsie leaves behind a legacy of generosity...both for her friends and the various gardening clubs she belonged to...which included the American Rhododendron Society, American Iris Society, Hosta Society, National Garden Clubs, and many more.

Elsie was honored in 2005 by the National Garden Club, Inc. where she was given top honors (national, regional, and state) for her outstanding gardening and community contributions.  Elsie was active in civic development, conservation, design, garden therapy, horticulture, landscape design, youth activities, and has encompassed the concept of “All Around Excellence” in her dedication.

Her accomplishment list is long...and varied...as she was active in a number of organizations, and donated her time frequently to friends, family, and organizations such as: the city of Lake Oswego, Multnomah County, Rose Garden, Pittock Mansion, Parry Center, Department of Veterans Affairs, Willamette National Cemetery, National Park Trust, Boy Scouts of America, Oregon Parks & Recreation, U.S. Army Reserve, Oregon City County, Nurserymen's Convention, Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden, Oregon Association of Nurserymen, National Geographic, American Iris Society, Portland Judges Council, and several others.  The list of shows, displays, programs, presentations, and competitions is also extensive.

Elsie owned and managed a well-known local landscaping company...L-C-Duz...for many years and many of her designs can be found around the city.  She also created the Progressive Designers Guild in the late 1980s which has direct benefits to the Portland chapter...in programs, tutoring members in flower arranging, pruning at Crystal Springs, and just being a good friend.

We have been very fortunate to have had this wonderful, generous gardener as a member and friend.  I think Elsie met her goal in life which was:

"to help people,
to let them know others care, and
to help whenever I can...
there is much to do and
little time to do it."

--Kathy Van Veen

George "Don" Brey
Susquehanna Valley Chapter

We regret to report the passing of George "Don" Brey on June 18, 2006.  We will miss Don's cheery smile and love of life.  Our sincere condolences are extended to his wife, Susan, and his two sons, Christopher and George, both of whom who have been associated with our chapter.

Robert "Bob" Nelson Smith
Cascade Chapter

Bob Smith, of Bellevue, WA, and long-time member of the Seattle Chapter and a charter member of the Cascade Chapter died July 11th after a long illness.

Bob was a lover of rhododendrons and enjoyed growing and tending his garden.  He also loved touring gardens in such places as...New Zealand, Tasmania, Australia, and Scotland, then shared his experiences with his fellow rhododendron friends.

-- Bob George

Janet Warner
Fraser South Chapter

Janet Warner died in May after a courageous battle with illness.  She was a published writer, having produced both a scholar book on the art of William Blake...as well as a novel based on the life of William Blake's wife, Catherine.  Janet and her husband, John, were joint recipients of the ARS Bronze Medal, awarded by the Fraser South Chapter in 2005, for their capable management of club records, and quiet but cheerful support of many of the chapter's activities.  We will miss Janet.

Max Plater
Fraser South Chapter

Max Plater died in June after a brief illness.  Max was a published writer...a poet who was active in his local community.  He had returned to our Fraser Chapter in 2004, having been a member some years earlier.  This spring he was an enthusiastic participant in the Rhododendron Species Study Days.  He will truly be missed.

Remembering a giant, Edgar Stead
New Zealand

Eleanor Stubbs of the Portland Chapter writes a column, As It Was, for the chapter's newsletter in which she brings out the most interesting tidbits for the chapter members.  This one is especially interesting because any number of ARS members are planning to go to the New Zealand Convention in October.  And, they will have the privilege of meeting some people there who personally knew Edgar.

Eleanor states this: Looking at back issues of the ARS Quarterly Bulletin, I stopped to read an article in the January 14, 1950 issue.  It was announcing the death of our New Zealand friend, Edgar Stead.  He was a 'giant' in the New Zealand Rhododendron world with many accomplishments, including being the founder and president of the New Zealand Rhododendron Association.

"The activities of Edgar Steed are undoubtedly those which he devoted to the culture and propagation of rhododendrons and azaleas.  His hybridizing of both genera entailed a great deal of careful study and patience in which only an expert could succeed.

Some of the rhododendron crosses produced at Ilam...the garden of Mr. Stead...are of such wonderful quality and size that they bear comparison with anything of their kind in the world.  There are some later crosses which are still to flower which also given something of outstanding merit.

Those of you who are familiar...Christchurch is not an ideal situation for rhododendrons...as the rainfall averages about 25 inches yearly and is hardly sufficient for them to obtain full vigor and hardihood.  This rainfall is not very evenly distributed as most of it falls during winter while the summer and autumn months are often hot and windy so that expert knowledge is required to bring them to the perfection which is seen at Ilam.

sawdust...made the difference..

One factor which made a great difference...was undoubtedly Edgar Stead's copious use of sawdust as a mulch.  Those of you who are familiar with such crosses as 'Ilam Violet' and the various crosses of 'Cornubia' and hookeri, to quote only a few...must pay tribute to Edgar Stead's great skill as a hybridizer.

crossed beautiful plants...

Azaleas...deciduous...at Ilam perhaps give a greater wealth of brilliant color than even the rhododendrons...the size of the azaleas flowers and trusses is remarkable.  This has to a large extent been brought about by breeding crosses, which although flowering profusely, do not produce an abundance of seed.

The Ilam hybrid, however, are so vigorous in their growth that in some cases the increase in height ranges between four and five feet a year.  Even the oldest bushes look a picture of health and bloom so profusely that they make a wonderful riot of color.

All who knew Edgar Stead must be grateful to him for the willing and cheerful way in which he gave them advice as to how and where to plant rhododendrons and other plants.

It is most unfortunate that he could not have lived longer to see the full and glorious fruition of his patient endeavors in the breeding of rhododendrons and azaleas.  The wonderful display of such varied flowers, plants, and trees that flourish at Ilam will be lasting tribute to one of New Zealand's greatest horticulturalists."

A history lesson in founding fathers

Norman Todd of the Victoria Chapter has done the most scholarly work and writes for the chapter's newsletter.  His writings are injected with facts...more facts...matters of history...and humor.  The following article was written about three men involved with rhododendrons and the parts they individually played to bring these gorgeous plants into our lives.  Spend a little time reading this article.  You will place the page aside and declare, the wonder of it all.

Norm starts his article out with a quotation from Shelley.

"And flowers azure, black and streaked with gold,
Fairer than any wakened eyes behold."

George Forrest, the best of plant collectors...

No doubt flowers figured larger in the psyches of Isaac Bayley Balfour and George Forrest than did gold...but that sometimes noble element was instrumental in bringing these two disparate men together.  George Forrest who was probably the greatest plant collector of all time, had spent ten of his oat-sowing, formative years roughing it in Australia.  He had grown up in Scotland.  He was the youngest of thirteen children...only eight of whom made it to adulthood.  In 1903, George, at age 30, was back in Scotland living with his widowed mother and fairly desperate for work.  The gold connection followed from a previous one concerning bones.

George had a huge curiosity about the natural world and spent most of his time outdoors.  He was keen on fishing and shooting and knew all the plants and birds of his neighborhood.  On one outing he noticed an unusual stone protruding from an eroded bank.  His careful scraping uncovered more of the stone...which proved to be a lid for a coffin.  There were bones inside.

discovery of bones leads to know Isaac Bayley Balfour...

George took some of the bones to the Keeper of the Museum of National Antiquities in Edinburgh.  They proved to be about 1,500 years old.  The Curator of the museum was impressed by this stocky, intelligent, independent, and ambitious young man...and took it upon himself to write to the Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Isaac Bayley Balfour, asking if he knew of anyone looking for a botanical collector.  In his short letter he noted that Forrest had "some experience roughing it as a gold digger."

Balfour, who was twenty years older that Forrest, had also done some plant exploring...but, perhaps...more importantly...had a trace of gold fever in his system.  He had been induced by a friend's "flakes of gold as big as a man's hand...slicing it off with cold chisels.  By jingo, it is more like Arabian nights than modern gold mining"...and had invested £100 in a mining venture in Queensland.  He felt disposed to offer Forrest a job in the Royal Botanic Garden's Herbarium at 10/-a week.  In those days there was no minimum wage.  Balfour's offer was probably about the very least that could be offered.  Nevertheless, Forrest jumped at it.  So began a relationship that was deep, sincere, and enriching...not in terms of gold...but in their shared knowledge of the natural world.  Most of the gold went into the pockets of others.  One who so profited was Arthur Kilpin Bulley.

Arthur Kilpin Bulley comes into Forrest's life...

Arthur K. Bully was a complex man.  He was a wealthy cotton broker those legacy now lives on in the Ness Gardens at Liverpool, England.  His mother had 14 children all of whom survived.  He had a wonderful nose for business and a competitive...but...sincere love for plants.  He was an atheist, and an evangelical socialist.  Among his other political endeavors, he tried, unsuccessfully, as a Women's Suffrage candidate for a seat in the British House of Commons.

In the days part of the uniform of the business tycoon was a bowler hat; he wore a fedora.  From his reading and business contacts he knew there were undiscovered treasures...aesthetic and financial...in southwest China.  He was loath to compromise his socialist principles by exploiting his love of plants and his skill at growing them for monetary gain.

So, at first his collecting strategy was to write everyone and anyone who was in these foreign parts (including the "Papist missionaries") soliciting seed.  This did not produce many tangible results...only more mouth-watering descriptive enticements of what might be found there.

don't waste money on postage...send a man...

Dr. Augustine Henry, when stationed in Szechwan, did send some seed to Bulley...who wisely sent some of these seeds to Isaac Bayley Balfour.  Balfour had the facilities to grow plants but had no mandate or funds to sponsor a professional collector.  Bulley was still merely a private gardener.  Meanwhile, in the south of England, the multi-generation Veitch Nursery had sponsored Henry Wilson to go to China.  Wilson was instructed to bring back...among other things...seeds of Henry's discovery...the handkerchief tree (Davidia involucrate).

The Veitch name was on the tips of the tongues of the loftiest and wealthiest of British horticulturists.  Bulley was prominent in this group...but regarded by it with distancing reservation.  Slowly, he came to realize that to have the newest and rarest plants he had to engage his own collector.

Swallowing some of his socialist doctrine, he decided to send a collector to Yunnan.  Augustine Henry had told him, "don't waste money on postage...send a man."

He also decided to set up his own nursery...in direct competition with Veitch.  He established A. K. Bees & Co. (but to assuage his scruples he called it a cooperative with the motto, "All to Gather...All Together".

plans develop over a seven-course meal...

Henry had picked up on Yunnan's great plant wealth from Abbe Delavay pioneering discoveries.  Delavay, a French missionary, had been sending herbarium specimens and a few seeds back to Europe.  This was a country on a grand scale.  Three of the world's deepest gorges: the Salween, the Mekong, and the Yangtze coursed through Yunnan and the variety of material was breathtaking, the climatic range being so wide that conservatory gardeners and alpine plant enthusiasts were all salivating at the thought of savoring it flora.  Henry proffered the menu...and the Veiches and Bully order the seven-course meal.

Bulley bought space for a small advertisement in the Gardeners' Chronicle.  It read:

"Wanted, a Young Man well up on Hardy Plants,
to go out to the East and Collect"
Box 15
G.P.O., Liverpool

Balfour responded with a short letter which concluded with, "He is a strongly-built fellow and seems to me to be of the right grit for a collector."  Bulley wasted no time in hiring Forrest; after all Veitch had a five-year start by having sent out E. H. Wilson...later known as Chinese Wilson.

Forrest's journal comments...

Forrest left Edinburgh on the 14th of May, 1904, and was soon on board the S.S. Australia bound for Bombay.  He traveled by train to Madras.  The voyage from there to Rangoon was ghastly on a filthy, mechanically unsound, storm-tossed steamer that had to be towed into Rangoon by a rescue boat.  Forrest wrote that a baby died on the ship and "was thrown overboard like a bundle of brown paper."  His route through Burma to Yunnan was largely unknown to westerners.  The rigors he faced were a mere foretaste of how he was to spend the next three years.  Forrest thought his stay was to be for two years.

agreements vs. disagreements...

The agreement between Forrest, Bulley, and Balfour seems to have been a loose, verbal one.  It seems Forrest received about £600 a year to cover everything.  Agreement for subsequent expeditions spelled out a salary and detailed support costs.  Balfour's understanding was that he was to get all the herbarium collection...Bulley thought he was to get all the seed and photographs...Forrest thought he could keep some of the seed and duplicates of the herbarium sheets.

The disagreements arose in earnest after Forrest's return to Edinburgh.  The saga of this first...there were seven...Forrest expeditions is one of horrendous hardship, success, elation, and the deepest of despair.  In July 1906 Balfour wrote to Bulley, "There is little doubt that Forrest has been murdered."

This stranger than fiction tale is told in many books...but the best account is in Brenda McLean's George Forrest Plant Hunter.  Here, it is only the relationships between these three forceful personalities that are being discussed so readers are encouraged to read McLean's book.  Each of these men was highly-principled, highly-intelligent, and highly-motivated.  Each was egotistical...and tenacious.

Clemenetina Traill comes into Forrest's life...

Balfour found a spot for Forrest in his old job at the Herbarium of the Royal Botanic Garden.  The pay was £2 a week.  Before leaving for China, Forrest had become engaged to another herbarium worker, Clemenetina Traill.  On his return they were married much against her mother' wishes: she was not much impressed with George's occupation.  Of course, Clementina had to give up her job.  George was not in good health as a consequence of his three grueling years in China and often missed work.  Working hours were inflexible and the newly married Forrest lived six miles distant from the Garden.  George had always walked to work but when ill was unable to do so and the only train did not get him to work in time.  Balfour was an understanding man...but had to administer a large staff and could not make exceptions. Forrest's immediate supervisor was not at all sympathetic.

more misunderstandings...

Forrest thought he owned one set of the herbarium specimens.  Balfour thought otherwise.  Sent a truck to collect them.  Bulley thought he had complete ownership of all seed.  Forrest had kept some...which he was selling.  Forrest felt compelled to offer his resignation and Balfour accepted it.  Would a modern high-priced contract lawyer have presented this outcome by having the three signatures duly witness on a 20-page document?

Forrest and Balfour shake hands...

Forrest did keep in touch with Balfour and was still sending him plant identification lists...the result of long hours of work...but their relationship was icily strained.  Forrest wrote to Balfour: "Any indebtedness which may have been due to the Garden by me, I consider to be more than repaid by the collections I have already presented."

At heart, Balfour still considered Forrest his protégé and was a man of reasoned compassion.  He invited Forrest to come and have a free and open discussion of the difficulties.  They ended up shaking hands.  Forrest never forgot how understanding and avuncularly supportive Balfour had been.  His respect for Balfour never wavered again.  Simultaneously, Bulley and Balfour became the closest of friends and remained so.  Balfour always seemed to be able to build friendships on an individual's strengths, ignoring their weaknesses.

use of camera in early 1900s...

Forrest could not do that...his respect for Bulley had changed to wariness.  Forrest had not forgotten that Bulley had insisted Forrest take a camera with him as an essential item in his kit.  In the early 1900s, photographs were taken on plates in a large box mounted on a tripod.  Imagine trying to scale the precipitous chasms lugging a camera to photograph a two-inch primula!  The first set of plates Forrest took with him was ruined.  The precautions needed to protect the plates in such an inhospitable climate had to be learned the hard way.  Bulley demurred at the cost of replacing them, refused to provide paper and developing material.  Forrest wrote: "Mr. Bulley...said there was no necessity to take photos.  This was telling me to take a camera with me.  He is a rather peculiar individual."

Forrest seems to have been constantly fretful of not being able to meet Bulley's expectations.  He wrote: "I might as well be scuppered and go home a failure."  Bulley seems to have been unable to give his collector the encouragement and reassurance that he needed...although he was loudly praising Forrest's discoveries to others.  It was a feudal master-servant relationship...and the collector's free spirit was compromised.

Forrest wants to go back...missed opportunity...

Forrest...following his resignation from the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh...was in limbo.  He wanted to go back to his old hunting grounds...he had learned the local language...he had trained some of the local people to collect...and had gained their respect and loyalty.  Bulley, however, was lukewarm despite having promised never to let Forrest "sink into the ranks of the out of works."  A little later, he wrote: "But the simple facts are I cannot see it costing less than £600 a year, and...I am a comparatively poor man."

Twelve days after Forrest quit the Royal Botanic Garden, his mentor, Balfour, wrote him to tell him the Professor Sargent from America had visited him and was looking for someone to go to China.  Sargent was director of the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University.  Forrest and Sargent met at the Veitch Nursery.  The American wanted plants for New England...he wanted hardier stuff than Forrest had collected in Yunnan.  Forrest was loath to go further north...he was sure there were still great riches in the Mekong-Salween divide.  Balfour encouraged Forrest to accept Sargent's offer of £300 a year plus expenses.  Forrest asked for time to consider and stalled...mainly because Clemenetina was pregnant with their first child.  He missed his opportunity.

22 species named from first expedition...

In the meantime, some of Forrest's seeds were germinating for Bulley.  Primula malacoides, (an "arable weed" to some observers...however, J. C. Williams, one of Forrest's later sponsors, did call it "an unfailing delight") was selling at 7s 6d a plant.  Bulley was advertising...somewhat untruthfully: ...During the past five years or so we have spent large sums of money in sending out collectors to China.  We now have an enormous stock of new plants on trial in our nursery.  These we shall exhibit and offer sale...as they prove of merit..."

Primula bulleyana had been named...and it, too, was fetching high prices.  Bulley preferred the name beesiana.  He wrote, "However, I am indifferent. beesi, beesorum, beesensis, beesium, beesica, beesiana" anything which beings the name in..."  There were 22 species named after Bulley from Forrest's first expedition.  He did think that Gentiana veitchiorum sounded hideous.

leaves for China in January 1910...

Bulley's "beastly money" became less beastly and, knowing Forrest had not agreed to Sargent's demand that he leave before the birth of his child, offered him £200 plus expenses to go back to Yunnan.  Forrest, having been present for the birth of his son, was now in no position to refuse...and left for China in January 1910.

As soon as he arrived in Rangoon, he was within a hair's breadth of returning home.  Bulley had failed to send the money for equipping the expedition.  Forrest had to beg the ship's captain to let him stay on board until Bulley had cabled £150.  Bulley's unapologetic explanation was there had been a mix-up in Bee's office.  Forrest was now sorely angered and disillusioned.  Further delays in payment followed.  It seems inexplicable that a man of Bulley's business acumen would let his collector go without resources.

Forrest decided in Rangoon that he could not work again for such an employer...but he would honor his contract and see it out.  He let it be known that Bulley was a "cad of the first order."  He had a hate now for nurserymen...particularly English nurserymen.

"There is a lot said about the meanness of the Scotch...but in my time I have met more stingy English than Scotch, and Bulley and Veitch, the great Sir Harry, are types, extreme types."

Bulley called Forrest's bluff and wrote him, "I shall not want any formal notice of your desire to go."  Forrest did finish his term, introducing many of our most treasured garden plants.  Bulley's one-inch thick catalogue listed 67 species of Asiatic primula.  His business was prospering and he offered Forrest a two-year extension to his contract.  This was immediately turned down.

Balfour's classification system used for nearly a century...

This story is...of course...incomplete.  It is just a glimpse into the lives and affairs of three men who played immensely important roles in British horticulture.  Sir Isaac Bayley Balfour was the scientist and the statesman.  His classification system for rhododendron was used for the best part of a century.  He, himself, knew it was only an expedient...but I, like most older gardeners, still use it.

let us toast Forrest...

Forrest undertook another five successful expeditions.  He died of a heart attack, suddenly in January 1932, while out collecting bird specimens with three of his Chinese employees.  During his first two expeditions he had developed a great love for rhododendrons.  We...who grow them...should toast his memory.

Bulley's one-penny seed packages...

K. C. Bulley had little time for rhododendrons and had, in fact, sold all the rhododendron seed from the second expedition to J. C. Williams of Cornwall.  Fortunately, Forrest developed the same kind of rewarding relationship with Williams as he had with Balfour.

Bulley continued to sponsor plant hunters in the Sino-Himalaya.  He was hugely instrumental, not only in introducing new plant material...but also in making it available to everyone.  His one-penny seed packages were designed for those with only a windowsill of space.  Although he was an uncommon man, his second great love was for the common man and woman.  Bulley died in 1942 after 44 years at Ness.  His wanted his epitaph to read: "Bulley, his fortunes and misfortunes."  His daughter, Lois, presented the whole Ness estate, along with a large endowment, to Liverpool University.

Events

2006 Pacific Region International Rhododendron Conference, Tasmania, Australia
October 20, 2006

The Australian Conference will be host to the International Conference...and at the same time...celebrate the 25^th anniversary of the Emu Valley Rhododendron Garden on Tasmania!  It's breath-taking to see what a few volunteers have done to transform this gorgeous place.  It's a work of art and love beyond measure.  The monetary exchange is definitely in our favor.  More detailed information will be forthcoming.  Contact by e-mail:  neil.jordan@gotalk.net.au or phone:  61-3-643-1298, or write:  P.O. Box 39, Burnie 7320, Tasmania, Australia.  See the conference web site for more information.

Just a word of advice at this juncture: save now...save now...then book your accommodations.  The editor can attest to the beauty of the country and the friendliness of everyone.  You won't leave feeling neglected...they pamper you.  Memories are firmly cemented!  And, you will return with the same!

Southern Tasmanian Chapter, ARS,  extends a very special invitation to all attendees,
October 27, 2006

Every one is invited to come south after the International Rhododendron Conference and visit Hobart Tasmania...only a three to four-hour drive.  They have very unusual gardens they want to share with you.

First, the Annual Rhododendron Show will be open from October 27 to 30.  Then, visit the gardens of members of the society who are opening their gardens by private arrangement.  And, then join the local chapter in a garden visit on Friday, October 27 in the late afternoon and have an informal home-style meal.

Others places of major interest are: Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens, the Plants of Tasmania Nursery and Gardens, Pot Arthur wildlife parks, a scenic flight to the South West and Port Davey...or a two-to-three hour drive to the east coast beaches and Freycinet Peninsula.

For additional information: Contact Joy Stones and Ted Cultlan, e-mail jubilee@tassie.net.au or ring or fax international + 61 3 62232116.

New Zealand Rhododendron Association Conference 2006
Greymouth, West Coast, South Island, Oct. 30 to Nov. 2

Attend the New Zealand Rhododendron Association 2006 Conference.  Enjoy the alpine scenery of the Southern Alps with views to Mt. Cook.  Experience the coastal scenery with the Tasman Sea, beech forests, costal rainforest with Nikau Palms, and the Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki, en route to the gardens.  Conference opens at shantytown, a replica gold town of the 1860s...Grey Valley gardens, and much more.

Pre-and post-conference tours are available for overseas visitors.  All inquiries to Margaret and John Clayton, "Waimaunga", P.O. Box 30, Ikamatua, West Coast, 7850.  Phone: 03-7323843 or Fax: 03-7323845.  E-mail: jclayton@xtra.co.nz.  In addition you can take a look at the web site at www.rhododendron.org.nz for more information.

They are telling us...book early...book early...book early.  This will be the fifth adventure for the editor to go Down Under.  Take in both conferences and the post ones, too.  Believe me, it is a trip of a lifetime.  Gorgeous!

The members of ARS District 5 cordially invite you to join us in the Greater San Francisco Bay area for the 2007 ARS Annual Conference, "Rhododendrons at the Golden Gate", to be held April 12-15, 2007...and a post-conference tour April 16 through 18.  Hosted at the Embassy Suites, S. San Francisco, CA.  Here is some information to whet your appetite to come and see:

April 12: Tour of world-famous Golden Gate Park, including Japanese Tea Garden, with tea in the Tea House...visit Conservatory of Flowers...San Francisco Botanical Gardens and Strybing Arboretum with over 7500 varieties of plants from around the world...a short step away, the de Young Museum.  After dinner featured speaker: Michael McKechnie, Executive Director, San Francisco Botanical Garden.  Will speak on the history of the Garden at Strybing Arboretum and other San Francisco history.

April 13: Two tours to choose from...
Tour One will visit private gardens of the Cal Chapter in the East Bay area...University of California at Berkeley Botanical Garden, with treats to see rhodos planted back in 1890...Lake Merritt in Oakland to see Bonsai collection and where Cal Chapter members have been involved with a vireya collection.

Tour Two include visits to private gardens of the De Anza Chapter members on the Peninsula, including one garden with a vineyard...guided tour of Filoli House and Gardens started in 1917, enriched with rhododendrons, magnolias, and camellias.

After dinner featured speaker: Dr. George Argent, tropical botanist, Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, Scotland.  He will speak about the joys and travails of plant hunting around the world.  George is an ARS Gold Medal recipient.

April 14: Cross the Golden Gate Bridge into Marin and Sonoma counties to the North Bay. This is for rhodo-geeks! Visit Sonoma Horticultural Nursery owned by Polo de Lorenzo, Cal Chapter member...includes visits to other members gardens...visit a winery.

After dinner featured speaker: Doug Thomson, Curator, Dunedin Botanic Garden, New Zealand, speaking about companion and woodland plants for the rhododendron garden.

April 15: Visit to Beach Blanket Babylon, a zany musical spoof, showing to sold-out audiences for more than 30 years.  Expect song and dance numbers which leave you laughing,  Big hats, funny costumes, and hilarious parodies of people in the news.

Morning options to choose from:

• Hybridizers' Round Table, hosted by Frank Fujioka and Don Wallace.
• Executive Directors' Open Forum, led by Laura Grant.
• Newsletter and website skills led by Bob Weissman and Mike Ekberg.
• San Francisco Bonsai Club members will have a hands-on-presentation introducing bonsai and assisting participants in making their own bonsai.

Post-conference tours have been well planned.  It will be worth your while to spend a little longer in the Bay area and do some exceptions things!  Listen to further adventures:

April 16 to 18: Post-conference tour to Quarryhill Botanical Garden, Sonoma County, which has sent plant-hunting expeditions to China, India, Nepal, Japan, and other Asian areas.  Trip goes up Highway 128 through the Alexander Valley wine country to Fort Bragg on the rugged North Coast.  Visit Mendocino Botanical Garden with its extensive collection of rhododendrons, the picturesque town of Mendocino, and the private gardens of the Noyo Chapter members.  Overnight stay in Fort Bragg.

Come and see California's beautiful scenery and enjoy their climate and the many nearby attractions. All told this makes the 2007 Convention a not to be missed event.

2008 ARS Annual Convention, Tulsa, Oklahoma, April 16 to 19

The annual convention will be hosted by the Ozark Chapter, Len Miller, ARS president, reports the conference will include many public garden tours.  The Azalea Society of America may join the ARS for this conference.  They will vote in November 2006.

More details will be coming in future issues of the R&A News.

2008 International Rhododendron Conference and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Scotland, May 7-11, 2008

David Stark, president of the Scottish Chapter, sends a special invitation in the ARS Journal for all to come and celebrate the Silver Jubilee in 2008.  Because not all receive the Journal, it is to extend this invitation now that David writes...

Join us to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of the Scottish Rhododendron Society at an International Rhododendron Conference to be held at the Royal Botanic Garden in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, in the Spring of 2008.  If you love rhododendrons and azaleas, are enthralled by interesting speakers, and magnificent gardens, and enjoy a friendly social atmosphere, then, this is an event for you!

Jointly hosted by the Scottish Rhododendron Society and the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, Rhododendron 2008: 50 Years of Modern Day Exploration, Hybridisation & Conservation will predominantly cover the post-World War II period through a wide-ranging program of lectures, garden tours, a rhododendron show, exhibitions, and social events in the evenings.

International speakers will entertain you with a schedule of contemporary exploration, hybridization and breeding, cultivation and propagation, historical, science and taxonomy, and conservation lectures.  To cater for all tastes there will be an opportunity to attend an alternative set of lectures when the science and taxonomy sessions are programmed.

Two full days of tours are being planned to a variety of gardens that will complement the theme of the Conference.  A specially arranged full-day sight-seeing tour is planned.  Also under consideration is a four-day Pre-Conference Tour with a wide-ranging itinerary of private gardens located in a completely different area than those visited on conference tours in 1996 and 2002.

This is a wake-up call to put the date on your diary, plan ahead and come to Scotland in 2008.  Further details will be available in early 2006.  You will find more details on their web site: http://www.scottishrhodos.co.uk

Something to think about...

You will find as you look back upon your life,
that the moments when you have really lived
are the moments
when you have done things in the spirit of love.

 -- Henry Drummond