NCH Newsletter. Collections Review New National Plant Collections. March 2010

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1 NCH Newsletter 12 Home Farm, Loseley Park, Guildford, Surrey GU3 1HS. March 2010 Tel: Fax: New National Plant Collections Hutchinson, Mrs Lorna McCormack, Mr Mark Davies, Mr Chris Brunnera Levy, Dr Jean Mentha Mammillaria spp. Mammillaria spp. Fox, Mr Mark Schizostylis Gibbons, Mr Trachycarpus Martin Vitis vinifera Bell, Ms Sarah (outdoor) & hybrids Collections Review 2015 Many of our older collections entered the scheme under very different requirements to those we use today. Through the PCC we strive to ensure collections are comparable in meeting standards but sometimes the coverage of the newer collections can be very different to that of the older ones. We know this can cause confusion to the public. It can also present problems for the PCC when approving applications for new collections. The Plant Conservation Committee has agreed to address this problem and review the scope and coverage of collections in Initially some members of the PCC have volunteered their collections to be used as examples. This will help to understand how collections may change over years and highlight the issues many of us face. Woody collections, for example, require space and it may not be possible to continue to add new material. In this case a revision of the collection scope, which defines what is included in it, might be appropriate and a better reflection. Collections held by an institution offer continuity but interest in the collection may wane as staff leave, skills are lost and priorities change. We will report on our findings and development of a protocol over coming issues so we can offer any necessary help and advice. We hope this will ensure we can continue to maintain the quality of collections within the scheme. 1

2 Plant Health You may have heard that there has been an outbreak of Citrus Longhorn Beetle in the Boskoop area of the Netherlands. List of host Cotoneaster spp. plants Fagus spp. Acer spp. Lagerstroemia Aesculus hippocastanum Malus spp. spp. Alnus spp. Platanus spp. Betula spp. Populus spp. Carpinus spp. Prunus spp. Citrus spp. Pyrus spp. Corylus spp. Salix spp. Ulmus spp. There are more than 500 nurseries are located in this area, with a substantial trade to the UK. While the Dutch Plant Protection Service has introduced requirements aimed at preventing spread, it is thought that the pest was introduced as far back as 2001, so it is impossible to know at this stage how effective these will be. Additionally, the pest is extremely difficult to detect visually (larvae live within the stems of shrubs and trees for 3 years and in some cases longer) and destructive sampling, by cutting open the trunk of potential hosts, is necessary to detect it reliably. FERA PHSI will be targeting inspections at businesses known to trade in susceptible plants, particularly those involved with large volumes where the risk of disseminating infested material is greatest. A main component of this programme will include retail depots but you should make sure you are familiar with the pest. plants/planthealth/pestsdiseases/ citruslonghornbeetle.cfm The other main problem at this time of year is Bemisia whitefly coming in on bedding cuttings from various parts of the world mainly Israel. s/publications/planthealth/informat ionleaflets.cfm Above is an information leaflet on it and other P&D If anybody has any problems we are here to help: actus/index.cfm Both as inspectors for a look see and we offer a commercial plant testing services at York. As we have to identify material from around the work it is state of the art labs there and do commercial services to help cover the cost and keep it in use. s/planthealth/pestsdiseases/interc eptioncharts.cfm From Andrew Gaunt, PHSI, FERA 2

3 Congratulations! To Margaret Owen & Roger Phillips on their CBEs; to Linda Eggins on her RHS Medal and to all our Bursary winners! Robert Grimsey (Aesculus), Steve Hickman (Agapanthus & Tulbaghia), Ian Scroggy (Hosta), Painshill Park (John Bartram Heritage Collection), Wentworth Castle Gardens (Rhododendron spp, Magnolia spp & Camellia williamsii cvs) NCH Training and discussion days CITES & CBD April 29th RHS Wisley Coordinator Training April 20th RHS Vincent Square Coordinator Training Scotland and Northern England ( TBA depending on interest) Research day (TBA) Seed day (late summer/autumn) Plant Conservation Committee Meeting Dates in th May, 9th September 9th November, Web resources With the advent of our new website there are a lot more resources available to you on-line. Try visiting the National Collections section and see what is there. If there is something that you want, that isn t there let me know (there are contact details on the web pages, so you can just click to ) Over the next few months, I will put things up as they occur to me, so keep watching, The site is designed to be dynamic, and acts as our shop front on the world, so if you want to put something out there, tell me! Special request Nicola Savage, our PR Officer has asked if each collection holder could send her one superb picture of their collection (or just one plant in the collection!). This would make her job of publicising the collections so much easier. Digital images can either be sent on a cd or ed to profficer@plantheritage.org.uk 3

4 Annual Reports & Directory Entries On the new website, you will find a list of Collection Holder resources: Resources.aspx Here you can download, amongst other things, Annual report forms and contact detail forms. If you prefer you can also do these things on line, and they will be submitted to us by . If you want to practice with the forms, just let me know that you are doing so, so I can ignore the practice ones. This year we will not be doing a mass mailing of Directory entry forms, it is up to you to make sure that your details are up to date, and that we know your Open Days for the next year. You can do this at any time, either with your annual report or separately. We will be sending out paper forms to those that don t use as usual at the end of the summer; and we will be reminding everyone that we need them to check their details. The new form is at the back of this newsletter. Shows Chelsea Flower Show cloakroom has raised 8,000 over the last two years Slots to help with coats/bags/picnic hampers still available in the 2010 cloakroom are as follows (can be very heavy work!): Thursday 27th May am to 10.30am slot. Friday 28th May am to 10.30am slot. Plant Heritage marquee at Hampton Court Palace Flower Show If anyone is interested in helping set up the marquee, or would like to work with the membership team recruiting new members Build up : Saturday 3 rd / Sunday 4 th July Show days: Tuesday 6 th to 11 th July joannaj@plantheritage.org.uk

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