Inside this Issue From the SE President By Sue Hamilton- Florida Wandertage By Sue Hamilton, TN Bruce Appeldoorn, Pages. 1,2 Pages. 2,3 Page 3 Southeastern Conifer American Conifer Society Southeastern Region Newsletter - December 2011 Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia SE Region Award Ron Determann, ACS Merit Award Franky Boy Went to Athens By Jason Reeves, TN Get-Togethers in January 2012 Do you Rendezvous By Flo Chaffin Events: January 7, 2012 Page 4 Pages 5, 6 Page 7 Pages 7, 8 Conifer Get- Together,Duluth, GA (see page 7) January 29, 2012 Smith Gilbert Garden Rendezvous in Kennesaw, GA (see page 7) July 12-14,2012 ACS National Meeting Ann Arbor, MI From the SE President Holiday greetings! It s hard to believe the holidays are upon us while I feel like we just left wonderful Athens, GA where we had such a great and memorable regional meeting. We had a record attendance of 101 participants and a record number of silent auction plants. All of which raised a profit of $11,000 for our regional reference gardens, grants, scholarships, and distinguished awards. A very special thanks to our wonderful planning committee without whom such a successful meeting would not have been possible; Flo and Joe Chaffin, Barbie Colvin, John Quackenbush, Susan Drinkard, Shirley Baker, Gale Fordham, Cathy Walsh, Bradley Roberts, and Lynn Graham. Special thanks as well to the folks who helped with registration, selling books, and running the auction: Beth Jimenez, Amelia Lane, Mark Weathington, Jason Reeves, and Andy Pulte. Finally, a big THANK YOU to the many ACS members who graciously donated plants and other items for the auction they deserve a big round of applause for their generosity. I hope our 2012 regional meeting will be just as successful as all of these folks made our 2011 meeting! Website Update. Be sure to check out our regional website where you will now find archived newsletters, a map showing all 12 of our reference gardens and their locations, and oodles of photo from our latest events! You ll also find the Conifer Spotlight which is the selected conifers from earlier this year when we asked the Southeast Reference Gardens for their 3 favorite, reliable, tried and true conifers. All of this thanks to Flo Chaffin, our SE Region Website Committee Chair, and Rona Simmons who has been assisting Flo with the website. Easy Communication. If there is anything you want to post on our regional website send your information to Flo Chaffin at flmosr@southeasternconifers. com. If you are wanting to post information on the national website or do an e-mail to all members about an event such as a rendezvous, send your request to Bill Barger, our ACS national webmaster, at webmaster@conifersociety.org. If you have any ideas or suggestions for our Southeastern Region you can direct your comments to me at sueham@utk.edu.
December 2011 Southeastern Conifer Page 2 Get Involved. At the Athens meeting I made a request for volunteers to help with our different committees. We want and need to get more of our membership involved in our activities. Please consider volunteering to be part of one of the following committees; it s a great way to help with our region s activities. If you have interest in getting involved with any of the following committees please email me at sueham@utk.edu. Regional Meeting Planning Committee Reference Garden Committee Newsletter Committee Website Committee Write a Conifer Article. A great way to promote conifers as well as the ACS is through a newspaper, newsletter, or magazine article. Whether you write about your favorite conifer, threatened conifers, or why conifers are a good choice for a home landscape, an article can reach many people and is a good way to recruit new members for the ACS. I am sure some of us have articles we have written in years gone by that we can dust off and tweak a bit to recycle in a different outlet than where it was used before. Most local newspapers would love to have an article about conifers they can use. We have volunteers to help with editing if you like and who can help in getting a conifer article published. I d love to highlight our members who do write about conifers and promote our wonderful organization. Please, send me your publishing successes as well as any questions or requests for help to sueham@utk.edu Florida Wandertage and Conifers By Sue Hamilton I recently had the opportunity to visit the pan handle area of Florida while conducting a site evaluation of a magnolia collection at the University of Florida Gardens of the Big Bend in Quincy, FL. While I may have been there to check out the magnolias, I of course had to seek out the conifers of their gardens as well. Ever heard of the genus Keteleeria? I had not but while at the Univ. of Florida gardens I had the opportunity to see two grand specimens of Ketelerria evelyniana commonly called Evelyn Keteleeria. It is a globally endangered species native to Vietnam and China. Dr. Gary Knox, Director of the Gardens of the Big Bend, is responsible for obtaining and growing these two fine conifer gems. It is hardy to 20 F and can grow to 100 feet tall and 40 feet wide. Keteleeria is a genus of three species of coniferous trees in the family Pinaceae, named for J.B. Keteleer (1813-1903), a French nurseryman. All three genera share the unusual feature of male cones produced in umbels of several together from a single bud. The cones are very attractive, erect and mature in about 6-8 months after pollination, and tend to persist and do not break up until after they are shed. Give a Conifer Holiday Gift. Don t forget to include conifers in your gift giving this season. An ACS gift membership would be ideal for your gardening friends and family and a great way to promote our organization.. Of course you couldn t go wrong in giving your favorite conifer as a gift as well. Happy Holidays Again and the Best for 2012 Sue Susan L. Hamilton, Ed.D Associate Professor and UT Garden Director, Knoxville, TN Phone: 865 974-7972 E-mail: sueham@utk.edu Photos: Keteleeria with Dr. Gary Knox and close-up Cone variability led to the description of sixteen species, but currently most botanists now only accept three species. Keteleeria is also unique in their ability, very rare in the Pinaceae, of being able to coppice (sprout from a stump). Reaching over 100 tall, the species features flat, needle-like leaves and bluish in color.
December 2011 Southeastern Conifer Page 3 Besides Keteleeria, I found 43 other conifers in collection at the Gardens of the Big Bend which included the biggest and best specimen of Black Dragon Cryptomeria japonica I ve seen. One other notable conifer I have to mention seeing is Araucaria angustifolia or the Candelabra tree or Brazilian pine. It is native to Argentina, southern Brazil and Paraguay. It is an important timber species in Brazil. It is a tall and straight evergreen tree growing up to 130 feet tall. The leaves are scale-like, triangular, tough and thick, with razor-sharp edges and tip. The leaves persist for 10-15 years, covering most of the tree, except on the trunk and older branches Araucaria angustifolia is dioecious, with male and female cones on separate trees, and like other conifers it is wind pollinated I. The male (pollen) cones are oblong, while the female cones are large, globose, and hold 100-150 seeds, maturing in about 18 months after pollination. The cones disintegrate at maturity releasing the nut-like seeds. Araucaria angustifolia thrives in subtropical climate with abundant rainfall, and can tolerate occasional frosts down to about 23 F to - 4 F. It grows well in slightly acidic soil with good drainage. The edible, pine-like seeds are popular as a winter snack (called pinhão) and are extensively harvested in southern Brazil. The extensively harvested seeds and logging seriously threatened the regeneration of the species. The seeds are also an important food source for native animals. Araucaria angustifolia Bruce Appeldoorn, NC Recipient of the SE Region Merit Award 2011 Bruce Appeldoorn was honored for his involvement in ACS SE region affairs for many years. He is the owner of Appeldoorn Landscape Nursery in Bostic, NC, and has been in business since 1975. He did not start out as conifer enthusiast. He became one while attending the ACS Annual meeting in Longwood Gardens, PA in 1988 which to attend a nursery friend of his had suggested. There and then Bruce contracted Addicted Conifer Syndrome (ACS) and joined the Society. He received valuable insights from the late J.C. Raulston, Raleigh, NC and late Jordan Jack of Washington Evergreen Nursery in Leicester, NC. Jordan, when he during his ACS Presidency had succeeded to split the SE Region off as a separate entity, in September 1997, became Bruce s conifer mentor and successfully steered him to do volunteer work within the region. Bruce is best known for his involvement with plant auctions: for years he has donated plants regularly for the ACS regional auctions, has set up auction displays, labeled plants, served as runner and auctioneer. In 2010 he was in charge of getting the plant donations together for the ACS National Meeting in Charlotte, NC. Bruce served as the 2nd SE Region President in 2001/2002. Maud Henne
Page 4 Southeastern Conifer December 2011 Ron Determan Recipient of the 2011 ACS Award of Merit for Development in the Field of Garden Conifers By Susan Martin Congratulations to Ron Determann, Conservatory and Conservation Director at the Atlanta Botanical Garden (ABG), recipient of the 2011 Award of Merit for Development in the Field of Garden Conifers- The Justin C Chubb Harper Award. Ron was nominated for the award by Flo Chaffin, Kathryn Moomaw and John Silba for his tireless work in conifer and plant conservation. Among the many conifers Ron has worked with some of the most notable are, Torreya taxifolia, an endangered conifer species located in two counties in Florida and Georgia, and New Caledonia natives Agathis, Araucaria, Neocallitris and Retrophyllum. Thanks to Ron the collections at the ABG include notable specimens of Podocarpus, Wollemia, Cephalotaxus and Cathaya, Amenotaxus as well as many others. His research takes him to many countries and even then he still has time to develop his own property as a habitat test site for many of plants he works with. His work focuses not just on new conifer cultivars- but instead focuses on saving the conifer species that we have worldwide. Thank you Ron! Every year two National ACS Awards of Merits are presented to members in the following categories- For dedicated Support of the ACS- The Marvin and Emile Snyder award For development in the Field of Conifers- The Justin C Chubb Harper Award By Sue Hamilton At the Athens regional meeting this past October we honored Ron Determann, the Conservatory and Conservation Director at the Atlanta Botanical Garden (ABG) with the distinguished ACS Chub Harper Award of Merit. Graduating in horticulture from the University of Florida in 1984, Ron has worked for a number of botanic gardens and private individuals within the U.S. His special areas of knowledge and expertise are orchids, carnivorous plants and conifers. Employed at ABG in 1987, he coordinated the construction of the Dorothy Chapman Fuqua Conservatory and the new Fuqua Orchid Center and developed ABG's plant collections and Conservation Program. He is responsible for all the greenhouse collections, including orchids, poison dart frogs, AND the Torreya taxifolia research and collections. Torreya is the Stinking Cedar, a rare and endangered species known only from a restricted area of the Florida panhandle and adjacent Georgia. Many of these collections are the most complete and important of their kind in the world, and one in particular is his tropical conifer collection. Ron gave a talk at the Charlotte meeting on the tropicals and his collection and cooperative work with botanical gardens across the world. Ron also serves on the ACS Southeastern Region Reference Garden committee. He is encyclopedic in his knowledge, impeccable in his work ethic and comprehensive effort, and a man without ego. The award is one of two main ones in ACS- Merit for development in the field of Conifers and dedicated support. Former ACS President and Curator of the Conifer Collection at the National Arboretum, Sue Martin, presented Ron Determann this award for his outstanding contributions in the development of the field of conifers. Nominations can be made by any ACS member and voting is done by all of the past award recipients. If you would like to make a nomination for one of the awards please send the name and address of the person you would like to nominate, which category you would like them to be considered for, and a brief summary of the nominee s contribution to: Susan Martin 175 Charisma Lane Lewisville, NC 27023 Please send by November 30. Photo : Ron Determann and Susan Martin
Page 5 Southeastern Conifer December 2011 Franky Boy Went to Athens By Jason Reeves, TN After 1,253 miles, Franky Boy finally made it to the SE ACS Regional Meeting in Athens, GA. What a journey! Don Shadow from Winchester, TN, wanted to donate 8 plants for the 2011 Southeastern Regional ACS plant auction, one of which was Platycladus (Thuja) orientalis 'Franky Boy'. On Tuesday Oct. 11, I found out that Don couldn t attend the meeting and we had to figure out a way to get his plants from Winchester TN to Athens GA. So the journey began. The first complication was that I m in west Tennessee, four hours from Shadow Nursery. A few days earlier, I overheard an acquaintance from west Tennessee, Jon Conley, say that he was going to Don s on Wednesday October 12 to talk animals. I called Jon and he agreed to bring Don s plants back to West Tennessee for me. Jon and I decided that on his way back from Don s, I would meet him and the plants at a BP station at an interstate exit about 30 miles from the UT Gardens in Jackson, which is where I work. On Wednesday afternoon, Jon called to say he was running ahead of schedule and I needed to meet him at the designated BP in about 20 minutes. As it would take me at least 45 minutes to get there we faced a dilemma. I didn t want him to have to wait for me, especially since I hardly knew him and he was doing me this great favor. With a flash of brilliance we decided that he could stash the plants in the woods near the BP station and I would pick them up in about 45 minutes on my way home to Clarksburg. I hung up the phone and thought this is crazy- who do I know with a truck that lives near the BP - with a now 15 minute notice that could meet Jon? As I was flipping through the roll-a-dex in my brain, I remembered Howell Todd, a client and friend who lived just a few miles away. Miraculously, he was home and available. I told him I was in a pinch and needed a big favor. I explained the situation and he said he could be at the BP in 10 minutes. Howell met Jon at the BP station with his truck and kindly delivered the plants to my house. So far so good. Clarksburg to Knoxville so they could hitch a ride to Athens. I was going to be passing through Knoxville on the way to visit my granddad in Elizabethan, TN so two days later I loaded up Don s plants along with the plants I was donating from the UT Gardens Jackson and James Wick s plants (who also could not attend) and headed east. I stopped in Knoxville and left all the donated plants with Faye Beck, who was going to the meeting with Sue Hamilton and Andy Pulte. While I was visiting my granddad, I found out that I was going be able to make it to the meeting in Athens. I called Faye with the good news and she decided I should take the plants back to west Tennessee with me since she was afraid that they wouldn t have enough room for my plants, Don s and James plants, their plants plus the people and luggage going from Knoxville to Athens. Therefore, on the way back home, I stopped at Faye s, picked up all of the plants I had dropped off just two days earlier and took them back to Clarksburg, then to Jackson, because that was my departure point. Three days later, I loaded up these already well traveled plants (for the umpteenth time) and headed for Georgia. Enroute on Friday, they went to Stone Mountain, where Franky Boy got his photo taken with Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, and Stonewall Jackson. Finally on Friday night, 9 days after leaving Winchester, and after being handled by Don, Jon, Howell, me, Faye, me (again), and 1,253 miles on the road, Franky Boy arrived in Athens. At this point I was not sure if I would be able to attend the meeting in Athens. I now needed to get the plants from
Page 6 Southeastern Conifer December 2011 It was a great weekend! The 2011 Southeastern Regional ACS meeting was a big success. The conifer members are such a positive, happy group of plant enthusiasts and a weekend together just amplifies our love of conifers. The Holiday Inn, downtown Athens was a great choice, with a hearty breakfast, great meeting space and Wi-Fi, which made everyone happy keeping up to date with everything going on around them. The meeting started out Friday evening with a fun and humorous look at plant nomenclature by Dr. Wilf Nicholls, the Director of the State Botanical Garden of Georgia, the first Reference Garden named in the SE Region. Next, six of our newest Reference Gardens gave insightful presentations about their gardens, highlighting their conifer collections. By 9 am on Saturday, we were loading the buses, ready to go. The garden and nursery tour were tops with a great and diverse selection of gardens. Our first stop was at the garden of legendary UGA football coach Vince Dooley. This garden is jam packed with specialty plant material, winding thru woodland paths. Weeper s Walk, along the creek, holds a collection of weeping plants, including a huge Taxodium distichum Cascade Falls. Our next stop, which included lunch, was Piccadilly Farms. The Sam Jones family has been loving, growing, and selling conifers for 30 years, and our buses were loaded with plants as they pulled away to the Williams garden. Magdalena Williams has made her garden a refuge from her busy floral business. This garden is made up of many garden rooms with different themes- including a very relaxing Mediterranean-like patio. And last, but certainly not least, was the garden of Ram and Tom Giberson. This garden is clearly a labor of love, and an explosion of conifers, perennials, trees, shrubs, grasses, water features, rare chickens and water fowl, boulders, garden art, and relaxing seating areas. When you tie all those gardens together that with good bus captains, a gourmet box lunch and just the right amount of time spent at each location and you have a perfect Saturday in October. The silent and live auction - - - what a wonderful selection of plants! Barbie, Flo and Bradley worked really hard to amass 339 plants from 47 donors. I had such fun with the live auction plants parading them around the room, letting folks stroke this one and that one, telling them what a good friend this one would make with one they had already bought. The last plant to sell was the well-traveled Franky Boy from Don Shadow. I recounted a brief version of this story and the bidding began. In the end John Quackenbush from Bishop, GA was the high bidder for $150. Only Pinus armandii var.masteriana brought more at $160. The proceeds from the auctions were a whopping $7500, a great start to even more grants for Reference Gardens in our Region. If you missed the 2011 meeting you missed a lot of fun and fellowship with folks who truly are passionate about plants. Planning has already begun for the 2012 meeting so keep an eye out and start saving your pennies for the next auction!
Page 7 Southeastern Conifer December 2011 First Southeastern ACS Smith Gilbert Garden in Kennesaw, GA Get Together of 2012 In Duluth, GA Conifer Rendezvous On January 7 th 9 AM -12 PM Sunday, Jan. 29 from 2 4PM Join Harry Bethea for a tour of two wonderful gardens in the Duluth, GA area. Plans are to meet at Bannister Creek Nursery (3769 Rogers Bridge Rd, Duluth 30097) at 9 am. From there, Harry will lead the group to two wonderful gardens full of conifers and other plants. Wes and Charlene Rowe. Sugarloaf Country Club. With Harry s help, Wes created a treasure trove of conifers. Over 100 plants, mostly conifers, maples, and a variety of companion plants were installed in the last two years. They include some rare and unusual items as well as specimen sized conifers. All sizes, shapes, species and cultivars will stir your imagination as it has the many friends and neighbors who have been stopping by to visit this garden that stands out from all of those in the vicinity. There will be plenty of opportunity to ask questions about conifer selection, culture and installation. Smith Gilbert Gardens is a premier metro Atlanta botanical garden and learning center in Kennesaw, GA. Besides being one of our regions 12 Conifer Reference Gardens, you will find Smith- Gilbert is a collector s garden with a wide variety of plant material including different outdoor contemporary sculpture and the historic Hiram Butler house. The Gardens offer educational programs for both children and adults and include topics such as beekeeping, rock wall building, Bonsai gardening, caring for ferns, perennial beds, plein air painting classes, and a whole lot more Do You Rendezvous? Flo Chaffin, Georgia Brenda Addington. River Club. Brenda has recently been profiled for an upcoming 2012 special edition of Fine Gardening. While that article focuses on her container plants, Brenda has over the years installed a stunning array of conifers, Japanese maples, camellias, and roses and much much, more maximizing every square inch of her landscape. Plant combinations and tip top conditions are particular features that we can all learn from. You can find a slideshow of pictures of these two gardens at www.southeasternconifers.comyou can see several photos of Brenda s garden online at Fine Gardening at the following link: http://www.finegardening.com/item/21077/reader-photos-brendasgarden-in-georgia Please advise Flo Chaffin at flmosr@southeasternconifers.com or 706-310-0143 if you want to attend. Both gated communities require names to be submitted in advance and visitors for this event to arrive as a group. Note: should we encounter inclement weather, we will contact you and reschedule.. One of the great pleasures of our personal lives is getting together with friends to talk over experiences, to find out about new ideas, and to enjoy ourselves in the process. Why not consider getting together with fellow ACS members to talk over your conifer experiences, to learn new information about growing conifers in your area, and to just have fun doing it? The concept is pretty simple: 1) Set a place for the gathering. The place can be a public garden, a private garden, or maybe even a nursery that has a display area. Usually the location should be within an hour or so drive time of the members invited. 2) Set a date and time. The date should be a few weeks to a few months after the invitation is sent out. We ve selected mid Sunday afternoons in the past because that seemed to work for folks in our area. Maybe it would work for you, but certainly it would pay to be a little flexible. Continued on page 8
Page 8 Southeastern Conifer December 2011 Do You Rendezvous continued from page 7 From the Editor s Desk 3) Email notices to nearby members. The up-to-date email lists are held by John Martin in the National Office. As I understand it, you can get filtered lists from John, or ask Bill Barger to send out your email invitation to selected members in the area you would like to cover. For example: if I were planning a Get Together in the Athens, GA, area, I would probably ask to have members from GA included in the invitation. We now also have a fantastic newsletter to get the word out to a wider range of members, and also a regional website (www.southeasternconifers.com) on which to post a notice of your Rendezvous. 4) Meet your guests at the appointed time and place. From there on, the fun begins! Of course there are many variations on that theme. If you are associated with a Reference Garden, you may want a little more formal structure to the tour. Perhaps that might include a tour leader to talk about the conifers in the collection, and maybe even include more about the garden itself and its programs. Perhaps if the gathering is to be located in a private garden, the homeowner might want to give the tour with a more personal view of his or her experiences. Sometimes a nursery visit can include a look at more mature plants as a lesson in what those cute little potted plants will grow up to look like. Whatever works as a basis for your gathering should be simple, and plant oriented. Many people worry about more details- How far in advance should we plan? How long should we plan to meet? Should we invite other guests? Should we have refreshments? How many should we invite? I can only answer those questions based on my own experience. Flo Chaffin passed this e-mail on from Ram and Tom Giberson, owners of the last and most wonderful garden we visited in Athens, GA : Dear Flo, Could you please forward this message so that all who wish to can read it. My husband and I had such a wonderful, soul -connecting time with so many people. It is the kind of day that we will always remember. We really appreciate that the American Conifer Society gave us a chance to share our garden with like-minded people. People were so eager to share their experiences and that keeps me going. I may not know everybody s name, but I feel I have known you all for so many years. One of the things I love the most about gardening is that it allows us to grow from the inside out. Meeting people like all of you encourages me to keep doing this until my last drop. If this is what life is giving to me, I am so satisfied!. One thing I realized a long time ago is that it is not about how long I live, but the quality of my life and I am so inspired by you all to continue to share and connect with gardeners like you. My husband and I will continue because when you meet others who love something with all heir heart and soul, it is a joy to share that interest. There were so many delightful comments and they really touched us.you guys made this day so special. Wish you all the most joyous and happiest of gardening. Ram and Tom October 22, 2011 Invitations too far in advance can be forgotten sometimes. An hour or two seems to be enough time for an informal meeting. Refreshments are nice, but can make things more complicated. Members and friends are always welcome, but be realistic about how far people are willing to drive for a visit of a few hours. I still think the more simple the plans, the more likelihood of unencumbered enjoyment, and the better chance of another planned event soon. So..the idea of a Rendezvous is simple, and the outcome is always fun and educational. Meet conifers you don t know, and share what you do know with fellow ACS members at the same time. I would love to see how many gatherings we can accomplish in the Southeastern Region ACS in the coming months. How many of you can say YOU Rendezvous?? American Conifer Society - Southeastern Region www.southeasternconifers.com President: Sue Hamilton, - sueham@utk.edu Vice President: Tom Neff, -tsneff2003@yahoo.com Treasurer: John Quackenbush -quack17@bellsouth.net Regional Director: in ACS Board: Tom Neff, -tsneff2003@yahoo.com Reference Gardens: Barbie Colvin, -colvinrcbc@windstream.net SE Webmaster: Flo Chaffin, -flomosr@southeasternconifers.com SE Newsletter Editor: Maud Henne, - maud@southeasternconifers.com ACS Webmaster: Bill Barger, -billb@conifergarden.com