Southeastern Conifer American Conifer Society Southeastern Region Volume 17 Special Edition 2013 Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia Inside This Issue Editor s Notes about the SE Meeting in Memphis TN Page 1 List of SE Reference Gardens Page 2 Barbie Colvin, GA receives 2013 SE Merit Award Page 2 The Dixon Galleries and Gardens, Memphis, TN Pages 3, 4, 5 The Memphis Botanic Garden, TN Pages 6, 7 Private Gardens in Memphis and Jackson Pages 8, 9 UT Research Garden Jackson, TN Pages 10, 11 Brussel s Bonsai Nursery, MS Page 12 Photos by Jim Hanger, VA, Maud Henne, VA and Janice Lecoq, FL Events ACS National Meeting, Atlanta, GA June 13 and 14, 2014 SE Region Meeting in Memphis TN The 2013 SE Region meeting took place in Memphis, TN on October 11 and 12, 2013. For the first time, the convention part, lectures, meals and plant auctions did not take place in a hotel, but in an elegant gallery setting, at DIXON Galleries and Gardens, a splendid place to have had the events. Outgoing SE President Sue Hamilton of Knoxville TN, local ACS member Kennon Hampton, Jason Reeves and many volunteers arranged everything, including the visits, bus transportation, food arrangements, plant auctions. We owe them a big Thank You. The meeting had 75 attendants, even non-members of ACS from AR, FL, GA, KY, MO, MS, NC, VA and WI. 1/3 came from many locations in TN. The program included visits of the Dixon Gardens, the Memphis Botanic Garden, the UT Research and Education Center in Jackson, TN, under the tutelage of Jason Reeves, Brussel s Bonsai Nursery in Olive Branch, MS, and private gardens in Memphis and Jackson. Carol Reese, Specialist of the UT Ornamental Horticulture for West TN, gave a delightful slide talk show about Plants with Stories to Tell. Newly elected SE President Dr. John Ruter, GA, introduced the new book Landscaping with Conifers and Gingko for the Southeast which he and Tom Cox, GA published this year. Tom Cox, GA prepared the audience for the ACS National Meeting 2014 in Atlanta, GA. Another highlight were as usual the silent and verbal plant auctions. And not to forget: the SE Merit Award, given this year to Barbie Colvin for her achievements as coordinator for the Reference Garden Program. The Southeast has 15 Reference Gardens, more than any of the other regions. The presenter was John Quackenbush, outgoing SE Treasurer and recipient of the 2012 Award. Maud Henne
Page 2 Southeastern Conifer Special Edition 2013 The ACS SE Region Conifer Reference Gardens Florida Gardens of the Big Bend, Quincy, FL Georgia Atlanta Botanical Garden, Atlanta, GA Lockerly Arboretum, Milledgeville, GA Smith Gilbert Gardens, Kennesaw, GA State Botanical Garden of Georgia, Athens, GA North Carolina JC Raulston Arboretum, Raleigh, NC South Carolina Hatcher Garden, Spartanburg, SC South Carolina Botanical Gardens, Clemson, SC Tennessee East Tennessee State University Arboretum Johnson City, TN University of TN-Jackson West TN Research & Ed Center Gardens, Jackson, TN University of Tennessee Gardens, Knoxville, TN Virginia Al Gardner Memorial Garden-J.Sargeant Reynolds Community College, Goochland, VA Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, Richmond, VA Norfolk Botanical Garden, Norfolk, VA State Arboretum of Virginia, Boyce, VA 2013 SE Merit Award Barbie Colvin, GA, receives the 2013 SE Merit Award from 2012 recipient and past SE Treasurer John Quackenbush, GA for her efforts and achievements as coordinator for the SE Reference Garden program. Congratulations, Barbie, and thanks. All of these gardens have websites with addresses, directions and events. American Conifer Society SE Region www.conifersociety.org SE President: Dr.John Ruter, GA -ruter@uga.edu SE Vice President: Dr. Sue Hamilton, TN sueham@utk.edu SE Regional Director: Tom Neff-tsneff2003@yahoo.com SE Treasurer: Jeff and Jennifer Harvey, TNjeff@dirtdawgnursery.com SE Reference Gardens: Beth Jimenez, NCbeth6744@bellsouth.com SE Webmaster: Ben Ford, -bford15@utk.edu SE Newsletter Editor: Maud Henne,-wollemi27@gmail.com SE Technical Advisor: Tom Cox, -coxarb@bellsouth.net
Page 3 Southeastern Conifer Special Edition 2013 At the Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis TN The Dixon Gallery and Gardens were as mentioned before, the place where our meeting events: lectures, dinners and auctions took place. The Dixon is a Fine Arts Museum and a public garden of 17 acres with 10 % conifers within the plant collection. The conifers in decorative urns, see below, found many admirers. The Dixon Gardens go back to Margret and Hugo Dixon when they purchased the 17 then wooded acres in 1939 to build their home in what was then the outskirts of Memphis. Cedrus atlantica Glauca Pendula Taxodium distichum Fallingwater Cupressus arizonica var. glabra Raywood s Weeping
Page 4 Southeastern Conifer Special Edition 2013 At the Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis TN Cupressus nootkatensis Alaska Cedar Tsuga canadensis Eastern Hemlock Picea pungens The Blues Colorado Blue Spruce Above Left Cryptomeria japonica Globosa Nana Japanese Cedar Above Right Picea orientalis Atrovirens Oriental Spruce Water Features
Page 5 Southeastern Conifer Special Edition 2013 At the Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis TN While the daytimes were spent with visiting public and private gardens, the evenings were filled with good food, lectures and the silent and verbal plant auctions. People had a good time. The meeting had 75 registered attendants, some of them not even being ACS members but curious members of local garden clubs. The meeting had an income of $12,760, including $9,173 from the plant auctions. Expenses for transportation, meals, a donation to the Dixon Gardens amounted to $9,654 which left the SE Region with a net earning of $3,106. The numbers were provided by outgoing SE Treasurer John Quackenbush. Our very attractive centerpieces for the dinner tables were done by Celia Chastain, the Dixon s floriculturist and new ACS member. This one shows a dwarf Cunninghamia. Tom Cox, Cox Arboretum, GA, promotes the next ACS National Meeting which will take place in Atlanta, GA, on June 13 and 14, 2014.
Page 6 Southeastern Conifer Special Edition 2013 At The Memphis Botanic Garden This 96 acre property across from the Dixon Gallery and Gardens includes 28 specialty gardens. An arboretum was established in 1957. The Conifer Collection was added in 1982 and updated in 2002 to include many dwarf varieties that are now available for the home landscape. New plants are added on a continuous basis. At the present, the collection is estimated to have 300 individual plants with at least 100 species represented.
Page 7 Southeastern Conifer Special Edition 2013 At The Memphis Botanic Garden
Page 8 Southeastern Conifer Special Edition 2013 Visits of Private and Public Gardens in Memphis and Jackson, TN.
Page 9 Southeastern Conifer Special Edition 2013 Visits of Private and Public Gardens in Memphis and Jackson, TN We visited 2 private gardens each in Memphis and Jackson
Page 10 Southeastern Conifer Special Edition 2013 University of TN Research Center, Jackson, TN Like everywhere at this time of the year, it is pumpkin time. This is what we found at the entrance of the University of TN s Research Center in Jackson, TN. The center was established in 1907 and focuses on research of ornamentals as well as agronomic and horticultural crops for the South. Our host and guide was Jason Reeves. The Research Center and its conifer collection is one of the SE Region s 15 Reference Gardens. Gingko biloba. Jason Reeves told us that they tried to get rid of this tree and tried to cut it down. Instead it developed into what we see and admire today. Dr. John Ruter University of Athens, GA, now SE President, Tom Cox of Cox Arboretum in Canton GA and outgoing SE Treasurer John Quackenbush of Bishop GA, passing under the same Gingko.
Page 11 Southeastern Conifer Special Edition 2013 University of TN Research Center, Jackson, TN Jason Reeves was our tour guide Center top: Cupressus arizonica var. glabra Golden Pyramid Center bottom: Platycladus orientalis Franky Boy Center: Cupressus arizonica var.glabra Chaparral Bottom Cupressus arizonica var. glabra Limelight Right: Closeup of Platycladus orientalis Franky Boy (formerly Thuja orientalis)
Page 12 Southeastern Conifer Special Edition 2013 Brussel s Bonsai Nursery, MS Brussel s Bonsai Nursery located in Olive Branch, MS, has over 175,000 SF of greenhouses devoted to bonsai and has been a destination for hobbyists for over 30 years. The nursery includes an extensive collection of ancient miniature trees like this pine to the left.