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ELSEWHERE IN THE NEWS 



International Plant 

 Propagators Society Holds 

 Area Meetings and Tours 



The Liniversity of Massachusetts 

 Cooperative Extension in coopera- 

 tion with the International Plant 

 Propagators Society will host two 

 educational meetings which will in- 

 clude tours of distinguished area 

 nurseries. 



On September 21, 1991, at the 

 Mainstay Inn in Newport, Rhode 

 Island, attendees will leani about 

 New Plant Introductions, New 

 Crops for Tissue Culture, Field 

 Propagation of Day Lilies, Iris, and 

 Lilacs, Evaluation of New Rho- 

 dodendrons, and Rooting of Rho- 

 dodendrons. P"eatured speakers in- 

 clude Dr. Gary Roller. Assistant 

 Director of Harvard University's 

 Arnold Arboretum, Dr. Mark 

 Brand, Nursery Specialist from the 

 University of Connecticut, and Dr. 

 John McGuire, Professor Emeritus 

 from the University of Rhode Is- 

 land, as well as prominent area 

 nurserymen. The educational ses- 

 sion will be followed by tours of 

 Hoogendoon Nursery and Rhode 

 Island Nurserv'. 



On October 25, 1991, at the Royal 

 Plaza Trade Center in Marlbor- 

 ough, Massachusetts, attendees 

 will learn about Propagation of 

 Wetland Ornamentals, Perennial 

 and Alpine Plant Propagation, 

 Micropropagation, Field Grafting of 

 Conifers as well as an Overview of 

 Kalmia latifolia. Featured Speak- 

 ers include Dr. Richard Jaynes of 

 Broken Arrow Nursery in Con- 

 necticut, Jack Alexander of Har- 

 vard University's Arnold Arbore- 

 tum, Clayton Fuller. President of 

 the Eastern Region of the IPPS 

 and Chief Propagator for Bigelow 

 Nurseries, and Michael Dodge of 

 White Flower Farm, as well as 

 other prominent area nurserymen. 

 Following the educational session, 

 the group will tour Tower Hill 

 Botanic Garden, home of the 

 Worcester County Horticultural So- 

 ciety, Bigelow Nursery and Weston 

 Nurserv'. The day-long event will 

 culminate in a dinner and "ques- 

 tion box" session at Weston Nurs- 

 ery. 



For registration information con- 

 tact Kathleen Carroll, University 



of Massachusetts Cooperative Ex- 

 tension, French Hall, University 

 of Massachusetts, Amherst, mA 

 01003, telephone (413) .545-0895. 



Postal Service to Stop 

 Selling Flowers 



(from GrowerTalks, June, 1991.) 



The FTD Government Affairs Of- 

 fice has obtained written confirma- 

 tion from the US Postal Service 

 that it will terminate the Eagle Ex- 

 press Flowers program. The pro- 

 gram allowed the postal service to 

 use government money to adver- 

 tise and promote flower sales 

 through an 800 number. FTD, ad- 

 dressing members' concerns about 

 Eagle Express, lobbied the Post 

 Master General's Office for two 

 years to stop the program. 

 I-TD members also told congres- 

 sional representatives it wasn't ap- 

 propriate for the postal service to 

 use tax dollars collected from pri- 

 vate small businesses to promote 

 the program because it competed 

 against their businesses. Advertise- 

 ments dislayed in local post offices 

 said flowers could be purchased 

 from a California grower and deliv- 

 ered by the postal service any- 

 where in the United States in one 

 to two days. 



"Palace Purple" 



Heuchera micrantha "Palace 

 I^irple" has been designated the 

 Perennial Plant-of-the-Year by the 

 Perennial Plant Association. This 

 plant was chosen because of its or- 

 namental effect, adaptability, and 

 ease of production. Homeowners 

 should be able to obtain this selec- 

 tion through their local garden 

 centers. 



The Perennial Plant Association is 

 a national and international profes- 

 sional association started in 1983. 

 One of its goals is to disseminate 

 information to the public about the 

 use and care of perennials. 

 Color or black-and-white photos 

 of "Palace Purple" may be obtained 

 by contacting the Perennial 

 Plant Association, 3383 Schirt- 

 zinger Road, Hilliard, Ohio 43026; 

 phone: 614-771-8431; Fax: 617-876- 

 5238. 



Yellow Poinsettias... 



(from Greenhouse Manager, July. 

 1991.) 



'I^mon Drop' poinsettias grown for 

 spring at North Carolina University 

 flowered beautifully, but got a 

 lukewarm reception from consum- 

 ers. 



Roy Larson, professor of horticul- 

 ture at NCSU at Raleigh, said he 

 grew the crop after an interior- 

 scaper asked if 'Lemon Drop' 

 could be grown for spring color. 

 This spring I^rson placed plants 

 for sale at one retail greenhouse/ 

 garden center/nursery and at a su- 

 permarket chain outlet well-known 

 for its floral department. "In the 

 first week, one store sold five, one 

 sold three. There just wasn't a big 

 demand." 



"We didn't go to the interior- 

 scapers with it," Larson said, "and 

 that's our mistake. If they (the 

 consumers) had seen them in the 

 mall, they might think it's a trendy 

 thing to do and go ahead and buy 

 them." 



...and African Violets 



(from Nursery Retailer. May, 1991.) 



With the recent introduction of the 

 world's first yellow African violet 

 by Nolan Blansit, a plant breeder, 

 and a crop mass-produced by 

 Green Circle Growers of Oberlin, 

 Ohio, many are predicting African 

 violet sales to soar. Some are ex- 

 pecting sales to double or triple in 

 a short period of time. 



Cornell Crop Guidelines 

 on Computer 



(from Greenhouse Manager, July, 

 1991.) 



Recommendations and guidelines 

 for greenhouse crops from Cornell 

 Cooperative Extension are now- 

 available by computer. 

 Operations equipped with a com- 

 puter, modem communications 

 software, and a telephone can 

 hook up with CENET, an elec- 

 tronic communications system that 

 will provide Cornell know-how via 

 computer. Cost is $50 per year. 

 The recommendations are updated 

 August/September 1991 9 



