MINUTES OF ANNUAL MEETING OF SERA IEG-63
NURSERY CROPS PRODUCTION SYSTEMS
JUNE 24, 1995
UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE, KNOXVILLE, TN

The day prior to the business meeting, the group visited nurseries, and Home and Garden Cable Television Station, University of Tennessee Horticulture facilities and research projects, and the Campus Horticulture Gardens. A dinner was hosted by Dr. and Mrs. Don William (UT Hort. Dept.)

John Ruter (Chair) called the business meeting to order at 8:15 am. The following were in attendance: John Ruter, Dewayne Ingram, Win Dunwell, Will Witte, Tom Ranney, Sam Laiche, Norman Winter, Tom Yeager, Gary Knox, Alex Niemiera.

Old Business

1. Minutes of 1994 meeting were approved.

New Business

2. Terril Nell (FL) is official Administrative Advisor but could not attend meeting. Dewayne Ingram (KY) served in his place. Dewayne reported that Southern Region Committee Chairs review regional projects and suggested that IEG - 63 publish proceedings. Ingram suggested that IEG - 63 issue an impact statement of this group's activities. for example, since IEG - 63 was focused on plant material introduction, the group should give evidence of measurable impact, collaborative projects, and elimination of duplication.

3. Brief State Reports by:
Will Witte (TN), Sam Laiche (MS), tom Ranney (NC), Tom Yeager (FL), Win Dunwell (KY), Alex Niemiera (VA), and John Ruter (GA)

4. Discussion of making IEG - 63 into a SERA (participation of Extension personnel) which was tabled in 1993 meeting for two years. Vote was taken and membership approved changing IEG - 63 to SERA status.

5. A name change was discussed; a vote was taken and new name is: Nursery Crop and Landscape Systems. Since IEG - 63 is taking on the SERA role and relatively new plant introductions objective, notification letters of these developments should be sent to Department Chairs and Extension Personnel.

6. Plant Introduction Reports:
Gary Knox (FL) - Al, GA, and FL survey; crape myrtle topics (handouts).

Will Witte (TN) - Crabapple cultivars; dogwood collections; McMinnville Expt. Station work with maples, lilacs, elms, crape myrtles; holly collection; UT Gardens.

Tom Ranney (NC) - NC State Arboretum mission to evaluate, collect, and distribute new species; serviceberry; crapapple evaluation program; flowering cherries; kousa dogwood collections; deciduous hollies; southern magnolia; river birch x white bark birch hybrids; NC Urban Tree Evaluation Project.
Discussion: An impact statement is needed to determine the influence of such a plant introduction program (cost effectiveness, gross sales). Data taken of plant performance (multi-state data) will be incorporated into a marketing program; potential avenues of marketing are American Nurserymen (trade journal), Southern Living (popular magazine), extension publications. Also discussed was the protocol for plant evaluation. Win Dunwell (KY), replacement for Gerald Klingaman's (AR), and Sam Laiche (MS) will chair the Plant Evaluation Subcommittee.

Sam Laiche (MS) - Norman Winter will organize a plant project within MS. Will there be funding for plant evaluation?

Discussion: Should there be a free (to nursery industry) for plant evaluations? John Ruter (GA) - Dirr and Armitage (both of U of GA) conduct some evaluation and distribution work; at Griffin, GA (Expt. Station) there is some breeding work; 120 bamboo taxa; Savannah Station; Blairsville Station; maple, elm, sourwood, mountain-laurel, and ornamental blurberry work at Tifton Station; work on 300 taxa of native plants at the Coastal Plain Station; State-wide Gold Medal Program at four locations put together by extension agents and committee of 40 individuals from industry and academia; the Gold Medal Program promotes and markets four new species (two woody and two herbaceous) each year.

Discussion: Is invasiveness being evaluated?; State Nursery Association need to be in charge.

Alex Niemiera (VA) - tom Banko of VA Beach Agricultural Experiment Station is in charge of plant evaluation; list of plants being evaluated was distributed.

Discussion: How about cooperation with National Arboretum in Washington, DC? Sub-Committee will develop a contact.

Win Dunwell (KY) - Arboretum in Lexington (Campus) has a role in introductions (also at Experiment Station): Bob McNiel (Campus) involved with National Crabapple evaluation; insect resistance work.
Discussion: Plant societies can collaborate on plant evaluation.

Will Witte (TN) - Noted work to be done by the Plant Evaluation Committee including: list of participants and a specific plan of action; participants will be identified by Nov. 1995; plant distribution list will be mailed by Dec. 1995; final plant list sent by Jan. 1996; send plants out in Feb. or Mar. 1996; there will be three to four taxa to be evaluated per year (4 replications per taxa per site); thus, a request form must be sent out to participants.

7. Tom Yeager (FL) reported on Best Management Practices Manual for irrigation and fertilization of nursery crops; Manual should be completed by September, 1995.

8. Selection of Executive committee Chair for 1996. Ken Tilt(AL) was elected Secretary in 1994 and next in line for Executive Committee Chair but was unable to attend 1995 meeting. Alex Niemiera (VA), who was voted Executive Committee Member in 1994, assumed the 1994 Secretary's duties and will become Chair for 1994-95. Will Witte was elected as the Secretary for 1995-96.

Site for 1996 meeting will be Virginia Beach and Alex Niemiera will be Chair of the Site Committee.

Submitted by: Alex X. Niemiera, Secretary (in place of Ken Tilt).