MINUTES OF ANNUAL SERA-IEG 27
NURSERY AND LANDSCAPE CROPS
JULY 9-10, 1998
CLEMSON UNIVERSITY, SOUTH CAROLINA

Those in attendance: Tom Yeager, University of Florida; Willard T. Witte, University of Tennessee; Ken Tilt, Auburn University; Tom Ranney, North Carolina State University; Margaret Pooler, U.S. National Arboretum; Alex Niemiera, Virginia Tech; Gary Knox, University of Florida; Patricia Knight, Mississippi State University; Gerald Kingaman, University of Arkansas; Dewayne Ingram, University of Kentucky; Tom Fernandez, Clemson University; Donna Fare, University of Tennessee; Win Dunwell, University of Kentucky; Ed Bush, Louisiana State University; Claire Brooks, University of Florida Graduate Student; Dick Bir, North Carolina Graduate Student; Richard Beeson, University of Florida; Michael Arnold, Texas A&M University.

Meeting called to order by Chairman Tom Ranney, July 9, 1998

Chairman Tom Ranney presented a Illicum mexicana 'Aztec fire' to Tom Fernandez to thank him for hosting the 1998 meeting.

Election of Officers: Tom Ranney will have completed his year as chairman. Current officers will move up to the next highest office. Win Dunwell will move from secretary to Chairman. Donna Fare will become Secretary leaving the Executive Committee Member position vacant.

Call for nomination for Executive Committee Member. Tom Yeager nominated Mike Arnold, Will Witte seconds, Mike is elected by acclimation.

A report from the Plant Evaluation Committee headed by Alex Niemiera is deferred until tomorrow.

The U.S. National Arboretum will be next year's meeting site. The discussion of the meeting date surrounds the 3rd week of June but it is believed that is Father's Day weekend.

Tom Yeager brought up a concern expressed by Dr. Leppla (Director, Apopka Research and Education Center) that a representative from a federal regulatory agency such as the Department of Interior (Fish and Wildlife Service) and/or APHIS be added to the SERA/IEG Committee. SERA/IEG members agreed to add invasiveness as category for evaluation, but did not think a representative from a federal regulatory agency needed to be added to the SERA/IEG Committee at this time. We should get copies of the Exotic Pest Plant Lists. Dick Bir says Florida, Virginia, Tennessee, and the Brooklyn Botanic garden have lists and we should have copies of the Southern Plant Board Noxious Weed List.

Meeting Adjourned, July 9, 1998, 2030hrs.

Meeting Reconvened, July 10, 1998, 0800hrs
South Carolina Botanic Garden Hayden Conference Center, Clemson University
Tour, Business Meeting and Information Exchange

0800hrs-Tour South Carolina Botanic Gardens guided by James Arnold, Garden Manager

1030hrs-Conference convenes

First order of business is the Plant Evaluation Program report by Alex Niemiera.

Alex describes a brief history. The original work on the Plant Evaluation program was done by a committee chaired by Sam Laiche with members Will Witte and Gerald Klingaman. The original forms for distributing materials seem adequate but we will add an evaluation category: Invasive Potential and Transmission (insect and disease) Potential.

Should the program be informal or formal? Formal Program! We want to be able to get published, the results of our efforts.

Discussion concerning plant evaluation continued. Those sending out notification of a plant for evaluation will need to ask who wants to evaluate plant. A question was whether we need to send out multiple plants for each site. Discussion continues about who will develop a protocol for the evaluation process, should the group define protocols or should the person sending out the plant?

How many plants should be sent to each site in order to collect data? Ideally 3, in special cases 1 or 2. Keep in mind, not every state will choose to evaluate every plant made available. The state representative will have the opportunity to accept or reject a plant evaluation. It seems that fall (Oct-Nov) shipment of plants would be best with February being an alternate time to ship the plants.

We need a person to serve as recorder with a central record keeping system. The person serving as recorder would have to be in the position for 3 years in order to establish continuity. Margaret Pooler uses a Quatro Pro Program. She would be willing to serve as recorder if all would agree to submit data/reports in the format she needs.

Discussion: could we create a web site for entering evaluation data? We need a "Nanny" to look over the whole program. Can we use the turf program as a model? The turf program generates funds that are shared with those institutions that agree to evaluate the cultivars. The crabapple program is a good model but also demonstrates the limitations should the "Nanny" leave the program.

Recorder responsibilities:

·Send out reminders

·Request Plants for Distribution

·Announce plants available for distribution

·Manage requests for plants

·Manage evaluation data

Funding : There is none for SERA. We would need to apply for grants as a group to HRI and Landscape Development Center

Plant Evaluation Committee

·Margaret Pooler - Chair

·Committee Members: Ed Bush, Alex Neimeira, Ken Tilt

State Representatives for the Plant Evaluation Program

·U.S. National Arboretum - Margaret Pooler

·Alabama - Ken Tilt

·Arkansas - Gerald Klingaman

·Georgia - John Ruter

·Florida - Gary Knox

·Kentucky - Win Dunwell

·Louisiana - Ed Bush

·Mississippi - Patricia Knight

·North Carolina - Tom Ranney

·Oklahoma - Mike Schenelle

·South Carolina - Tom Fernandez

·Tennessee - Will Witte

·Texas - Michael Arnold

·Virginia - Alex Neimeira

In some cases a Comparison Evaluation may be appropriate. This might include grafted vs own roots, disease resistant vs susceptible cultivars, bloom of evaluated cultivar vs standard in the industry.

Where should we publish our results? Journal of Environmental Horticulture, HortTechnology, SNA Researchers Conference Proceedings. Are there others?

What type of information do we report? Include photographs, all data, recommendations resulting from the evaluation, landscape use, tolerance and/or susceptibility (heat, cold, drought, pests, etc.), size, ornamental characteristics (bloom, foliage, etc.).

Patented or Trade-Marked plants. Can we distribute them? Are there any special considerations we need to make in order to accommodate the restricted plants? The member distributing the plants will be responsible for dealing with any issues related to patents or trade marks.

Officers - The Executive Committee Member is elected by the SERA Official Members. The Executive Committee member will then move up to serve as Secretary and a year later move from the Secretary's position to the Chair position.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Chair

·Coordinate activities for the year

·Announce the meeting

·Provide advisory information

·Monitor the committee activities

Secretary

·Take minutes at the annual meeting

·Submit a ½ page report to the Directors

Executive Committee Member

·Coordinate activities with other officers

·Prepare to serve as Secretary and Chair

Recorder Responsibilities

·Send out reminders

·Request Plants for Distribution

·Announce plants available for distribution

·Manage requests for plants

·Manage evaluation data

Dewayne will work on preparing job descriptions

1999 Meeting Site Margaret Pooler host the meeting at the National Arboretum on June 24-26, 1999. Texas will host sometime in the future in San Antonio.

Respectfully submitted by Winston C. Dunwell, Secretary