QBARS - v30n2 1976 ARS Annual Meeting Annual Meeting Program

1976 A.R.S. Annual Meeting
Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

By now, all of you should have received your invitation to attend the American Rhododendron Society 1976 Convention being held in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania May 20th through May 23rd. After over a year of planning by members of the Philadelphia, Princeton, and Valley Forge Chapters, we promise you an exciting, provocative and informative four days of constant activity. Headquarters for the convention is the Valley Forge Sheraton.

The Philadelphia area is fortunate to have favorable climatic conditions for growing azaleas and rhododendrons, combined with enthusiasm for this group of plants by many gardeners and arboreta in the area. This has resulted in a varied group of gardens for the tours planned during the convention. Each totally different, and each with its own particular approach and specialty. From the ten acres of rhododendrons and azaleas spilling over the landscape at the Tyler Arboretum, to the precise planning and execution of the Japanese Garden at Swiss Pines; from Charlie Herbert's two and a half acres flowing down the side of Valley Forge mountain, to the tailored and immaculate splendor of Joe and Doris Bacales' garden; from the three-acre naturalistic setting of Dr. John Wister's garden, to the highly individualistic gardens of Dave Lewis, Ted Koenig, and Mrs. Carl Luenenschloss on the post-convention New Jersey tour, there is something to stimulate and inspire everyone.

Opening the activities Thursday evening, May 20th, Heman Howard and Dr. Franklin H. West will talk about Dexter, the man and his rhododendrons. Mr. Howard, retired horticulturist of the Arnold Arboretum, has been for the last ten years in charge of all plantings at the Heritage Foundation (the original Dexter Estate), in Sandwich, Mass., on Cape Cod. One of his objectives is to gather and plant all named clones of the Dexter hybrids at the Foundation. His portion of the presentation will discuss the Dexters at Sandwich, and those he and Dr. John Wister have selected as being indispensable in any collection of rhododendrons. A booklet on the Dexters, prepared by Mr. Howard with Dr. Wister's assistance, will be distributed to all attending the convention.

Dr. West will discuss Dexter, the man; and show slides of Dexter hybrids in the Philadelphia area. To familiarize you with the variety of gardens on the scheduled tours, preview slides will also be shown. Dr. West, a practicing psychiatrist, is on the Board of Directors of the American Rhododendron Society. Active in the Valley Forge and Philadelphia Chapters, and a Director and President of the Tyler Arboretum, his interest in rhododendrons and azaleas extends back twenty years. In addition to articles appearing in the Bulletin, he has written for the Ark. He also writes extensively for many medical publications. Currently he is contributing to and editing a book on five azalea and rhododendron breeders on the east coast. It will be published shortly. He is a professor at Hahnemann Medical College and a member of the faculty at the Institute of Philadelphia Association for Psychoanalysis.

Friday, May 21st will be a day of garden tours. Fred Galle will speak on native American azaleas at the conclusion of lunch at the DuPont Country Club. That evening following dinner at the Valley Forge Sheraton, George Ring will assess the extensive efforts to date of the Potomac Valley Study Group on Joseph Gable.

Mr. Galle, Eastern Vice-President of the A.R.S., is Vice President and Director of Horticulture at Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Georgia. Callaway Gardens, with over 600 varieties and species of plant material, is a remarkable achievement in restoring approximately 2500 acres of once-gullied red hills and abandoned farms. The inspiration for its development derived from Mr. Cason Callaway's determination to preserve Rh. prunifolium, then found only in that area. Subsequent plant exploration and plant inventories have located many additional native azaleas on the tract. Fred Galle, associated with the gardens since 1953, is to a large extent responsible for the development, planning, and planting making up the display. Every American native azalea is now represented, as well as extensive plantings of Kurumes and related hybrids, Glenn Dales, Satsukis, Back Acres and Southern Indian hybrids. Mr. Galle is active in many horticultural organizations, including the American Horticultural Society, the American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta, the International Shade Tree Conference, the Georgia Horticultural Society and others. He is a director of the Holly Society of America, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a Fellow of the Royal Horticultural Society. Widely known for his writings on horticultural subjects, he frequently contributes to nursery and horticultural publications. He has recently finished a book titled "Azaleas," published by Oxmoor House Inc.

Mr. Ring, a highway research engineer for the Department of Transportation, is a past president of the Potomac Valley Chapter and a present

member of the Board of Directors of that chapter. Besides membership in many professional organizations, Mr. Ring is active in other chapter and national committees of the A.R.S. and is currently Chairman of the Gable Study Group. This group, working with Miss Caroline Gable and many other A.R.S. members during the last three years, is attempting to arrange Mr. Gable's records and correspondence in chronological order; and locate, identify, and perpetuate many of the efforts of Mr. Gable's fifty years of hybridizing and growing. Additional years will be required to complete the task. Because of the legacy of Mr. Gable's achievements and his influence on rhododendron and azalea culture, we anticipate a large audience for this presentation.

Saturday will contain a variety of activities. A garden tour in the morning, a plant sale, the private showing for A.R.S. members of the Truss Show. There will be three presentations, the first will team Richard Murcott, a businessman in food marketing supply, with Emil Bohnel, a retired biologist, to discuss Hardgrove and Nearing Hybrids. Don Hardgrove has been, and continues to be a major influence on Mr. Murcott's own successful efforts at hybridizing during the past twelve years. Mr. Bohnel is President of the Tappen Zee Chapter (founded by Guy Nearing), Vice President of the G. Nearing Committee, member of the American Horticultural Society, and a Fellow of the Royal Horticultural Society.

The second presentation is by Betty Hager, assisted by members of the New York Azalea Study Group, introducing new evergreen azaleas for the Northeast. Mrs. Hager, a collector and grower of rhododendrons and azaleas for over twenty-five years, has been active in local chapters and national committees, and is a past president of the New York Chapter. In 1971 the A.R.S. honored her with a Bronze Medal.

Dr. Henry Skinner, Henry Fuller, and Fred Galle will participate in the third presentation of the afternoon, in a program designed to create a greater awareness of the potential of native American azaleas grown as species, and in hybridizing. Subjects to be covered include growing from seed, collecting in the wild, how and when to take cuttings, and a talk by Henry Fuller

on native azaleas in Connecticut.

The Annual Meeting and Banquet will be held Saturday evening, May 22nd at the Valley Forge Sheraton with the President's address and the awards presentations providing the climax.

We encourage those who can possibly do so to participate in one of the two Post-convention activities on Sunday, May 23; 1) the Breeders Roundtable, or 2) the tour to rhododendron gardens in New Jersey. There is an additional $12 fee for this tour which includes a box lunch.