JARS v43n4 - New Seed Exchange Chairman

New Seed Exchange Chairman
Bill Tietjen
Guilford, Connecticut

After ten exciting years as ARS Seed Exchange Chairman, Ginny and I have decided to retire. Next season the Seed Exchange will be in the capable hands of Linda Wylie, Eugene, OR. Linda, a member of the Eugene Chapter, has devoted much time to ARS activities including judging at truss shows, serving as chapter trophy chairman and hostessing at ARS functions. She brings to the job a long interest in rhododendrons and great enthusiasm for the Seed Exchange program.

Linda will be in touch with all former contributors to the Seed Exchange to be sure that they have the correct address for this year's contributions and we are both hoping that 1990 will see many new names listed on the contributor's page of the catalog.

For the benefit of new contributors I would like to make a few suggestions. Do not pick the seed capsules too green. Wait until the pedicels start to turn brown, then ten days drying in an open container in a warm room should cause the capsules to split open and release the seed. Do not crush the capsules - if you do there is no way that the seed can be separated from the chaff. Package the seed in a 2¼ x 3½ Kraft coin envelope and label it with the proper name, year collected, your name and whether it was hand pollinated, open pollinated or collected in the wild. Keep in mind that we cannot list in the catalog any seed received in a quantity that will not make at least five packets.

The most urgent need is for hand pollinated seed of good forms of species and collected in the wild seed. We are especially short of deciduous azaleas, both species and hybrids.

Send the seed as early as you can. December 1, 1989 will be the last day for seed to be included in the catalog and the earlier you send it the more it helps to spread the work load for the Seed Exchange. This year 671 orders were filled from a catalog listing 1564 different items so Linda needs all the help we can give her.

I know that next winter we are going to miss the excitement of opening each day's mail to see what new and interesting seeds are arriving and we will miss the interesting notes and orders that came from all over the world. It has been a very interesting ten years and we know that Linda will enjoy it as we have. So help her off to a good start and mail your seed early to: Linda Wylie, Chairman ARS Seed Exchange, Eugene, OR.