JARS v63n4 - From the Editor

From the Editor
Glen Jamieson
Parksville, BC
Canada

First, thank you all so much for the fantastic support you have given me over the past few months as I have tried to fill the shoes so effectively worn by Sonja Nelson, the previous editor, and now my assistant. She has been a wealth of knowledge and has given me much practical advice while I learned the ropes! Having produced three issues now, I feel much more comfortable in at least knowing what the process is, and I have much more appreciation for all the hard work and challenges that Sonja has dealt with over the past 15 years or so. She is an amazing person!

Second, I would like to thank the ARS Editorial Committee for their great support and advice. What I have most appreciated though, has been the support from all those people who have either on their own sent in potential articles, or who have responded favourably to my requests either to submit articles or to allow me to edit and reprint them from local chapter newsletters or other published sources. Our journal is somewhat different from both the "journals" of other genus-family plant societies and from the more commercial monthly garden publications. The former are largely not of the same publication quality or scope as JARS, and the latter rely on paid professional writers for their content. In contrast, JARS relies on both members' voluntary submissions of articles, or material I have gleaned from newsletters or other garden publications that will allow us to reprint relevant articles at no charge. So far, thanks to you all, this process works, which is a real testament to the quality and knowledge of ARS members and our gardening colleagues. I find the chapter newsletters a great resource, so thanks to all the newsletter editors for sending them to me - please continue to do so!

Finally, there are a few issues that have come up that I feel need to be addressed. One is that some members have reported that that they sometimes fail to receive an ARS issue. Our mailing list appears to be complete so we do not know if this is a problem for anyone unless it is reported to us. The problem may be with the mail delivery system, but regardless, if any of you do not receive an issue, please notify either Laura Grant or myself and we will work to remedy it. Also, I am always open to suggestions as to how to improve our journal, so if there are perspectives or specific topics or subject areas members would like to see addressed, please let me know. Each issue of JARS is very much a balancing act, where the editor tries to incorporate different rhododendron groups (hardy and semi-hardy ones, azaleas, and vireyas), regional issues, tips for beginners, scientific perspectives, society news, and so on. To do this, I need to have a backlog of articles to draw on, in order to finalize any issue's contents, so new submissions are always welcome. Happy gardening!