There is a new initiative occurring in the American Public Gardens Association. It is a system of National Collections similar to the British System. These collections are meant to preserve the genetic diversity within the nation. The USA is far behind in this effort, compared to the British. A major component of the system is a will that allows for the transfer of a collection to another new or existing National Collection Holder. Many years ago I tried to talk with the Association of Botanic Gardens and Arboretums. They were not interested in working with private plantsmen. I believe this is partly due to a vocal scam artist who was milking plantsman at the time for plants he could sell in his nursery by claiming to run a National Collection System. When I originally contacted him about a world class collection I had of Dwarf Irises he said send me a list and I will pick what I want. I knew that response was terribly wrong. But even though He is still out there speaking on "plant conservation" most people seem to have caught on. And now the AABGA is now the APGA. The name of the organization has changed and they are listening to plant societies. I have been talking with them for several years trying to work out a relationship between the American Iris Society and the national collections of the APGA. I do believe there is hope. And to avoid the scam artists I think it should be done involving the plant specialty societies. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jane McGary" <janemcgary@earthlink.net> To: "Pacific Bulb Society" <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> Sent: Tuesday, January 14, 2014 10:02:26 PM Subject: Re: [pbs] ENSURING THE FUTURE OF OUR PLANTS Sylvia wrote, >How difficult would it be to talk to fellow gardeners, local college horticulture departments, other researchers, what have you, and set up - well in advance of the need - an agreed upon place for the care of our >pants? It's more likely to be taken seriously by those whose job it is to be the trustee or executor if we've provided precise and clear advance instructions and have set up our plans with the people or institutions >who have agreed to take over our work. I don't know whether I will still have a bulb collection at the relevant time, but my current will specifies that it be given to a particular, younger grower. I think this is safer than bequeathing plants to an institution such as a botanical garden or horticulture department, because as many of us have seen, specialist holdings in institutions can suffer when the institution doesn't have a specialist person in charge of them. Jane McGary Portland, Oregon, USA