Shirley:

I'm glad you posted a note about the Center for Plant Conservation (CPC).
Although their mission is good, I have found them to be one of the most
elitist organizations that I've ever encountered. They seem more
interested in patting each other on the back than actually accomplishing
anything. In talking with them, they seem to have no interest in
commercial nurseries or private collectors, since in their eyes, we are
the great "unwashed". We don't understand the "problems" inherent with
growing endangered plants...all rare plants must remain exactly where they
are today, unless academic bureaucrats decide its okay to relocate them.
They dismiss all nurseries and horticulture in general because we are evil
commercial ventures only wanting to exploit plants.

As I've tried to explain to several members, the nursery industry would be
the perfect partner, not only in being able to actually grow the plants,
but we could do wonders with ex-situ conservation by spreading the plants
around widely to collectors in this changing climate. We would have many
more Federally Endangered plants in our catalog if it were not for this
bunch of bureaucrats...along with those from the US Fish and Wildlife. Do
you know that to legally grow and sell Federal Endangered plants, you must
prove that by doing so, you will help the wild populations. Common sense
would say that as long as you aren't harming the wild population, this
should be adequate. The CPC absolutely do not want endangered plants in
private hands since the idea that they might wind up in a new location
gives them fits...think Linda Blair from the Exorcist. Evidently, I
missed the memo where someone put them in charge of keeping nature in
exactly the same place as it is today....quite
bizarre. In my logical world, a functional CPC would be passing out
propagation material of endangered plants to nurseries and encouraging
them to get it propagated and sold.

Until we can get folks with more common sense, I don't hold much hope for
the group actually accomplishing anything meaningful. How about it
Shirley...are you up to the task?

Tony Avent
Plant Delights Nursery @
Juniper Level Botanic Garden
9241 Sauls Road
Raleigh, North Carolina 27603 USA
Minimum Winter Temps 0-5 F
Maximum Summer Temps 95-105F
USDA Hardiness Zone 7b
email tony@plantdelights.com
website http://www.plantdelights.com/
phone 919 772-4794
fax 919 772-4752
"I consider every plant hardy until I have killed it myself...at least
three times" - Avent

-----Original Message-----
From: pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org]
On Behalf Of meneice@att.net
Sent: Monday, September 05, 2011 11:59 PM
To: 'Pacific Bulb Society'
Subject: Re: [pbs] Saving Endangered Plants

Are many of you in the U.S. aware of the Center for Plant Conservation,
headquartered at the Missouri Botanic Garden in St. Louis?

Their mission is to conserve and restore the imperiled native plants of
our country. It is a consortium of Botanic Gardens and Arboreta across
the country, including New York BG, Arnold Arboretum. Fairchild, Univ. of
Washington, Desert Botanical Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden, Brooklyn
Botanic Garden, Historic Bok Sanctuary, Flagstaff, AZ; Red Butte, Santa
Barbara, Morton Arboretum, Arizona-Sonora Desert, Cinncinnati Zoo and BG,
Chicago Bot. Garden, New England Wildflower, Denver Bot. Garden, North
Carolina BG, Waimea Valley BG. New York BG, Rancho Santa Ana BG, State
Botanical Garden of Georgia, Chicago BG, National Tropical BG, Holden
Arboretum,, Minnesota, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Cornell
Plantation and Honolulu BG.

For more information, please contact Kathryn Kennedy@mobot.org.

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