ENSURING THE FUTURE OF OUR PLANTS
Jane McGary (Wed, 15 Jan 2014 16:06:38 PST)
Robert Pries wrote
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.
The aforementioned person also contacted me, but I found him so
annoying that I turned him away.
I'm sure our British members will have things to say about the
National Collections program. I've heard a lot about it and also have
a book on it. I know that some of the British National Collections
are wonderful, well-curated resources, but I've also encountered
people who had, or wanted to have, a National Collection but seemed
not to know enough about what they were collecting. Such a program is
vulnerable to various kinds of conflict.
On the other hand, the idea of a database of private collections has
been discussed previously on this forum. I wouldn't mind contributing
my data to a project like that.
Jane McGary
Portland, Oregon, USA