Coastal Research and Extension Center Department Meeting May 25, 2012

CREC Department meeting May 25 2012

International Plant Propagators’ Society Southern Region North America Annual Meeting 2011-South Georgia and North Florida (October 26, 2011)

Today features several propagation talks. We have several budding and grafting talks at this meeting. Sometimes its hard to find someone to share their knowledge it those areas.  We also hold our annual business meeting.  Although I didn’t have an early morning meeting, I do have to stay for the post-meeting Executive Committee meeting.  This is sort of a wrap-up to plan for next year and look for ways to improve.  We will finish early afternoon, and I’ll head back to Mississippi. No pictures today.

International Plant Propagators’ Society Southern Region North America Annual Meeting 2011-South Georgia and North Florida (October 25, 2011)

Today began with a meeting of the Fellows of the group at 6 a.m. This morning I had the pleasure of walking across to the convention center (in the dark) with Mrs. Margie Jenkins.  The Fellows have a dutch treat breakfast to discuss anything relevant to the group. 

The buses left promptly at 7:45 for more nursery tours. 

Our first stop was Monrovia Nurseries in Cairo, GA.  This nursery was known as Wight’s Nursery for many years.  They have long been known for their innovations and water management.  We saw a boom used to apply herbicides, numerous examples of great plant material, and their water retention system.  They can handle all of their runoff and rainfall from most rain events.  They have a developed wetland that is inhabited by all kinds of birds and wildlife which demonstrates the health of the system.  We also saw several mechanized pruning systems.  One allows the employee to place a plant on a conveyor belt which runs it through pruning blades and returns the pruned plant via a conveyor on the other side of the machine.  Another looks like several lawn mowers attached to a larger frame.

Link to Monrovia Nursery pictures-

https://picasaweb.google.com/108601696345440382999/Monrovia?authkey=Gv1sRgCPmL1qywjsrUhQE#

Our second stop was Hackney Nurseries.  This company has several different farms.  We watched a robot space plants.  The robot works off of sensors which “see” a yellow strip of tape at the edge of the bed.  This robot is an alpha model made by the people that made the
Roomba vacuum robot.  It’s projected to sell for about $25,000.  Several of their ponds feature alligators, but they didn’t cooperate for pictures.

Link to Hackney Nurseries pictures-

https://picasaweb.google.com/108601696345440382999/HackneyNursery?authkey=Gv1sRgCMTp5f71oLyqEg#

Our next stop was Clinton Nursery.  Since our bus had both electrical outlets and wifi, I decided to use the travel time to start uploading photos to Picasa.  Unfortunately, when I got off the bus, I left the memory card for the camera with my laptop.  I brought the camera, but couldn’t take any photos. This nursery is based in the northeast, but a lot of the production is in Florida.  The palletized material is shipped north.  Because of MSU’s effort in nursery mechanization, Clinton Nurseries uses Green Elfs.  These are automated fertilizer applicators that help reduce repetitive tasks for workers.  Clinton adapted an automatic deer feeder to use as loaders for the Elfs. 

We rode trailers from Clinton Nurseries to May Nursery which is why I also have no photos from there.  May Nursery is a large family owned operation.  They began as shade tobacco producers, and you can still see the old tobacco barns. May Nursery has a wide range of plant material.  They grow very nice hydrangeas.

Our final stop was Tallahassee Nurseries.  This is a large garden center just off of I-10.  I’ve stopped here several times.  They are known for very elaborate plant displays.  Their nursery is more like a visit to a botanical garden than a retail outlet.  The shopping area has annuals, perennials, house plants, aquatic plants, trees, shrubs, ornaments, pots, sculptures, and about anything in between.  They have numerous chairs and benches scattered throughout the  nursery.  They seem to encourage people to come look and relax. 

Link to Tallahassee Nurseries pictures-

https://picasaweb.google.com/108601696345440382999/TallahasseeNurseries?authkey=Gv1sRgCKv6q6H_uZn44QE#

We finished with a seafood dinner at Tallahassee Nurseries complete with ice cream.  As always, Tuesday nights at this meeting end with a question box.  All week, members put questions in the box.  Nothing is off limits.  The questions are read aloud and anyone with any knowledge of the answer can respond.  Many people think this is the highlight of the meeting.  It’s been known to be heated in the past. 

I left with an olive tree (the kind that bears olives), a Korean mum, and a couple of Christmas ornaments.  Olives are being commercially grown in south Georgia and northern Florida.  If it doesn’t fruit, it still has nice foliage.  The Korean mum is a passalong type plant.  It has purple flowers.  It gets about waist high.  The Christmas ornaments are a glass potting shed (Hallmark also has one of these this year) and a glass acorn. 

We got back to Valdosta about 9:30.

International Plant Propagators’ Society Southern Region North America Annual Meeting 2011-South Georgia and North Florida (October 24, 2011)

Today started with a long-range site committee meeting at 6 a.m.  I walked across to the conference center in the dark again.  I don’t sit on this committee anymore, but I have a vested interest since SRNA will host the International Board in 2015. 

Today featured a full slate of talks from nursery professional and university faculty.  The program chair, Bob Black, did a very good job of grouping talks into category such as water quality and new plants.  The student competition was in the morning.  IPPS-SRNA has always supported student participation.  They select two students to orally present their research.  First place is $1,000 and second is $500.  It’s a great chance for student to interact with industry.  Our MSU graduate student, Diana Cochran, presented a poster.  We selected Hugh Gramling as a new Fellow.  Hugh was my successor as President and did a fantastic job.  We also named our 2011 Meadows Award winner.  This award recognizes a member who best typifies the “seek and share” mission of our group.  Mrs. Margie Jenkins, a superior plantsperson from Amite, LA, was this year’s winner. 

The lectures ended with noted author Michael Dirr sharing some of his plant knowledge with the group.  The night ended with a banquet and plant auction.  I entered bids on several silent auction plants, but didn’t win anything.

Sorry, no photos today.

International Plant Propagators’ Society Southern Region North America Annual Meeting 2011-South Georgia and North Florida (October 23, 2011)

Today started with a pre-meeting Executive Committee meeting at 6 a.m. Eastern.  That’s 5 a.m. my time.  I walked to the conference center in the dark.  We watched the sun come up well after the meeting started. 

I elected the Florida tour option and we left at 7:30 a.m.  We started with a tour of Tobe Botanical Garden.  The temperatures were rather cool, but the garden is a very tranquil place with a magnolia collection and interesting sculpture.  I don’t think this part of the state has had enough rain for much fall color. 

Link to Tobe Botanical Garden pictures-

https://picasaweb.google.com/108601696345440382999/TobeGarden?authkey=Gv1sRgCNCnjsG_uYnK0QE#

Our second stop was Superior Trees.  This nursery is well-known and respected for their quality.  Before we started the tour, several of us photographed a beetle carrying an acorn. Upon further inspection, we decided the beetle had somehow managed to wedge the acorn into its antlers and was not trying to carry it.  It just didn’t have a choice.  The beetle, being front heavy, kept toppling over and flipping onto its back.  After looking at field plots, we took a look at the really interesting equipment Superior uses.  Machinery ranged from cutting blades to go under the field beds to seeders that can adjust to the speed of the tractor and alter their drop rates.  On the other end of the spectrum was a seed macerator with a wooden strip secured with a C-clamp.  The strip provides a place for the seeds to rub and thus lose their fleshy outer coat.  Superior spends a lot of time on inventory and knows how many plants are in a linear bed.  Rather than having employees count seedlings, they dig a certain distance of the bed. 

Link to Superior Trees pictures-

https://picasaweb.google.com/108601696345440382999/SuperiorTrees?authkey=Gv1sRgCJTbo5vQtZ2XlAE#

Our third stop, and lunch, was Simpson Nursery.  Lunch was BBQ chicken, a rice and mushroom dish, cornbread, and dessert.  Simpson Nursery is over 100 years old.  The nursery is expansive and employees use a radio/cell tower as a navigation point.  The nursery has a very diverse product mix.  They have always grown pecans.  They do their own budding and grafting.  With the downturn in the economy and renewed interest in home gardening, they have expanded their fruit offerings.  They have Oriental persimmons and some very nice looking blueberries. Employees seemed to really like their jobs, and eight years was the least amount of time any of our guides had worked there. 

Link to Simpson Nursery pictures-

https://picasaweb.google.com/108601696345440382999/SimpsonNursery?authkey=Gv1sRgCNqM5PaVtPqRFA#

Our final stop was Pebble Hill Plantation.  We started with a horse-drawn buggy ride around through the grounds and to the main residence.  King and Earl were the two eight-year-old Percherons that pulled us.  Most of the original house burned.  It was rebuilt in the 1930’s.  Photos weren’t allowed inside, but it was a true mansion.  The oldest part of the house that didn’t burn featured a long hallway with windows down on side with rooms opening off to the side.  The main living room was massive.  This part of the house didn’t burn because water was taken from the adjacent swimming pool to fight the fire.  It features 16 bedrooms to accommodate the many guests that visited.  There was second house on the grounds to accommodate the overflow.  The plantation was a town onto itself with a store, an infirmary with its own nurse, stables, a dairy, and a two-story wash house for laundry. The family cemetery had graves dating back to the early 1700’s.  We had dinner on the grounds.

Link to Pebble Hill Plantation pictures-

https://picasaweb.google.com/108601696345440382999/PebbleHillPlantation?authkey=Gv1sRgCN2qmfX3qejC8wE#

After dinner, we headed back to Valdosta.  It was a long day, but the horticulture was impressive.

International Plant Propagators’ Society Southern Region North America Annual Meeting 2011-South Georgia and North Florida (October 22, 2011)

I had hoped to add the information from the American Society for Horticultural Science meeting in Waikoloa, Hawai’i before I added anything else, but if I wait, I’ll be behind on this, too.

The 2011 International Plant Propagators’ Society Southern Region North America meeting is hosted in Valdosta, GA. Nursery tours will cover both south Georgia and north Florida around the Tallahassee area.

I got to Valdosta about 4 p.m. It’s only the third time in my career that the hotel has not had a record of my reservation.  Fortunately, the Hampton Inn in Valdosta was very accommodating and gave me a very nice room at the conference rate. 

After check-in I walked over to the Rainwater Conference Center, picked up my registration, and checked out the plants coming in for the auction.

The Cheddars restaurant in Valdosta is a short walk from the hotel.  The food was good and very reasonable.

Australian IPPS Tour Day 8 (or Day 10 across the International Dateline)

I’m trying to upload a few last small photo files this morning before I check out and head to the airport.  It will take a couple of days to finish the uploads, I think.  I still haven’t put the Sydney Harbour tour on the computer to upload.  Sydney Harbour is also Botany Bay from Captain Cook’s visit.  Darling Harbour is a small offshoot.  We left from Wharf 9 in Darling Bay last night.

At the Sydney Airport.  Theirs works a little different.  There are lines of check-in points.  They rotate between airlines and flights.  You check your flight number to see which line you go to.  I have one more photo set to finish uploading then I am going to get in line to check my bag and go through security.

It’s been a great trip.  The Aussie’s are fine people, and it’s a place I’d love to visit again.

Made it to San Francisco.  The flight arrived almost an hour early, but it was a long, turbulent flight.  The fasten seat belts sign was on for probably half the flight.  Cleared customs and rechecked baggage.  Now waiting for 4:17 flight back to New Orleans.