2008’s conference didn't disappoint - indeed many said it was one of the best, enriched with papers and raconteur from the many overseas speakers following the International Board tour and meeting which preceded conference.

For the early birds, Wednesdays and Thursday trips to Tiritiri Matangi Island Wildlife Refuge and Rangitoto Island Volcano were a highlight. Our offshore islands are a treasure trove of flora and fauna, and many are just a stone's throw from our cities.

Friday saw presentations on The Poor Knights Islands, new challenges at UK's Kingfisher Nursery, inspiration from northern European naturalist planting design and the intriguing Disa orchids. Following the AGM, it was onto the buses for an afternoon at Landsendt Subtropical Plants, NZ Liners and Franko Roses. Friday was completed with great dinner, music and social times at Markovina Vineyard Estate.

Charles Heuser kicked off on Saturday showing us the wealth of information that's behind the international website - www.ipps.org. Bromeliads for NZ conditions followed, and Ian Duncalf spoke about his new direction with Plant Struck, and Kings Seeds' battle with ERMA provided insight into the HSNO Act. Following papers covered photography, lavender propagation and production, in-vitro breeding techniques and hybrid pines.

Lunch at Muriwai Beach was refreshing and visits to Nga Rakau Nurseries and Oratia Natives were somewhat frustrated by Auckland's traffic woes. Sunday's paper sessions covered plant collecting in Mexico, Mediterranean Firs, Graeme Platt on the evolution of plant reproductive strategy, hot crops from around the world and a workshop on selecting and commercializing new cultivars.

Yes, it was a ripper. Thanks to all who helped organise conference, host overseas visitors and to the sponsors for their generosity - it helped keep the registration fee down and helped with covering costs of food, entertainment, buses, etc.

Some paper reviews in this newsletter, others next time. Plus Pat Heuser’s perspective of the Board’s NZ tour. So read, enjoy and start planning for 2009 - a joint conference with Australia in Hobart.

Congratulations to this year’s Conference 4 Pack members

• Beau Phillips - New Plymouth District Council fernery and display houses.
• Karl Munn - Oderings Nursery, Havelock North.
• Emma Hinkley - Waimea Nurseries, Nelson.
• Amber Twin - Appletons Nursery, Nelson.

2008 Conference Paper Reviews

Landsendt Gardens

Field Trip Report by Hamish Prebble

A family business established by Dick and Ann Marie Endt in 1962 growing edible subtropical fruits like Tamarillo, Banana, Cherimoya and Barbaco for the local market.

From this beginning they established a nursery growing palms and other new exotics Dick collected from his travels through central South America during the 70's through to the late 80's.

These plants were collected then trialled and studied and are now very established, in this world renowned garden.

The family business is now run by their daughter Carolyn and Husband Anthony who have re-modeled the garden more towards a Subtropical hire-venue for weddings and other special occasions.

Northern European naturalistic planting design - a paper by Phillip Smith

Report by Hayden Foulds

Phillip is no fan of the current trend of fewer plants being used in the same situation and instead is influenced by the work of Carlo Scarpa in which he integrated local finishes into progressive design.

In his presentation, Phillip outlined how planting design in Northern Europe has evolved starting with the

well-known plant breeder and nurseryman Karl Foerster who first advocated combining ferns and grasses with perennials in garden design.

Other German and Dutch designers took this further with integrating naturalistic planting with hard landscaping (e.g. paths) and combining plants according to natural landscapes. Research has also been done to see how plants grow and perform and public gardens have played an important role in the development of naturalistic gardens.

He then spoke about how Northern European design can be applied to New Zealand with mention of the pioneering work of our own Terry Hatch, who has worked with both natives and South African plants. New Zealand lacks the large natural grasslands but does have large areas of unmodified natural vegetation which creates awareness of the wide range of plants in our flora. Phillip advocates the use of rare native plants in design, not only for conservation but also their attributes they give to planting.

It is also important to integrate exotics with natives, bearing in mind that there are some exotic species with ‘weed’ potential. There is a place for a middle ground between nature and culture in gardens which creates diversity and interest.

Rangitoto Island

Pre-conference Field Trip Report by Hayden Foulds

On the Thursday before the conference started, around 50 people including many of our international visitors, headed to Rangitoto to explore the youngest and largest of Auckland’s 50 volcanoes. Under the leadership of Malcolm Woolmore, the group set off from the downtown ferry terminal for the ½ hour trip to Rangitoto where on arrival, we were met by Mike Wilcox and other members from the Auckland Botanical Society (Inc). The society has written an excellent botanical history of the island which is available for $40 from the Auckland Botanical Society, PO Box 26391, Epsom 1344 Auckland. Mike explained the history behind the island, its ecology and the plant life before the group was split in two – one lot headed around the shore line while the other group (myself included) headed for the summit with Mike as our guide who pointed out features of the islands’ vegetation along the way.

The forests which are very young are mostly made up of Metrosideros (excelsa and robusta plus hybrids) with a mixture of plants underneath including Griselinia lucida, Astelia banksii and Hebe stricta. Large patches of Kidney fern (Cardiomanes reniforme) were also abundant throughout the bush and it seems to thrive on the island. There were also large patches of lava on the way up which arenot very hospitable to plant life, but as Mike was to show, there are often tiny seedlings growing down in among the cracks and crevasses. Once summer comes, many of these will die due to the dry but every now and then, one will survive and establish itself, eventually supporting a variety of plants around it. What was a gentle climb soon started to get steeper as we got closer to the summit (260m) and the vegetation also changed, still dominated by Metrosideros but there was also a lot of Knightia excelsa, Melicytus ramiflorus and Myrsine australis. Ground and tree ferns were also more evident.

We reached the crater and then it was another short walk to the very top with the most amazing view over to Auckland, the Hauraki Gulf and the Coromandal Peninsula.

We also saw the remains of the military presence on the island during World War 2 when the island was used as a lookout.

After lunch, we descended down and headed back toward the ferry berth, although we did take a detour to see one of the lava caves that are present on Rangitoto, the more adventurous walking through them.

Once back at the base, we were treated to tea and scones in one of the historic baches before setting off to see more of them along the coastline.

These baches originate from the 1920’s and 30’s when there was a thriving population on the island along with facilities such as a tennis court, swimming pool and community hall. A significant number of baches were removed during the 1970’s and 1980s’ but by the 1990’s, there were moves taken to taken to protect the remaining baches as they give a snapshot of New Zealand’s architectural and social past. A trust has been formed to preserve the batches as they are now and to set up a research archive of the bach settlements, visit www.rangitoto.org for more information. We then caught the ferry for the short ride back to Auckland after a very enjoyable day out on Rangitoto, which is well worth a visit if you are ever in the Auckland region.

Evolution of plant reproductive strategies- a paper by Graeme Platt

Report by Philip Dunn

Graeme recognises six stages of forest development.

• Stage 1 - no plants
• Stage 2 - dry seeded grasses and herbs
• Stage 3 - dry-seeded, light-demanding woody colonisers such as kanuka and hebe
• Stage 4 - Primary broadleaves which are semi shade tolerant and include ferns, pittos, Pseudopanax etc.
• Stage 5 - tall, dominant, long-lived softwoods such as kauri, kahikatea and rimu
• Stage 6 - Climax broadleaves - large fruited trees such as karaka, puriri and kohekohe

This same successional sequence occurs in reverse with increasing altitude and latitude.

About 65 million years ago there was a sudden change to a cooler and drier climate. While many scientists believe this was caused by a huge asteroid striking the earth, Graeme believes it came about as the earth's main heat source switched from geothermal to solar. The steaming, foggy mist cleared as direct sunlight hit the earth, the planet became cooler and drier, placental mammals and birds took over from reptiles and the dominant plants became more sun and dry tolerant with generally smaller leaves and dry-seeded fruits.

Hot crops from around the world by Robert Bett ... Review by Julia Coglan
Robert Bett, Lyndale Nurseries' Research and Development Manager, introduced us to the KiwiGold label and reeled off some of the exciting new crops from around the globe which will be making an impact in New Zealand over the next few years.

On the runway were: Aloe paruvela (Madagascar), Calycanthus floridus “Hartlage Wine” and C. “Venus”, a three-way hybrid of Calycantha chinesis, floridus and occidentalis. Our own Griselenia littoralis featured next, specifically G. littoralis “Whenuapai” which has an upright habit and good trimming properties. Another good plant for hedging or screening is Callistemon “Great Balls of Fire”, a non-flowering variety which has predominant pink shoots for colour impact.

Libertia “Goldfinger” and Cordyline “Renegade” were next up, the latter being another three-way hybrid australis, banksii and pumilo, followed by Hellebore “Ivory Prince”, a very slow-growing form that has been three years in tissue culture.

Variegated plants are proving very popular overseas, particularly in America. Robert had chosen Sedum “Elsie's Gold” a perennial form that can be treated as an annual, planted in combination with Chlorophytum.

Robert stressed that these plants had to have a 'really distinctive difference', and used Dianthus “Sparkler Lavendar”, “Purple” and “Cherry”, Bourgainvillea “Pixie Queen” and Leucathoe axillaries “Curly Red” to illustrate this point. There's even going to be a buddleia that's allowed!! B. sallisifolius “Silver Anniversary” has fragrant flowers with a high nectar count and comes with a guarantee not to take over.

The fashion line-up finished with a chocolate cosmos, “Coco Chanel”, Magnolia “Brixton Belle”, and Cercis “Hearts of Gold”.

Robert brought us a whirlwind selection with something for everyone to look forward to in 2009 & 2010.

Introducing novel characteristics using in-vitro breeding techniques by Gary Burge
Garry Burge spoke on some of the techniques available to overcome barriers for interspecific hybridisation and how these have been applied to crops such as Limonium, Sandersonia and Gentian.

Pollination barriers relate to pollen/stigma interactions at pollination.

The cut style technique is one technique available; another is the grated style technique.
Physical differences such as the length of the style may be different between species. Embryo abortion can be overcome by ovary, ovule or embryo culture whereby the embryo is placed on culture that supplies its requirements for future growth and development.

Sterile hybrid plants can be made fertile by doubling the chromosome numbers but the resulting plants can be tetraploid which are difficult to breed with. Incompatibilities include the development of albino plants and hybrid necrosis which cannot be used if severe enough.

Breeders use a range of techniques to confirm whether a plant is a true hybrid so time and effort is not wasted on growing plants of no value. Flow cytometry is one such technique used.

Hybrid Pines - Life on the Edge by Cathy Hargreaves
Cathy Hargreaves spoke on work done to tissue culture hybrid pine trees (Pinus attenuata x Pinus radiata), as such hybrids produce small quantities of seed often with low vigour. This hybrid was successfully cultured using protocols for Pinus radiata and work was underway to initiate root formation.

There is increasing interest in growing hybrid pines for forestry as a response to the fact that they have different features such as tolerating subtropical conditions, can grow at higher altitudes and have different wood characteristics. The hybrid that was tissue cultured shows promise in areas such as drought resistance, cold resistance and damage from snow falls.

Bromeliads for NZ Conditions by Andrew Malloy ... Review by Paul Ward
Andrew put on a captivating slide show and outlined why these plants mean so much to him. He showed us some of his new hybrid crosses - the leaf patterns are amazing.

Andrew talked about his propagation techniques, from collection of seed, to how to sterilize the soil. I don't think my wife would be to pleased to find a dish of soil in the microwave, but an easy no fuss way of sterilization.

There seems to be good potential for cut flowers for domestic and export markets. The varieties that he was growing definitely looked exotic and tropical with a good shelf life. I hope the New Zealand dollar drops and he does well in his exports.

Thanks Andrew for a great slide show and talk. I will look forward to reading your article when it comes out in the black book.

Kings Seeds by Gerard Martin ... Review by Hamish Prebble
On Saturday Gerard Martin from King Seeds gave a talk on importing Mexican sour cucumber seed and the pitfalls of nomeculture and MAF. It was an interesting insight into making a mistake as a company importing seed and falling foul of a bureaucratic institution and how costly it can be. Gerard took full responsibility for his mistake. He also talked on the MAF plant list and the number of plants in New Zealand not on this List. All in all, his talk gave everyone a lot to think about and I heard a lot of debate about his talk over the rest of the conference with some interesting comments from the overseas delegates. So, like in America, MAF is working hard at keeping illegal Mexicans from crossing our borders.

Managing Container Substrates - Dr. Ted Bilderback
Ted is a professor and Nursery Crops Extension Specialist at North Carolina State University. His paper was about basics.

With Ted’s role as a nursery adviser he see lots of innovation and good ideas but he also see nurseries that pay no attention to the basics and suffer accordingly.

Some of his pet subjects are air-filled porosity and planting depth - really basic stuff that can make or break a nursery crop. Ted defines simple practical methods for testing media that any idiot can and should do. Most talk is specific and concerns only a small portion of propagators - a bit of a must-read and do. This concerns all and can make a big difference to our bottom line.
We’ve loaded Ted’s paper to the NZ website - here. You can also see more of the Nursery Crops Extension work at www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/nursery/

Lavender - a new industry for an ancient plant by Clive Larkman
Clive Larkman spoke on the history, cultivation and botany of lavender - one of the oldest cultivated plants in the word. There are around 40 species and 400 cultivars of lavender which originates from the Mediterranean region.

Lavender has many uses from potpourri and perfumery through to cooking and some lesser known uses including disinfectants and medical ointments. There is plenty of research being done on lavender which Clive said was only limited by our imagination.

Clive outlined the main requirements to grow lavender: long day length, high light levels, free draining soil, high calcium levels (helps to protect against fungal diseases), low humidity and moisture in winter.

Interest in lavender farming increased significantly in the 1990's in Australia due to the potential good returns and low water requirements. Clive imported many cultivars from New Zealand as we had two large collections of lavender in the late Peter Carter’s just south of Auckland and Virginia McNaughton's near Christchurch.

A partnership with a university is aiming to develop some polypoid lavender, which is with double the number of chromosomes, which results in larger flowers and more of them per bush. By doubling the chromosomes of Lavender x intermedia, it overcomes the problem of it being sterile and thus hopefully it will set seed and allow for selective breeding to take place.

Disa Orchids - Conference paper from Ken Davy

Report by Amber Twin

Mr Davey now spends his spare time working on the beautiful Disa Orchids.

Mr Davey now retired, worked for the New Plymouth City/District Council, running their Council’s Parks Nursery, then as a Technical Officer in the Fernery at Pukekura Park.

Disa are originally from South Africa and there are over 100 species. Disa Orchids are cool growing orchids, and are hard to kill with over-watering. Flower stems can have one flower and some have been found with ten flower heads. The main Disa flower colours are red, orange and yellow. Growers in New Zealand cannot keep up with the demand around the world. Breeders like Mr Davey are working hard to create new colours and different flower stem shapes and sizes. A new hybrid with a long stem with lots of small flower heads has been formed.

Mr Davey grows his orchids from seed in margarine pots. He sows the seeds in a composted pine bark mix around March. Margarine pots are placed in trays with another tray placed on top - this practice eliminates liverworts and mosses. Seeds germinate in 3 weeks, and in 6-9 months seedlings are pricked out and potted up, and in 2-3 years plants will flower. Mr Davey’s orchids are kept in an unheated fibreglass shade-house and a seaweed liquid fertiliser applied.

A small colony of yellow Disa Orchids has been discovered in South Africa. These have been crossed to produce a pale yellow specked flower.

Thank you, Mr Davey for your very informative speech and thanks to everyone who made it possible for me to attend the Auckland IPPS conference.

Evaluating Mediterranean Firs - Paper from Ricky Bates

Report by Hayden Foulds

Ricky Bates from Pennsylvania State University spoke on the evaluation work being done on fir trees (Abies) which are used as either a landscape plant or Christmas Tree in the United States. However, problems with native species of fir including root rot and sensitivity to hot dry conditions led to trials being done with firs native to the Mediterranean region which perform well under adverse conditions.

While the trialling at Penn State is still underway, observations and results from other trials have shown that several species show potential but need to be matched to suitable markets. Greek fir, Spanish fir and Moroccan fir are suitable for landscaping; Silver fir and Cilician fir as a
replacement for the shade tolerant native Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) which is susceptible to insect damage; and Nordmann fir and Turkish fir for the Christmas tree market.

Ricky concluded his presentation by saying that it is possible European firs have been overlooked because of their poor performing neighbours from across the Atlantic, although he stressed further trialling work needs to be done to fully evaluate the performance of these trees.

Conference 2008 Field Trips

Franko Roses
Field Trip Report by Jonathan Bussell

Roses New Zealand Ltd is a specialist rose breeding company based in New Zealand. It’s family owned, started by Frank and Ko Schuurman, now run by Daniel Schuurman.

We visited the 5 year old home base breeding and testing facilities in Auckland but the company also has facilities in Ecuador and Columbia. New Zealand contributes 5% of the business’s total production. Worldwide production is now focused on developing countries where overheads are much lower.

It takes 8 to 10 years from pollination to a saleable rose.

None of the roses were scented: scent is associated with a short vase life.

3 types of rose are trialled - Hybrid T of which, out of a thousand trialled, about three make it through to the market; spray roses with multiple heads which account for 30% of market in Japan (5% elsewhere in the world) and mutations.

Oratia Native Plants
Field Trip Report by Liza Whalley, photos by Reference Publishing

Saturday afternoon (bordering on evening) took us to the fascinating world of Oratia Native Plant Nursery. Nestled in the Waitakere Ranges of West Auckland, the nursery was an extremely enjoyable end to a rather thorough bus journey that had our group 'tiki-tour' areas of Auckland and enjoy the sights of local rugby on a Saturday afternoon! Getting to the nursery was the real bonus as we were greeted by real kiwi hospitality: home-made muesli slice and orchard apples.

Oratia Native Plant Nursery is a nursery that is keen set on conservation, and this has started with the property itself being revegetated with plants that have been eco-sourced from the area. Having a real family feel about the property, staff and business aspects of the nursery emphasised the full effect of the nursery as a project to help in the area of NZ Natives. Having the vast collection of endangered and special plant species they are involved in onsite was a real privilege to see, especially as the people behind them are obviously involved in the propagation for research and preservation.

Although slightly biased as a Native admire-ee myself, I found the nursery visit to be one of the most enjoyable of the conference. The people behind the plants really embrace the 'seek and share' theme within the industry they are involved in, and it’s awesome to have the opportunity to be a part of sharing the same vision.

Personally, the highlight of the visit was the genuine passion and wealth of knowledge that Jeff McCauley (Young Jeff) has for conservation, and especially in his keenness to share it with other people.

As we walked through the native collection planting, it was a real humble pride in achievement that struck the group, and the work that had been put into developing the area off pure enthusiasm and dedication was well received - and not just to native enthusiasts like myself!

NZ Liners
Field Trip Report by Paul Michael

Good visit was had by all @ NZ Liners. This older style nursery has its main focus on exporting plants to overseas markets. The main line being phormium but moving into other lines as well. Things like: Cordyline, Astelia, Ferns and Wisterias were some of the other lines they do.

Looking across the vast area of outdoor production someone mentioned “ where have all the green plants gone”, this being a comment on the many coloured varities & forms of plants being grown. Multi-coloured phormiums & coloured psuedopanax seemed to be the flavour of the day.

The staff were on hand & gave informative information about the running of the nursery, Due to the strict conditions applied, the owner Paul explained a bit about the processes that needed to be adhered to for export - a big manual was waved about that encompassed the regulations that they followed.

Packing out shed & boxing up was a well rehearsed operation. Interesting tube system was used in conjunction with the way they packed the boxes, giving a well-packed container where very little space was wasted.

A very good quality catalogue was on hand & one could see the important part it played as a marketing tool in this well organized & run operation.

IPPS International Board Tour - New Zealand - May 2008

An international perspective

Aotearoa, “The Long White Cloud” is the name given to New Zealand by the Maori people who first settled on these islands. At many places in this country, you feel you're in the clouds because of the magnificent volcanic mountain landscape. We were in good hands all the way with our tour hosts Grant Hayman and Ray Lawson, who also serve as the International Director and Alternate Director, respectively. We also had the benefit of planning assistance from Grant's wife, Robynne Hayman. Robynne is also a trained nurse, and was well-prepared to help with all the minor medical challenges -- she did a great job relieving the cold symptoms that traveled around the bus! We all appreciate how much work and planning goes into these tours, from the hosts to all the IPPS members who help out with various tasks ahead of, during, and after the tour - thanks to all of you!

An extra special advantage we had traveling with IPPS President Terry Hatch was his running commentary about the native plants and exotics that grow profusely in New Zealand. Having Terry's knowledge and willingness to share so much information with the group added a wonderful dimension to the visual input.

The tour started in Queenstown on the South Island, a major center for outdoor adventurers, used most often in the winter ski season. To help the northern hemisphere visitors become acclimated to the fact that this was the start of fall in New Zealand, with cool days and colder nights, everyone in the tour group received a weather resistant jacked (complete with the IPPS symbol on the backs making it easy for us to find one another in a crowd!), a warm ski cap, a brimmed cap for those bright, sunny days, and a bagful of goodies from local supporters.
Our first night started on top of the mountain above the town with a skyline gondola trip and dinner among the stars. This was a good impression for many exciting adventures to come.
While in Queenstown, a cruise on the historic steam-powered TSS Earnslaw gave us a fantastic view of Lake Wakatipu and the surrounding scenery. Then an adrenaline rush was in store as the group took the Shotover Jet ride - a fast and thrilling trip amid the rock walls and boulders of the Shotover River.

New Zealand's South Island has a number of fiords and the Doubtful Sound Wilderness Cruise gave us a look at the unique scenery, plants, and a group of bottle-nosed dolphins welcomed us, too.

Another unique treat in the South Island was offered with a trip to the Franz Josef Glacier for an overnight stay at a hotel next to this still receding remnant of the Ice Age. On the way, the group visited a unique “lifestyle nursery” owned by Jamie Urquart producing a surprisingly large collection of specimen plants. After a drive through the scenic west coast of the South Island, with small towns whose existence came from gold mining, the group visited a local brewery in Greymouth that people in other countries are just recognizing for its quality beer varieties - Monteiths! Our tour guides to help us appreciate the beauty and history of this rugged area of the country were Mark Brown (Brownie) and Steve Newall (Jandals) and their commentary added tremendously to our enjoyment.

One of the best ways to comfortably appreciate the changing landscape on the South Island is to take the TranzAlpine train from Greymouth to Christchurch and the group enjoyed this four-hour experience. Near Christchurch, while the International Board met informally, others on the tour visited the Fern Factor, owned and operated by Paul Micheal, a uniquely specialized nursery, as well as Murray Mannall's Southern Woods Nursery with production and retail operations aimed mainly at the rural, lifestyle market.

One of the awesome stops of the entire tour was a visit to Ken and Bev Loader's Gethsemane Gardens, complete with a full size Noah's Ark used for weddings and other affairs. The Biblical influence of the gardens and the unaffected faith and horticultural knowledge of the owners was amazing to see the words of the Lord's Prayer spelled out on the grounds in Buxus was a sight probably not replicated anywhere else in the world.

Christchurch is home to a large, well-designed and well-maintained Botanic Garden, living up to its reputation as the “Garden City of New Zealand,” and we could have easily spent most of a day on these grounds. But our treat for the day was from New Zealand Alternate Director Ray Lawson who treated the group to a visit to one of the retail centers for which he oversees production for Oderings Nursery with a barbeque and a delightfully social evening.

Leaving Christchurch, the excitement continued with a visit to Jeff Elliot's wholesale nursery, with lots of ideas generated from his innovative approaches to plant production. Then up the coast to Kaikoura and a whale-watching escapade that left some of our tour group a little green around the gills! But how amazing to see these marvelous creatures at close range and protected along with sea lions habituating the rocks along the shoreline. Dinner that evening at Montana's winery in the Brancott Vineyards was exquisite.

Traveling from the South to the North Island is no small feat no bridge connects the two, so planes and boats are the primary transportation. IPPS joined many passengers on the Bluebridge Ferry to Wellington, capital of the country, on the North Island. A visit to Te Papa, the museum that preserves the Maori culture, helped visitors understand how this country was settled and modified from its pristine state after volcanoes formed the islands.

Wellington's Botanical Gardens covers a hillside high above the city, and the cable car ride to the top was almost as exhilarating as the wide variety of plants in the garden itself. Then the group followed the Wellington Harbour shoreline toward the Tasman Sea, staying two nights beside the sea at Raumati.

Our local hosts for this segment of the tour, Gus and Glenys Evans, hosted the non-Board group for a visit to the Lindale Tourist Complex while the Board held a morning meeting. Then everyone enjoyed a visit to see an outstanding collection of vintage automobiles and other forms of transportation at the Southward Car Museum.

A visit to Gus Evans Nursery showed the group what a small but comprehensive nursery can effectively produce, and Geoff Jewell provided an excellent overview of his nursery with diverse plants, but a specialization in Proteaceae plants. His wife's exceptional floral wholesale business, providing these dramatic cut flowers to the florist market, was an added feature.

As the group left the Kapiti Coast, a stop at Manakau Village Nursery with hosts Geoff and Sue Stent gave the tour group a chance to see a nursery specializing in liners for wholesale nurseries. Then on to Starter Plants in Palmerston North, where Eddie and Jan Welsh showcased their open ground nursery and fed the group a fabulous lunch prepared by Eddie and Jan and their superb staff. That day ended in a chateau near the volcanic mountains of Tongariro National Park.
In the National Park, Philip Smith, a former ranger with the Department of Conservation, took the more adventuresome of the group on an alpine walk, and then to his nursery, Taupo Native Plant Nursery, Ltd., a wholesale/retail nursery specializing in large projects involving mass native plantings.

Unique to New Zealand is the thermal village in the Rotorua area, where hot bubbling mud pools and geysers are everyday occurrences. The group's time there allowed immersion into the Maori culture with a welcome ceremony, evening meal and indigenous entertainment in a recreated Maori village - a fantastic look at this unusual culture that forms the basis for many of the country's native customs yet today.

Leaving Rotorua, the tour group headed for the final destination and conference location, Auckland. On the way, our tour guide Dave Ogilvy took us through an area renowned for the black tree fern. Peter and Carol Fraser showed the group their Growing Spectrum Nursery, not only a well-organized and productive nursery but also the site for an outstanding training course for young nursery professionals. We also visited Bruntwood Nurseries, owned by Dave and Shirley Ogilvy, and well known for its production of Phormium cultivars, shipped around the world.
Our last tour stop was especially rewarding as International President Terry Hatch, his wife Pam, and son Lindsey showcased their fascinating nursery and plant collections at Joy Plants. Clivia are a specialty item for Terry, and it was clear to everyone that Terry represents one of the real horticultural gurus of our time. Dinner that evening at the nursery, organized by the Hatch family and staff, was an appropriate prelude to our last night on the bus for the final ride to Auckland.
While the International Board held its final meeting the following day, others in the group joined conference attendees for a pre-tour of the Tiritiri Matangi Nature Reserve.

The tour's finale was an outstanding dinner high above the city of Auckland in the Sky City Orbit Restaurant.

In addition to the people and nurseries mentioned, above the tour planners also expressed thanks to these folks for their contributions to a successful event: Kemp & Young House of Travel - Sarah Owens, Scotts Professional Solutions - Nicola Rochester, Oderings Nurseries Ltd, the Odering’s family, DB Breweries - Adam Wilson, Waimea Nurseries Ltd - John Penny, Interworld Plastics Ltd - Ben Holden, Headford Propagators Ltd. the entire team that supported Grant and Robynne Hayman in their planning and leadership roles.

Once again, everyone involved in IPPS was reminded of the camaraderie, the shared knowledge, the respect and appreciation for different cultures, and the friendships over many years that have become a hallmark of this organization.

Patricia E. Heuser
International Secretary-Treasurer

Snippets from meetings held during the Conference in Auckland

• New members accepted: Nigel Odering, Marjo Gisberts, Graeme Humphries, Graham Saltiel, Kenneth Telford, John Thirkettle, Chris Lu, Greg Tod, Jackie Williams, Chris Hannan.
• With Chris Barnaby resigning, after many years of very much appreciated work getting papers ready to be published and sending them on to the USA, we welcomed Jill Reader onto the Committee to fill his shoes.
• The pre-Conference tour with Grant Hayman wearing the “Leaders” hat was a fantastic success. All the overseas participants had heaps of NZ scenery and experiences, beginning with an earthquake in Queenstown, Doubtful Sound, Trans Alpine Train, whale watching, Picton ferry crossing, Mt Ruapehu at sunset with not a cloud in the sky and mulled wine drink as they took in the majestic view. How lucky were they all to have the best run of weather you could hope for as well? Read a full report of the tour by IPPS International Secretary/Treasurer Pat Heuser next newsletter.
• Our nomination for Eddie Welsh to be the first NZ person to receive the International Award of Honour for his services to IPPS was accepted.
• The “At Large” region is now up and running with 2 members. This is for people who wish to join, but their country is not part of any existing region.
• With the use of “Blog” sites on the internet becoming popular, NZ is on the lookout for a volunteer to get one running on our site.
• All in all the On-Line Registrations worked well, the teething problems were fixed by Shirley and after evaluating the work Shirley did, it is felt we may be able to handle this operation ourselves without involving outside people.
• Next year’s Conference is in Hobart combined with Australia. Details will be circulated as soon as they are to hand. Dates are 14th – 17th May 2009.
• Future conferences have been set down for:
  • 2010 – Blenheim 27th – 29th May
  • 2011 – Napier 5th – 8th May
  • 2012 – Westport
  • 2013 – Taupo
  • 2014 – Wellington (Combined conference with Australia)
• Field days are being organised for the coming year to Manakau (South Auckland 22 Nov ‘08), D Úrville Island (6/7 Mar ‘09), Rakaia, and Tongariro Crossing
• Moving ahead with the formation of a “Fellowship” category.
• New members elected onto committee were Hayden Foulds, Jeff Elliott, Lana Hope.

IPPS Conference Survey results

At this year’s conference in Auckland, attendees were asked to complete a survey to gather their thoughts on various aspects of IPPS. A total of 131 out of 220 attendees took part in the survey which was made up of 92 members, 35 non members, 1 prospective member and 3 who did not indicate. The following is a summary of the results.

• What conference topics would you like to hear?
  A range of answers here, mostly around plants and propagation techniques. Much mention was made of practical topics and native plants, with interest also in new plants and IPM among other topics.
• Speaker suggestions
  A number of names or someone representing a particular group e.g. young horticulturists or DOC were suggested.
• What do IPPS do well at conference?
  A range of answers were given mostly around the themes of networking/social events, food, organisation, speakers and field trips.
• What can we improve?
  Only a few comments here in a range of areas, nothing too serious but some food for thought.
• Registration problems
  67 said no, 9 said yes, 4 did not use it. Some problems with credit cards, ease of use and sorting out problems, otherwise ok.
• Are you happy with the number of field trips?
  85 same number, 10 more, 6 less.
• Where to go for Field trips
  A wide range of suggestions were given here so plenty of ideas for the executive to follow up on.
• Places least likely to go for field trips
  Again, a wide variety of answers here but no general pattern which goes to show that what might appeal to one will not appeal to another.
• Are you willing to organise field trips?
  67 yes, 35 no
• Would you like to see practical propagation demonstrations?
  106 yes, 4 no.
• Are you happy with newsletters?
  99 yes, 4 no.
• Are you happy with the website?
  102 yes, 1 no
• Are you willing to speak at conference?
  34 yes, 71 no, 2 not sure
• Are you able to demonstrate some of your practical propagation skills?
  36 yes, 62 no, 2 not sure
• Any other suggestions?
  Range of comments made on various topics ranging from field trips, encouraging members, meetings and conferences.

In summary, those surveyed were very positive about IPPS and their experiences with our organisation; however there is always room for improvement. It was great to see so many people putting their names forward to organise field trips, speak at conference or demonstrate some of your practical propagation skills.