Gearing up for the 2014 ARHS Seed Exchange

It has been awhile since we have had a new Blog entry, so perhaps we can start 2014 with some information related to the upcoming ARHS Seed Exchange.
Preparing the Exchange information takes a part of winter's boredom away.
Some months ago I prepared a little over view into the activities associated with the Seed Exchange. The PDF version is available, called "Glimpses Into Your Seed Exchange".
The 2014 edition has been sent to ARHS members. Until February 10, 2014, the exchange is only open to members, but after that everyone may avail themselves. The online version is on our website. 
This little collage has some excerpts from a few seed lots. I have added many image links to the current list, but have not intended to have a link for every entry. We have to leave a little homework for the masses!

This list will ultimately get updated when certain seed lots become unavailable.
We have ended up with quite a sizable list this year with 178 entries. Magnolia fans should be happy with the sixteen different types.
We seem to have a bit of a bias for Magnolia seed and have been treating it quite carefully each year. All the seeds have been carefully cleaned and packed in moist moss to be stored in the fridge. This helps ensure that when the seed is planted in the spring that germination will be okay. Germination seems dependent upon many things, some of which we have no control over.
Some years there will be almost 100% germination, other times germination will be poor. Our only speculation is that some seed has been collected at a more judicious time wrt maturity.
We are hoping that lots of these get to good homes, so that Bill will not be tempted to plant all the leftovers and end up with MANY more little trees than we really need. This is one of the many seedlings grown last year, about July 4th

Last year we had close to one hundred little plants which needed to be dealt with at season's end. Bill heeled them into a spot below the garlic patch, so hopefully most will survive the winter

Magnolias are quite satisfying plants to grow and increase in size and vigor quickly. This is one which was in its second year.

Granted it does take some patience to wait the few years until a seedling magnolia flowers, but in the end seems worth it. This is a bloom from a plant grown from Magnolia "Spring Snow' OP. 

I can't recall how may years before it bloomed, but it is quite lovely and gets better each year.
Almost all the magnolias we have are seed grown. 'Butterflies' is the only exception.
There are still a few tasks to do to get all the seed lots ready for dispensing. The latest seems to be getting the data base complete so labels can be prepared. Every year we have new items which may require a bit of research for germination info. This example is typical. It has been a few years since Japanese Maple seeds were contributed. Just another example of a tree which is quite easy to grow from seed.

I fully expect the first seed orders to be in our mail in a few days. Some growers are very swift.

Rhododendron Seedlings That Grew Up

I have spent a bit of time perusing pictures to pick out some candidates for prints over the last day or two. We don't get many done, perhaps a couple of hundred a year. It is still rather pleasant to have a "hard" copy of an image. We usually wait until there is a special offer at a retail printer rather than doing any "at home" printing.
There are inevitably some rhododendron pictures chosen. In today's list there were some seed grown plants that range in age from 10-16 years. A lot of our seedlings have also lost their original labels, so a bit of guesswork is sometimes in order.
The season of 2010 was quite a good one, bloom-wise. There were probably some plants blooming we had rarely noticed before.
One was a very nice plant from 1994. Judging from the seed order records, it should be the smirnowii cross on the label, but we can't be 100% sure. 

There are a couple of plants from 1995 seedlings that are quite interesting. We have two of this candy striped plant. We sent some cuttings off a few years ago and received one plant via the ARHS Member Sale. We haven't attached any name, so just call it the "899 double calyx". It is such a complex cross that it is difficult to speculate what characteristics came from where. It is possible that yellow was the aim, but that doesn't always happen!

I rather enjoy the doubling effect found in many plants. The same effect is seen in this plant from 2001. I believe we finally got around to moving this one last summer. It will need a season or two to recover from the crowding it experienced in the nursery bed.

Another example of this doubling is found in some of the plants of (Always Admired x Barbara Cook) from 1996. These were in a very poor situation until a couple of years ago, when we moved them. They have started to resemble a much nicer plant. We hope they didn't get too flattened by this winter's snow load.

Some of our favourite plants are seedlings with R. pachysanthum as the pollen parent. A seed lot from ARS 1995 gave quite a number of hardy plants, which bloom most years. They are 'Calsap' x R. pachysanthum and most have some version of the distinctive blotch characteristic of 'Calsap'. They are relatively compact plants and most have a lovely cinnamon coloured tomentum on the new growth.

Another group of R. pachysanthum hybrids are growing beautifully in our Oak bed. This picture shows their colourful  new growth. 

The nicest of these we have dubbed "Blue Heaven" in response to the lovely silvery blue tomentum. 

Another plant which literally rose up and looked us in the eye was this tall plant with quite nice yellow flowers from 1999. It also got moved in 2010. 

Keeping track of the progress of all the seedlings Bill has grown is a job we actually do quite poorly! We have attempted a bit better stab at recording all the bloom, but never quite make it.
This plant grew from seed donated by Bruce Clyburn from here in Nova Scotia has quite good red colour. 

A tremendous number of seedlings grown here seem to have rhododendron 'Janet Blair' as the seed parent. She is a very good mother, it seems! One example I came across today was from 1996 seed. Not especially outstanding, but the plant has performed consistently over a number of years. 

This little look into seedlings "grown up" will end here, but could go on seemingly indefinitely.

We've Gone To Seed

In the midst of this pre-winter cold, windy blast, we are busy getting our annual seed lists in some sort of order.

The list for the 2010 Atlantic Rhododendron and Horticultural Society Seed Exchange needs to be submitted for publication in a day or two. I do hope there are no seed contributions that will necessitate a redo. The Order Form and little introduction "blurb" are ready to go. I always hope that after they leave the premises I don't discover too many grievous errors.

The online version will get done in the New Year. It doesn't get posted until after the members get the published copy in the winter Newsletter.

 

Our "Saved Seeds" list from here at home has been pretty well updated and is now posted on our website. Enquiries for these will likely not be in the forefront until after Christmas.