The Southeastern Horticultural Society, based in Atlanta GA and responsible for staging the Southeastern Flower Show there, has presented the 2010 Robert McGee Balentine Horticulture Award to Alan Shapiro, owner of Grandiflora. This award, established in the memory of Robert McGee Balentine, a founding trustee of the Southeastern Flower Show, is presented annually to the individual that the Awards Committee feels has made a significant contribution to the field of horticulture in the southeastern United States.  

Previous winners have included Tony Avent, Don Shadow, Dr. Alan Armitage, Dr. Michael Dirr, JC Raulston, Dick Bir and Ozzie Johnston.  

The award was made on February 3, 2010, in the Cobb Galleria Centre at the opening night reception, a gala black tie affair that offered sponsors and eager attendees a sneak peak of the Flower Show.

For more information on the Southeastern Horticulture Society or its annual Southeastern Flower Show, you may visit: http://www.sehort.org/flower_show

The International Plant Producers Society Annual Meeting is the single most important educational event that a grower can attend.

Note the new name. We are no longer the International Plant Propagators. This decision was made by the International Board of Directors after discovering that only 25% of papers presented each year related to propagation. The other 75% included talks on every other conceivable grower concern – soil mixes, pest and disease eradication, new chemicals, trademarks and patenting, labor issues, plant introductions, mechanization, and so on.

This year’s IPPS Southern Region Symposium took place October 23-28 in Biloxi MS at the Imperial Palace Hotel and Casino, so between tours, seminars, and networking, participants could sneak away to gamble, visit the spa or watch football games in the lounge. I managed to see the Gators squeak by Mississippi State and also lost a few bucks at the Blackjack table.

Margie Jenkins on tour

We visited some amazing nurseries in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana in three seperate days of bus tours. Especially nice large operations were Kinney’s, Green Forest, Flowerwood, Bracy’s, Windmill and Buddy Martin’s. The other growers like Dodd and Dodd, Coach’s Cedar Creek Farm,Van Der Giesen’s, and Jenkin’s Farm and Nursery generally had less inventory and land, but were more specialized. Each day we enjoyed terrific food reflecting the cuisine of the area – gumbo, crawfish etouffe, fried catfish, oysters, shrimp and hush puppies were plentiful.

The seminars were very timely with a great line-up of speakers including legendary educators Dr. David Creech, Dr. Mike Dirr, Dr. Carl Whitcomb, Dr. Richard Beeson, and Dr. Gary Bachman. Other papers were presented by well-known nurserymen like Ted Stephens, Eelco Tinga, Buddy Lee, and Dennis Neimeyer. The infamous Question Box was thought-provoking and entertaining with Charlie Parkerson providing controversy as always. After the banquet, Dirr and Creech were guest auctioneers at the annual fund-raising auction, encouraging members to spend hundreds of dollars for plants worth a fraction of their selling price, but all for a worthy cause.

Patricia Knight and Hiram Baldwin

Next year’s meeting will be October 10-13 in Raleigh NC with Tony Avent as site chairman. There are some great tours planned, including visits to the Sarah Duke Gardens, JC Raulston Arboretum, Hoffman Nursery, Pender’s, Swift Creek, Plant Works, and Avent’s Plant Delights. To get more information about IPPS membership, visit www.IPPS.org/SouthernNA .