QBARS - v6n1 Minutes of Meeting of American Rhododendron Society , Portland, Oregon, November 15, 1951

Minutes of Meeting American Rhododendron Society, November 15, 1851, Portland, Oregon
Mrs. Ruth M. Hansen, Secretary

The meeting was called to order by President, Mr. C. I. Sersanous in the Auditorium of the Journal Building at 8:00 P.M. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved.

The Secretary was then asked to report on the 1951 New Members which is as follows: The East Coast, mainly in the New York and Pennsylvania area reported 43 new members; the State of Oregon was next with 41. Washington has 18, California 10, Canada 3 and Sweden 1. This gives a total of 116 new members for 1951.

Mr. Rudolph Henny was appointed Chairman of the Nomination Committee, S. W. Williams and C. T. Hansen are to assist Mr. Henny in this capacity.

Recognition was then given to various members who had made donations of plants to our Test Garden planting. Many fine specimens have been received this Fall and we are exceedingly proud of the fine cooperation of our members in making this Test Garden an island - of rhododendron significance. On November 17th, we planted 48 plants representing 32 species which were donated by the University of Washington Arboretum. Our appreciation is extended to Mr. Brian Mulligan, Curator who made these donations possible.

Mr. John Bacher, Chairman of the Test Garden Committee was asked to say a few words about the Garden. As Mr. Bacher had just returned from the Pasadena Flower Show, he spent his time in telling of the beauty of this Show, of the famed Huntington Gardens, and Balboa Park.

A plant auction followed which netted the Society $44.00. The plants were donated by John Henny and Joe Klupenger. The highest bid was $10.00 for a fine plant of R. 'Mrs. Walter Burns'.

The guest speakers of the evening were then introduced, Mr. and Mrs. Del James, of Eugene, Oregon. The Jameses had gone to England last spring and had brought home many excellent slides of rhododendrons. Mrs. James stated that they had been greatly impressed by the beauty of the old trunks of the rhododendrons growing in the estates in England. They were further impressed by the great size and beauty of these plants. Some of the outstanding slides shown were as follows: various maddenii species, R. caloxanthum , R. elliottii , R. callimorphum , R. orbiculare , R. thomsonii and R. xanthocodon to name a few of the species. Some of the outstanding hybrids shown were: R. 'Elizabeth', R. 'Dido', R. 'Cornish Cross', R. 'Rosy Bells', R. 'Jalisco', R. 'Hawk', R. 'Vanessa' and R. 'Break of Day'. There were many other beautiful slides shown of azaleas and garden scenes. Mr. James who acted as narrator told many interesting side lights of their trip as the pictures were shown.

Meeting adjourned.