In Celebration of PPA's 40th Anniversary, we will be publishing a series detailing each of the four decades of the Association. Thank you to John Friel, longtime PPA member and previous board member, for researching and writing this series.
A Brief History of the perennial plant association: Chapter IV, the Fourth Decade
We’ve arrived at the final installment of this Memory Lane diary, and what a long, strange, often wonderful trip it’s been. We’ve logged untold miles, toured and photographed countless square miles of gardens and natural glory, shared myriad memories, and tried with varying degrees of success to forget some of them.
And the swag, right? Collectively, thanks to Jelitto and other sponsors, PPA members have more tote bags than an NPR fundraiser, and enough water bottles to hydrate the French Foreign Legion.
Last episode, we left you in gorgeous Vancouver. Our journey resumes in…
2014 Cincinnati OH
PPOY Panicum virgatum ‘Northwind’
President Dave Sanford presented the Award of Merit to Brian Minter, who already had my personal, unofficial Lifesaver Award. Long ago, I spoke on nomenclature in Vancouver, BC, Brian’s turf – so long ago that most speakers were still using 35mm slides, and I hadn’t specified a video projector for my talk. Brian fetched his. My presentation, which included a little Gregorian Chant, was not only saved, it received the only standing ovation of my speaking career. Thanks again, Brian!
Speaker highlights: future President Jennifer Brennan on perennials for problem spots; Gene Bush on shade gardens; the Neonic controversy; Anna Ball on hort trends; Tony Avent on My 100 Favorite Perennials; Sabrina Schweyer and Samuel Salisbury on green infrastructure; and Allen Bush on forty years of gardening (Déjà vu!)
Tours included beautiful, historic Spring Grove Cemetery, the final resting place of Dr. Henry Heimlich, whose famous “maneuver” has saved countless lives; Jungle Jim’s International Market, easily one of the oddest places we’ve visited; the art deco Krohn Conservatory; and fourth-generation Natorp’s Nursery Outlet. All Wednesday tours ended at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanic Garden, founded in 1875, for dinner and bluegrass music.
An optional tour to Indianapolis took in Perennials Plus, the Olmstead Brothers-designed gardens at Oldfields-Lily House, and the Indy Museum of Art, set among 152 acres of gardens and parklands.
The Foundation benefit dinner was held on the River Queen, an Ohio River stern-wheeler, Mark Twain-style, with a view of The Great American Ballpark, where many of us watched the Reds take on the D-Backs.
2015 Baltimore MD
PPOY Geranium xcantabrigiense ‘Biokovo’
Jennifer Brennan took the reins as President, just in time to preside over a tumultuous leadership change. The first new management company lasted just one year. Our current Executive Director, Woody Bibens & Associates, has charted a steady course since the 2019 Symposium in Chicago.
Our Award of Merit winner was Oliver “Buzz” Babikow, whose son Jonathan accepted for him. This one was personal: As a lame-duck Board member, I nominated my former employer. A quiet, humble man who never drew attention to himself, Buzz was an underappreciated figure in the perennial market’s evolution. A dozen greenhouse/nursery firms can trace their origins to Green Leaf Enterprises, which Buzz founded. He died the following year at 83.
A serendipitous bit of closure: I got hooked on PPA in Baltimore in 1987. Twenty-eight years later, my last year of service on its Board ended – in Baltimore. The tours hit many of the same growers and retailers that we saw the first time, but oh how they – especially Babikow’s and Cavano’s -- had grown and improved!
2016 Minneapolis MN
PPOY Anemone ‘Honorine Jobert’
Mike Heger, LSC leader, and Debbie Lonee dished on the best perennials for Zones 4 and (yike!) 3, where only the strong survive. Neil Diboll, our prairie home companion, shared insights on pollinators. The uncontainable Paul Zammit showed eye-popping containers. Maryland’s Stanton Gill proved that it’s good to have an entomologist speak: people who really dig bugs, and know how to use a macro lens, can show you another world. Other speakers included Jeff Epping, Nick McCollough, and Leslie Finical Halleck.
We visited big, modern growers and retailers like Bailey Nursery, Bachman’s Wholesale Nursery and Garden Center, Tonkadale Greenhouse, and Donahue’s, the Clematis specialist. But my personal favorite was Kelly & Kelly Nursery. Founded in 1922, it’s low-tech but high-quality. We lunched at Noerenberg Gardens on Lake Minnetonka, and dined at Minnesota Landscape Arboretum amid stunning sculptures and native grasses. I returned post-Symposium to take pictures for catalogs, websites and talks.
In a Doh! moment, I smashed my iPhone and had to get a replacement at the Mall of America, the largest in the US. It’s just like every other mall you’ve ever seen – combined, stacked, and wrapped around an indoor amusement park with a roller coaster. It could hold 10 MLB stadiums.
The Award of Merit went to long-time members Brent and Becky Heath – because hey, bulbs are perennials, too!
2017 Denver CO
PPOY Asclepias tuberosa
President Jennifer Brennan presented the Award of Merit to Dan Heims. About time! Dan and partner Ken Brown have introduced more varieties than horticultural demigod Luther Burbank. Terra Nova Nursery’s breeding team’s creations have won awards world-wide. The clincher: To the best of our knowledge, Dan is the only PPA member who ever jammed with Charlie Daniels.
Our star-studded speaker list featured the likes of Brie Arthur, Tony Avent, Mike Bone, Raymond Cloyd, Stephanie Cohen, Al Gerace, Pat Hayward, Panayoti Kelaidis, Lauren Springer Ogden and Paul Pilon. Kerrie Badertscher updated us on the viability of a crop new to most of us: Cannabis.
Some sites we toured back in 1996 were no more, but we revisited Gulley Greenhouses, Center Greenhouses, Tagawa Nursery and Garden Center, Paulino Gardens, and Echter’s Greenhouse.
As our Wednesday tour capstone, we wined and dined at Denver Botanical Gardens, one of the higher (in quality, and in altitude) high holy places of American horticulture.
2018 Raleigh NC
PPOY Allium ‘Millennium’
President Jennifer Brennan presented the Award of Merit to past president John Hoffman. Tony Avent hosted a dinner at Juniper Level Gardens, and we also dined at Sarah P. Duke Gardens and the JC Raulston Arboretum.
Tours went to the UNC Botanic Garden, Hoffman Nursery, Big Bloomers Flower Farm, and Niche Gardens, which still looked much as it did when we visited in 1997. We also stopped at Honeysuckle Teahouse, where recycling and repurposing rule, and Big Bloomers Farm, a specialist retailer of unusual and native perennials.
At the opposite end of the hort spectrum, a Monday tour went to Metrolina Greenhouses. A mere 162 acres then, the Van Wingerden’s ultra-mechanized plant factory has since expanded to over 200. It’s probably visible from the ISS.
In Raleigh, we ate and shopped at the massive, 75-acre State Farmers’ Market. That’s not a typo. How can a city have a 75-acre anything?
A stellar speaker slate included past and future Award of Merit winners Fergus Garret of Great Dixter, UK, our keynoter; Brent Heath; and Hans Hansen of Walters Gardens. We got a backstage look at Mount Cuba’s native trials from George Coombs.
Lauri Lawson, Plant Delights, gave us a dose of medicinal perennials. Cristian Kress enlightened us on the flora of Iran, and on Russian-bred Phlox varieties. Hmmm… we gave them our native Phlox, they gave us their native tumbleweed. Is that a fair trade?
2019 Chicago IL
PPOY Stachys monieri ‘Hummelo’
Ball Horticulture hosted a wonderful dinner and tour at The Gardens at Ball. A highlight: an insightful industry analysis by Anna Ball, unofficial First Lady of American horticulture and our Award of Merit winner.
Roy Diblik, “The plant whisperer,” spoke as part of a panel with international guru Piet Oudolf. An optional tour visited Roy’s Northwind Farm, namesake of the Panicum we voted PPOY back at the beginning of this chapter.
Other speakers included Shannon Currey, Jack DeVroomen, Laura Ekasetya, Jeff Epping, Irvin Etienne, current President Richard Hawke, Nina Koziol, Kelly Norris, and incoming President Ed Lyon.
The tours took us to unusual venues like a live wall and a rooftop farm. We dined at the fabulous Lurie Garden, a lush, grass-intensive Oudolf design in which Roy had lots of input. The Lurie is part of Millennium Park, home of “The Bean,” a massive gleaming sculpture more formally known as Cloud Gate.
I drove to this one, because I loathe O’Hare airport. Two 12-hour drives seemed like a fair trade-off to avoid it. So where did we meet? Um… next door to O’Hare.
2020
Salt Lake City
Lancaster PA
PPOY Aralia cordata ‘Sun King’ was pretty much the only normal part of this lost year. First focused on Salt Lake City, UT, our 2020 vision blurred when Barney Barnett passed away unexpectedly. Barney had stepped up to make the National happen in the Western region, but the Utah plan died with him.
Ron Strasko generously volunteered himself and, without asking, Yours Truly to cochair the Local Site Committee for a 2020 shindig in Lancaster. Which was OK: We were happy and excited to assemble a National and show off our home turf. But of course it didn’t happen that year, or the next. You know why. Let’s not dwell on it.
2021 Lancaster PA Virtual
PPOY Calamintha nepeta ssp. nepeta
This was also supposed to be Lancaster, but with Covid shutdowns still wreaking havoc on best-laid plans worldwide, PPA management assembled an online experience instead, with some fascinating speakers and the usual New to the Market Forum.
Rebecca McMackin showed us around Brooklyn Bridge Park, an impressive created-from-scratch park and gardens on reclaimed piers, where everything grows in a couple of feet at most of imported, engineered soils. Giaccomo James Guzzon, LA, spoke on creating resilient, biodiverse urban plant communities.
A pale imitation of the real thing, of course, but much better than nothing. And there’s something to be said for meetings and a BYO Happy Hour where clothing below the waist is strictly optional.
It felt sooo very good to meet again in person the following year, in….
2022 Lancaster PA: At last!
PPOY Schizachyrium scoparium
When the Covid cloud finally lifted, Ron and I decided it was someone else’s turn to head up the Local Site Committee. Fortunately, we already had a good game plan in the works, and PPA management had persuaded hotels in Lancaster and Canada to wait for us -- twice.
Even more fortunately, we had assembled a strong tour slate and an all-star LSC team to put the pieces together with aplomb under the cheerful, competent guidance of Wendy Brister, now with Cavano’s.
Kirk Brown debuted his latest alter ego, Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Muhlenberg, educator, minister, naturalist, multispecies namesake, and lifelong Lancastrian. Tours visited three major propagators, Emerald Coast Growers, Creek Hill Nursery and Green Leaf Plants, all located just a few miles from one another and all with mingled histories. A bit farther afield, we also toured North Creek Nurseries, Darwin Perennials and Stoneleigh, a new Must-See for native enthusiasts.
We crossed the Susquehanna River into York County, past stone pilings that supported the world’s longest covered bridge until it was burned in 1863 to keep the Confederates out of Lancaster. Stymied there, the rebels settled for Gettysburg.
We danced at Chanticleer, lunched at Darwin, wined and dined at Longwood Gardens. We visited Horseshoe Road Nursery, a working Amish dairy farm where the Stoltzfus family also breeds cattle, refurbishes buggies, and grows perennials and grasses wholesale.
President Holly Scoggins presented the Award of Merit to Hans Hansen of Walters Gardens, breeder of too many perennials to begin to list here. And I nearly missed the whole shebang because I came home from Cultivate with Covid.
2023 Niagara Falls
PPOY Rudbeckia ‘American Gold Rush’ PP28498
This one broke my streak: I had attended every National Symposium since 1987, when PPA first met anywhere but Columbus. But I missed Niagara. Mea culpa.
President Holly Scoggins presented the Award of Merit to Roy Diblik, and the Educator Award, which she also holds, to Paul Zammit. The Grower Award went to Pleasant Run Nursery of New Jersey.
Wednesday’s tours spread out amid myriad Canadian wonders, visiting private and public gardens, wholesale growers, a seed company, and garden centres including the Waterdown location of Terra Greenhouses. All buses converged for dinner and wandering at Hendrie Park, the largest cultivated area (22 acres!) of Royal Botanical Gardens. The Medieval Garden features a sundial where you can be the gnomon. Not a gnome: the gnomon.
Speaker topics covered a wide range. Steve Castorani of North Creek Nurseries dished on native plant propagation techniques. Patrick Cullina shared strategies for creating and maintaining dynamic designs. Dr. Rick Grazzini delved into breeding projects. Brendan Stewart and Daniel Rotsztain explained the synergies of pop-up gardens and meeting places.
Speakers literally ran the gamut from A to Z: On Tuesday, Dr. Allan Armitage spoke on perennials past, present and future. On Thursday, Paul Zammit delivered closing remarks.
Two attendees told me they were surprised at how “schlocky” and “touristy” the Canadian side of the Falls has become. Like me, they live in tourist-infested, schlock-heavy Amish country, so… wow. It must be pretty intense up there, eh?
And that’s all he wrote about our first forty years. Again, my sincere apologies to anyone I’ve inadvertently slighted. But don’t dash off just yet!
EPILOG I: Housekeeping
We posed questions in Chapters 1 and 2, but didn’t provide answers. Here y’go:
• Chapter 1: Which three members of the same genus were named PPOY?
Phlox stolonifera, P. ‘David’ and P. paniculata ‘Jeana’.
• Chapter 2: What four grasses have been our PPOY? Calamagrostis ‘Karl Foerster’, Panicum ‘Northwind’, Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’ and Schizachyrium scoparium.
EPILOG II: Thanks!
I would be remiss not to express my deep gratitude to my employers, Green Leaf Enterprises, Yoder/Aris, and Emerald Coast Growers, who made my PPA experiences possible and also served as tour hosts and sponsors. While I’m at it, a shout-out to all members who have brought or sent employees to Association events.
In St. Louis, Ferenc Kiss of Cavano’s scanned a roomful of attendees and asked me, “Where are the young people?” I replied, “How many did you bring?”
It doesn’t take a CPA to calculate that young people, in school or entry-level hort jobs, can’t afford a PPA Symposium. Someone has to sponsor them. To their credit, Ferenc and his partner Taylor Pilker have done just that. Scholarships only go so far. A gift of a Symposium is an investment in your company’s, and your industry’s, future.
OK, now we’re done. As the Association’s fifth decade dawns, here’s hoping that whatever future scribe describes it will have taken better notes.
For the last time: “Symposium” is from the Greek for “To drink together.” Yámas!
