Denver was the perfect venue for the Second Joint Meeting of the Eastern and Western IPPS Regions at the Marriott City Center Hotel in September. The weather was gorgeous the entire time allowing perfect conditions for scheduled tours and wandering the nearby 16th Street pedestrian mall. In the end, total attendance was 330, evenly split between the two Regions.

Western Region President Mike Anderson and Eastern Region President Brian Maynard presided over the conference and welcomed attendees at the start of general session. Mike stated that “Having been a member of IPPS now for approaching 30 years I can safely say that no organization has had as much value to the growth of my ability and knowledge as a propagator and grower. The relationships and friendships formed and the knowledge gained have been hugely significant, and I know I am not alone in this regard.” Those feelings were echoed by others in Denver and by Dr. Ken Tilt, a Southern Region member and Auburn University professor, who sent a note following the conference stating: “I always return from IPPS meetings with so much energy and new ideas to make my life better and hopefully expand the passion of my student's plant experience and broaden their view of our world.” Mike also charged members to give of their time and energies in actively supporting the organization through service as a speaker, committee member, area meeting organizer or board member to allow IPPS to continue and prosper.

Two Pre-Conference Tours were offered. The High Altitude Tour included the Mount Goliath Alpine Gardens of the Denver Botanic Gardens with a trail that wound through subalpine and alpine areas. The next stop was the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens; the world’s highest botanic garden at 8,200 feet. This tour was weather dependent and fortunately Mother Nature cooperated beautifully allowing attendees to fully experience the spectacular scenery of the Rockies. .

The Low Altitude Tour was more production oriented and included Welby Gardens Westwoods, Gulley Greenhouse, Inc. and the Colorado State University Plant Environmental Research Center. Welby Gardens has 23 acres of greenhouses, growing over 2,000 plant varieties. Gulley currently produces over 1,000 perennial, 100 herb and 650 annual varieties. The CSU Research Center is situated on 12 acres including an arboretum, a display garden and an Annual Flower Trial Garden. Following the pre-conference tours, the Welcome Reception Sunday evening was a great way for members and guests to become acquainted or reacquainted over a quesadilla bar and other great appetizers while checking out the poster session.

The educational program was a joint effort by Bill Barnes of Lorax Farms in Warrington, PA and M. Nevin Smith of Suncrest, Inc. in Watsonville, CA. It represented a blend of eastern and western interests featuring propagation and horticultural innovation in the Front Range area itself as well as a focused production session, a session on new plants and plant exploration and a plant breeding and selection session. Essential onsite assistance was provided by Mike Bone of the Denver Botanic Gardens. Mike had his hands full organizing bus captains, delivering auction plants, even providing unique banquet centerpieces. Mike’s wife Emily deserves special thanks as well for her generous assistance throughout the conference. Mike is also to be credited with the conference theme: Propagation with an Altitude! The poster session, organized by Vern Black of Bailey Nurseries, featured 36 posters on varied horticultural topics.

The Monday morning session included the Awards Presentation for both Regions (see separate articles in this issue for details). Our congratulations to these worthy and dedicated recipients. Afternoon tours were held on Monday and Tuesday, each with alternate choices. Monday’s offerings were the Denver Botanic Gardens, with its diverse and fabulous gardens and collections, and Welby Gardens Main. Welby Gardens is a company comprised of three retail centers and three growing facilities. The second part of the tour visited Fort Collins, CO, stopping at the National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation. This facility conserves genetic resources of crops and animals important to U.S. agriculture and landscapes. Then on to Fort Collins Wholesale Nursery, a leader in the Colorado Green Industry, specializing in selecting and growing hardy landscape plants acclimated to the Rocky Mountain region.

Tuesday’s tours had an option of a return to the Denver Botanic Gardens or the Little Valley/ Timberline Tour. Little Valley Wholesale Nursery has 141 acres of field and container stock in production and is recognized as a leader in new plant development for the Colorado landscape industry. The second stop was Timberline Gardens, a well known as a rare plant nursery. Xeric and native plants are a specialty and there is an organic emphasis in fertilizer and pesticide use.

Tuesday night’s banquet featured a "Taste of Colorado" buffet followed by our speaker, Panayoti Kelaidis, a renowned plant explorer and Director of Outreach at the Denver Botanic Gardens. His presentation, "A Rocky Mountain High: Getting High on Plants and Propagation in the Rockies", was accompanied by slides of his global exploration and enjoyed by all. A Live Auction followed led by Gary Epstein, aided and abetted by Mike Bone and Scott Skogerboe. A total of $5414 was raised from the Silent and Live Auction, thanks to the many donations of exceptional plants and other items. Our thanks to Larry Watson for his work on the Silent Auction.

We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the Local Site Committee for their tremendous effort and contributions of time to make this meeting work so successfully: Nevin Smith, Bill Barnes, Mike Bone, Brian Core, Jim Klett, Al Gerace, Larry Watson, Gene Pelen, Gary Epstein, and Harriett McMillan. In addition, we want to thank our bus captains and tour leaders for their time and effort in preparing to host our tours. And last but not least, we want to thank Mark Bridgen who kept us both somewhat sane. He helped us in every aspect of the onsite meeting, from registration through the Silent Auction, and manning the registration booth when we needed a break.

Richard E. ‘Dick’ Bir, of Brevard, North Carolina, received the International Plant Propagators’ Society (I.P.P.S.) Award of Honour from the International Board of Directors. The award was presented in Denver, Colorado during the joint annual meeting of the Eastern and Western Regions of IPPS in September. The award recognizes individuals who have given exceptional and distinguished service to I.P.P.S. and achieved outstanding accomplishments in the field of plant propagation. Dick stated he was “honored beyond my capacity to express in words” by the award.

Bir was nominated for his accomplishments in the field of horticulture and his willingness and desire to share his knowledge with others. His thousands of presentations, workshops, and articles have been a valuable resource to all in the horticultural community, from homeowners, to nurserymen to landscapers to academics.

Dick has presented papers and posters at regional IPPS meetings and served tirelessly on numerous different committees over the years since joining the Society in 1985. He served on the Eastern Region Board of Directors from 1996-98 and as an officer from 2000-2003. He was named a Fellow of the IPPS Eastern Region in 1995 and was given the region’s highest award, the Award of Merit, in 2000.

For twenty-five years Dick Bir was Extension Nursery Specialist with the Department of Horticultural Science at NC State University. For seven years before moving to the mountains and NC State, he worked as a Horticultural Extension Agent for the University of Florida despite having been born, raised and formally educated in the northeastern U.S. In both jobs he devoted himself to helping the nursery and landscape industries find better ways to grow plants as well as promoting conservation interests.

Bir published hundreds of articles, many of which discussed his often practical research. He published in areas of plant propagation, soils and media, plant nutrition, winter protection, plant pathology, climate response, and cultivar/species trials in publications such as HortTechnology, American Nurserymen, NMPRO, Fine Gardening, American Gardener, Horticulture, and Carolina Gardener. He presented hundreds of invited lectures across the United States and beyond as well as served as a leader in the horticultural world. Dick’s research was frequently conducted in collaboration with those in diverse disciplines, bringing their expertise to assist the nursery industry.

Dick was instrumental in the development of the Cullowhee Native Plant Conference which started in 1984, held annually in Cullowhee, North Carolina. Another major contribution to the promotion of native plants was Bir's book, Growing and Propagating Showy Native Woody Plants (UNC Press, 1992). This publication addressed the pressing need for native plant production information.

Bir’s awards are numerous. Among the most meaningful awards to him are those from IPPS, the North Carolina Association of Nurserymen, Southern Nursery Association, American Nursery and Landscape Association, and the Scott Award from Swarthmore College. Since his retirement from North Carolina State University in 2004 he has continued to lecture, write and consult. He is a regular attendee at the Eastern Region annual meetings. Dick Bir’s career has exemplified the IPPS motto of “to seek and to share”, earning him a place of respect among fellow IPPS members and his industry peers.