Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

The 2007 meeting of the SERA-IEG 27 was held June 13-15 in Lexington, Kentucky. Official representatives present were: Dewayne Ingram (Administrative Advisor, University of Kentucky), Winston Dunwell (Extension, University of Kentucky), Ed Bush (Research, Louisiana State University), Allen Owings (Extension, Louisiana State University), Eugene Blythe (Research, Mississippi State University), Bill Klingeman (Research, UT), Donna Fare (USDA-ARS), and Alex Niemiera (Research, Virginia Tech University). Guests attending were Rumen Conev (Virginia Tech University) and Jeremy Griffith (University of Kentucky). States not represented were Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas. The groups continuation should be approved for a five year renewal at the meeting of the southern region directors in August. The plant evaluations were reviewed and plans were made to publish a listing of 43 taxa evaluated by the group in the Southern Nursery Association Research Conference Proceedings in 2008. Two new plants - Betsy Ross lilac (Syringa) and Duet beautyberry (Callicarpa dichomata) were approved for evaluation and a group of Taxodium selections from Texas were approved for evaluation. Officers elected for 2007-2008 were Allen Owings  Chair, Jim Robbins  Secretary, Alex Niemiera  Executive Committee. Ed Bush continues as Chair of the Plant Evaluation Committee. Virginia will host the 2008 meeting. Arkansas will host the 2009 meeting.

The group decided to pursue publishing in the Southern Nursery Association Proceedings in 2008 an article on the 43 taxa current being evaluated by the group along with a contact person for each plant and a listing of states where each plant is currently being evaluated or has been evaluated. Potential plant evaluations for the group to consider during the next few years were discussed. Mike Arnold has bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) selections for evaluation. Donna Fare proposed the Betsy Ross lilac (Syringa) from USDA-NA and the Duet beautyberry (Callicarpa dichomata) from USDA-NA. These three taxa were approved for evaluation by group members.