Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

WERA-1013: Western Region Evaluation Introduction of Native Plants

2024 Annual Meeting

February 21, 2025

12:30 pm central time

Business Meeting

• Welcome and brief introductions from existing members and new members
• Darrin Boss, our Administrative Advisor from Montana State University and Vance Owens our USDA-NIFA representative were not able to join the meeting
• Approval of minutes from 2023
  • Jim Klett moves to approve
  • Orville Baldos seconds the motion
• Year runs from November 1, 2024 through October 31, 2025
• Efforts to recruit new members; suggestion to recruit JJ Chen from University of Wyoming; possibly recruit from Washington State University and Montana State University
• Listserv communications seem to be working
• Chair Elect, Donald Merhaut, talked about organizing in-person meeting in April or May 2026
  • Fly into Ontario, CA
  • Meeting centered around Riverside, California
  • Visit the Santa Ana Botanical Garden and local nurseries
  • Possibility of traveling to the Huntington Botanical Gardens and the Santa Barbara Botanical Gardens
• Colorado State working on plant introductions with Utah State
• Discussed federal funding uncertainties
• Donald Merhaut, University of California-Riverside is the Chair Elect for November 1, 2025 through October 30, 2026
• Nobody volunteered to be nominated to be the incoming chair or secretary due to funding uncertainties
• Professional development opportunities
  • International symposium on the ISHS Germplasm of Ornamentals, Fort Collins, Aug. 2025
  • American Public Garden Association meeting in Denver, June 2025
  • ISHS in Greece

• Close out the business meeting
  • Jim Klett moved to approve
  • Brandon Miller seconded

Station Reports

1:30 PM           Jim Klett, Colorado State University, Professor Emeritus

                         Plant Select

1:50                 Youping Sun, Utah State University, Associate Professor

                         Utah Agricultural Experiment Station Annual Report

2:10                 Orville Baldos, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Associate Researcher

                         Updates on Native Hawaiian Ornamentals Research

2:30                  Brandon Miller, University of Minnesota, Assistant Professor

                         The Resilient Landscape Horticulture Program at the University of Minnesota

2:50                 Esther McGinnis, North Dakota State University, Associate Professor

                         Ornamental and Native Grass Evaluation for Rain Garden Environments

3:10                 Adjourned

List of Meeting Attendees

• Jim Klett, Colorado State University, Emeritus
• Heidi Kratsch, University of Nevada-Reno
• Orville Baldos, University of Hawaii
• Youping Sun, Utah State University
• Urusula Schuch, University of Arizona-Tucson
• Brandon Miller, University of Minnesota
• Don Merhaut, University of California-Riverside