Robert Pries wrote >There is a new initiative occurring in the American Public Gardens >Association. It is a system of National Collections similar to the >British System. These collections are meant to preserve the genetic >diversity within the nation. The USA is far behind in this effort, >compared to the British. A major component of the system is a will >that allows for the transfer of a collection to another new or >existing National Collection Holder. Many years ago I tried to talk >with the Association of Botanic Gardens and Arboretums. They were >not interested in working with private plantsmen. I believe this is >partly due to a vocal scam artist who was milking plantsman at the >time for plants he could sell in his nursery by claiming to run a >National Collection System. The aforementioned person also contacted me, but I found him so annoying that I turned him away. I'm sure our British members will have things to say about the National Collections program. I've heard a lot about it and also have a book on it. I know that some of the British National Collections are wonderful, well-curated resources, but I've also encountered people who had, or wanted to have, a National Collection but seemed not to know enough about what they were collecting. Such a program is vulnerable to various kinds of conflict. On the other hand, the idea of a database of private collections has been discussed previously on this forum. I wouldn't mind contributing my data to a project like that. Jane McGary Portland, Oregon, USA