newsletter

What's Hot!!

It has been quite some time since SRN’s last newsletter (actually 4 months). Many interesting events have transpired since then. I figure these will make a good general topic for discussion.

Firstly, we have added several new plants to our availability. Some of them were on the “coming soon” page, but some were unexpected acquisitions or overlooked during the sites development. Take a look at our recently updated availability to see what you can’t live without!

Around the beginning of November, I was lucky enough to attend the Great Rivers Chapter of the Holly Society’s meeting in Terre Ilex opaca 'Longwood Gardens' Haute, IN. This was my first experience with this group and I have kicked myself since for not getting involved more recently. There were some great tours of extensive Holly collections. Some selections I was not previously familiar with have now gained my respect and attention. The yellow-fruited variety of American Holly (Ilex opaca) ‘Longwood Gardens’ really stood out when compared to my previous favorite ‘Canary’.

I also had the pleasure of meeting Ilex opaca ‘Farage’. I was stunned by its impressive fruit display. Normally, I get interested in a plant, but maintain a fairly significant level of reservation until I have seen it in several places. I ran into ‘Farage’ again about 3 weeks after the initial encounter and it was just as spectacular as the first. We will be collecting and propagating this selection as fast as possible. Bon Hartline’s explanation of the name will be relayed later in the newsletter.

Ilex opaca 'Longwood Gardens' This is a great opportunity to emphasize the importance of plant groups. We belong to the Louisville Nursery Association, Kentucky Nursery and Landscape Association, International Plant Propagator’s Society, Bernheim Arboretum, Great Rivers Holly Society and Plank Geeks United forum. There are many more that we would find useful, but funds are our limiting factor. However, we chose these because we feel they give us significant benefits from a business and/or education perspective. Our opinion is that it is important to belong and be active in organizations that support your particular effort. Some great strides are made in horticulture every day, but very few would be possible without the presence of professional and public organizations to share and distribute information.

Another reason for participating is the people. While in Terre Haute I met some great plant people who have a wealth of knowledge and the willingness to share. I also had the opportunity to meet with some folks I had not seen in a while. My only hope is that I will be as giving and helpful as the people I have met have been to me.

A few weeks following the Great Rivers meeting, I visited Bon Hartline in Ana, IL. This trip would have been exciting enough by itself, but that fact that Dr. Ginkgo biloba 'Chase Manhattan' Win Dunwell was gracious enough to accompany me during the drive and Betsy Simpson and Dan Vanbibber (both with Simpson’s Nursery) met us there, made this adventure even more memorable. Bon was a wonderful host. He toured us around on his Dixie Chopper to see the vast collection of hollies and other unusual items growing on his grounds. The information he offered during out time was extraordinary. Not only was there a tremendous amount of plant knowledge exchanged (mainly received by me), there were stories that could only be properly told by Bon himself. A couple examples were as follows:

Ginkgo biloba ‘Chase Manhattan’: The original plant was found by Bon Hartline in his field production. One day two gentlemen by the names of Gene Eisenbeiss and Ted Dudley, both of the National Arboretum, stopped by to view the tree. Once they noticed the potential for bonsai aficionados, it was mentioned that Bon would have “Chase Manhattan” (a bunch of money) once he got the plant into trade. After some thought, Bon decided their analogy made for a terrific name. I could not agree more.

Ilex opaca ‘Farage’, as mentioned earlier, is a selection that I have become enamored with since our introduction. Mr. Hartline mentioned the name derived from the fact that the original plant was at the “far end of the garage”. Hence, ‘Farage’. I can’t remember exactly who told him that story, but it adds interest to the plant nonetheless.

There are still several more stories worth telling, but we must retain some information for future, hopefully more frequent, newsletters.

In closing, we feel a brief “update” on Sunny Ray’s plans for 2010 is in order. Last year was wonderful. Between the Ilex opaca 'Farage' weather giving us a fantastic growing season and us watching our dream grow and mature, we are convinced that SRN is on solid ground. We are still very small, but our focus has been and continues to be the propagation, production, collection and development of unique and underused plants. Please remember many of the plants we are working on are not listed on the website. However, we welcome visitors by appointment.

May your new year be full of excitement and happiness (after all they say the recession is over!).

Take Care,

Ben Cecil Tom Abell

Sunny Ray's Nursery, LLC.