1. Has your institution written a collections policy and has it been updated within the past ten years?
  2. Do you have a computerized plant records system to document accessions within your collection?
  3. Have you conducted a field inventory of your collection within the past five (5) years and updated your plant records?
  4. Are your plants labeled with accession tags and can they be located by using an accession map?
  5. Have you researched other known collections of the same plant group and benchmarked your holdings?
  6. Does your current planted collection include approximately 50% or more of the taxa you ultimately seek to acquire?
  7. The application requires a letter of endorsement from your governing body such as board of trustees or university dean, ensuring long-term support of this collection.  Have you allotted sufficient time to gain this approval?
  8. Do you have a written collection plan for the ongoing development of the specific collections for which you'll be seeking accreditation?
  9. Have you prioritized your collections and developed an institutional disaster preparedness plan which includes living collections?

For more information about the Plant Collections Network contact:

Plant Collections Network Manager: Pam Allenstein at 610-708-3015 or pallenstein@publicgardens.org