Presenters will discuss the challenges, opportunities, and benefits of accepting large plant-collection donations. Three institutions have tackled this challenge in recent years and will discuss how they brought in large collections, some with questionable or lacking data for plant identities, made room to add the collections into their public spaces, and how these new collections have increased community engagement. Additionally, they will explore donor expectations and how these collections are helping conserve germplasm. Speakers will give tips on how to deal with the intake of new collections along with verification processes that institutions of any size can tackle. Speakers will discuss two cultivar collections (historic iris and peonies) and one collection of arid plants.
Presenters: J. Peter, Royal Botanical Gardens, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada;
C. Newlander, Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver, Colorado; D. Heimbecker,
Whistling Gardens, Wilsonville, Ontario, Canada; L. Galford, Boyce Thompson
Arboretum, Superior, Arizona
