Pergola-tory: PSI Insanity

Last weekend I went to San Francisco for the annual PSI conference. The president of the PSI asked that I write a review, so here it is with my personal pictures.

Annual Passiflora Society Meeting: 7 – 9 August 2015
San Francisco, California, USA

Although I’ve visited the San Francisco Botanical Garden, also known as Strybing, in Golden Gate Park before the 2015 annual society meeting and met in person a few of the most active and friendly members in the Passiflora Society, International, I wasn’t prepared for the fervor or generosity with which the collected members would share their knowledge, experiences, and not least of all, plants at the annual meeting. A little less than 50 individuals from North and South America united in San Francisco to engage in some of the most specific, scientific, and terrific fun that I can imagine a group of Passiflora enthusiasts having.

Not knowing what to expect and being quite anxious to start the weekend early on a Friday, I was one of the first to show up at the gates to Strybing. There, the President and Treasurer of the PSI, Eric Wortman and Crystal Stone respectively, met me with open arms and a name tag. We chatted briefly about who was expected, travel woes, and all sorts of other general hob-knobbing while others homed in on the garden. I was informed that the fantastic sunny and warm weather I was enjoying was somewhat anomalous for San Francisco in August. It was a herald of the exuberant time that I would experience all weekend long.

As soon as all were gathered, we began our tour of the grounds. Eric and Crystal had performed two complete walk-throughs the prior day to ensure that we wouldn’t miss a single Passiflora plant on the grounds. And, we didn’t. We followed the curator, Don Mahoney, dutifully from fence to fence gawking at the P. membranacea plants hanging like little purple and white lantern-hewn strings 75 feet high in the trees; snapped photos of common but very healthy and sprawling examples of P. x violacea ‘Eynsford Gem’, P. manicata, P. loefgrenii x P. caerulea, P. matthewsii ‘alba’, P. actinia; and marveled with near reverence at P. parritae which was waning with blooms, but still a rare treat for most of us.

It had been arranged with the kind and very generous Carlos Rendon that we would have an exclusive Passiflora sale near the end of our touring. I liken him to the famous pop culture icon Bob Ross, who painted landscapes on American public access television for many years and who seemed like your favorite uncle when he spoke softly to the camera. After walking through the open ground nursery plot, we were all respectfully clamoring to see what jewels Carlos had to share with us. There were many species and hybrids like P. antioquiensis, P. ‘Mission Dolores’, P. macropoda, P. gritensis, P. umbilicata, and not the least of all, P. parritae. Our horde delighted over all the potential additions to our collections, and everyone that came to purchase these left with a box full of happy little plants. The ever perky Elizabeth Peters (Grassy Knoll) and genial Jim Nevers (Passiflorista) were in our company, so one might expect these to be available for purchase through their shops in the not too distant future.

With the day warming up, and coming down from our Black Friday-like shopping spree, we ambled back toward the front gate for some pizza and conversation. All fed; it was time to disperse into the local shopping district and do some sight-seeing. Saturday would have much more in store for us, and all of the PSI annual meeting greenhorns, including myself, couldn’t appreciate all that it would entail.

The second day of the conference was held in a hotel proximal to the SFO airport where many of us were staying for the weekend. “Passiflora” was displayed on the lobby sign indicating that the Presidential Hall was ours. Indeed, we made it our personal garden away from home. Eric and Crystal would begin our day. First, we heard Eric’s retelling of a piece that he had written years prior on all of the characters that he had encountered at a PSI meeting. Many of whom were present in the room once again. Each person was recalled fondly and with their proper quirks. We also learned about the state of the PSI and the size of its membership. Although the premium membership totaled only about 80, the free members equaled more than 700. Many of the latter group patronize the seed bank, which we were told was a significant contributor to the financial health of the PSI. In the 6 years since Eric and Crystal began their tenure, the PSI has doubled its holdings to approximately $8k. In addition to the seed bank, the various cost cutting and digital publications that were spearheaded have reduced operating costs, thus putting the PSI further in the black. The questions were raised to the audience: in what conservation efforts might the PSI begin to undertake? And, who might lead them? They were questions without answers.

After the Sunday kickoff, we heard from Dr. John MacDougal on the revisions to the taxonomic structure of the Decaloba subgenus. Although I am not particularly enthralled by this subgenus, I was transfixed by the amount of work that he and his team have invested in the herbarium research, genetic analyses, and algorithm exercises that have contributed significantly to our collective understanding of 300 species of Passiflora. In addition, we saw excellent comparisons of the similar and often confused species, examined the subgenus taxonomic tree with it various confidence values based on a four gene evaluation, and marveled at some recently discovered species including one that has morphology similar to a grass! We were reminded of the monstrous leaf diversity within Passiflora including the curiosities that are the egg mimics. When I first became involved in the scene of Passiflora, it was John MacDougal and the Ulmer’s book “Passiflora, Passionflowers of the World” that largely guided my research, so meeting John and hearing his lecture were a particular treat for me.

With the conclusion of the extensive Q & A session that followed John’s lecture, we were able to purchase tickets for the raffle. This resulted in many highly contested donated items whose sources were identified and applauded. The items included P. antioquiensis and P. gracilis seeds donated by Dave Hermeyer and Eric/Crystal respectively, a large and healthy P. ‘Mission Dolores’ plant from Strybing, a bottle of wine with a passion flower on the label from Eric and Crystal, extended premium PSI memberships, gift certificates to Grassy Knoll and Passiflorista, and perhaps the most sought after: a large P. caerulea print brilliantly painted by attendee and scientific illustrator, Mattias Lanas. The trading began during this first break, but continued throughout the day. However, to call it “trading” is somewhat of a misnomer as it generally resulted in many cuttings and seeds being offered freely. I found myself loaded down as if I were going to build a primitive shelter of vines and sow my own fields for sustenance. This attitude exhibited by the group was nothing short of pure generosity resulting from a sense of community and pure enthusiasm for the genus.

We resumed the presentations with Hal Love’s excellent discussion on polyploidy and genetics. I had only a cursory knowledge in this arena and was again riveted while learning about the motivation and various chemicals used to produce tetraploids, the effects of crossing tets with diploids and the various potential results found in their progeny (or lack thereof), and the message to “try everything” because sometimes conventional logic only extends so far. I enjoyed the photographic examples of various crossings using P. incarnata and its many hybrids which effectively illustrated Hal’s genetic lessons.

The rest of the afternoon was a blur of plant and seed trading sessions, presentations on the personal collections in Chile given by Mariana Acuna-Retemar and Jim Nevers’ slideshow of Passiflorista’s offerings; Jorge Ochoa’s South American Passiflora hunting expeditions and fruit tastings delivered at great speed; Dr. Shawn Mattison’s game which pitted each side of the room against the other to guess the parentage of some newly registered hybrids.

Embedded in these were workshops which taught grafting, rooting, and generation of inexpensive rooting gel. The grafting workshops were taught by Crystal and Kevin Pryzbyla. Many rootstocks of P. ‘Betty Myles Young’ were donated along with ample cuttings from Rick and Michelle McCain for grafting and rooting. Two similar methods for grafting were demonstrated, and each person that participated went back for seconds or thirds with ample materials available at the end. I overhead many people say that they would be practicing immediately once they returned home. Randy Story taught a rooting workshop with a bucket of wet perlite, some powered hormone, packing tape, and a few transparent drinking cups. Being one that generally uses an aeroponic propagator, I was anxious to learn all of his tips and tricks for all of the species that I have a difficult time with in the cloner. Finally, Tim Skimina showed us how to create a batch of relatively inexpensive rooting gel using a liquid hormone, water, and hair gel!

As the second day wound down, the final tickets for the remaining raffle items were drawn. The last was the botanical print of P. caerulea. A ticket was pulled from the ballot box, the number read, and John MacDougal jumped to his feet exclaiming “Yes!” to everyone’s simultaneous dismay and pleasure. Without realizing it, I had become very tired. The travels, the walking in the gardens of Strybing, and the unblinking attention devoted to the excellent program arranged for us had drained me. It was time to refill at the restaurant and bar inside the hotel with my current and new friends until we all agreed that it was late enough to succumb to the sandman.

With the formal events concluded, some of the attendees returned home or continued their vacations elsewhere. Others elected to meet at the University of California at Berkeley Botanical Garden. There, Shawn Mattison and the lovely volunteers at UCBG; Carolyn Edmunds, Mary Yoder, and Patti Morrison; who had been with us for the prior two days, showed us the garden grounds and located all of the Passiflora growing there. Again, generously several cuttings were offe

red of P. manicata and P. trisecta and potted Passiflora were available for sale. The mood on this third day was that of relaxation; having gorged ourselves on both plants and information offered on Friday and Saturday. After our tour, more of us departed for home, including me, while others continued to Annie’s Annuals.

The whole weekend had reinvigorated my zeal for these plants. I was anxious to return home with my new additions, try out some of the techniques I had learned at the workshops, and tell my “normal” friends about the pilgrimage that I had just made. Only the Passiflora people would really understand the mania and community we experience at the annual meeting, so I feared that I would founder in trying to relay the experience. But, Mattias Lanas had adeptly noted that the whole event was like Comic Con for Passiflora, and that’s now how I describe the annual meeting to those who are curious enough to ask about my entanglement in Passiflora.

One thing that I do not believe I can accurately relate in this account is the monumental effort that both Eric and Crystal impart on the annual meeting and in general on behalf of the PSI on a frequent basis. I do think the majority of the active members appreciate their devotion and commitment to the non-profit, but I would like to take the opportunity to encourage all members of the PSI to demonstrate their appreciation for Eric and Crystal’s efforts. Certainly public or private words are appropriate, but becoming actively and regularly involved in the PSI is a greater display of gratitude. Please consider donating your skills and time and as always your articles and seeds. It’s true that without the members the PSI does not exist, but consider that without devotion of its leadership it will also dissolve and so may too many of the opportunities that the PSI provides.