Although it seems it’s been only a few weeks since the last issue of this magazine was published, the fact that it’s actually been three months is significant. In that interim, we have been kept busy with several projects, and are happy to see them come to fruition.

You’ll see subtle changes in the look of The Cut Flower Quarterly, some slight differences in the header styles and color themes. We like to keep the style of the magazine fresh without making it seem unfamiliar. The new look continues the simplicity of the graphics.

The Insider’s Guide to Cut Flower Dahlias is the result of Vicki Stamback’s wish to see production information published by the ASCFG. It’s the first in what we hope will be a series of booklets covering specific cut flower crops. The 32-page softcover is available for sale from the ASCFG now, with plans to investigate electronic publishing of it and future publications. Many thanks to Lane Greer, and to her contributors, for making the book so relevant to our growers.

Several members have favorably commented on the redesign of the web site. The new layout is streamlined and condenses several of the previously existing pages. The beauty of the format is that it can easily be modified as the Association evolves to meet its  members’ needs.

Here is another reminder, along with the one on page 78, to update your own Member Page within the ASCFG’s main site. These individual setups provide your company a general introduction to flower buyers and other growers, before guiding them directly to your own personal web site. Many of you have already personalized your Member Page with photos, logos and other graphics. Those with online photo albums or price lists are able to link directly to them. It takes just a few minutes to enter the information you’d like to include.

As you pore over the reports for the ASCFG Seed, Perennial and Woody Plant Trials, please keep in the mind the many people who made these important projects possible: representatives of seed breeders and distributors, the ASCFG staff, the patient and cooperative postal workers in Oberlin, trialers who make room for the plants being evaluated and spend extra time record keeping, and John Dole and his group at NCSU who make sense of it all. It’s a complex process, which, for the 2011 Seed Trials, began in October of 2010, and culminated in January of 2012 with this publication. In between, the 2012 Trials were set in motion.

These reports are the only grower-generated evaluations of new cut flower varieties, and their value cannot be underestimated.

At the same time, plans for both the National Conference in Tacoma, and Regional Meetings across the country are already moving ahead. The theme for the 2012 Conference is “Co-opetition”, and it’s sure to be unlike any other meeting the ASCFG has hosted. Regional Meetings have been scheduled for Massachusetts and Texas, and are likely to be held in the Midwest as well. Keep an eye on the web site for details.