International Newsletter, October 2025: Chair’s message, upcoming events, Proceedings highlight
Chair’s Message
Happy fall and greetings from your International Chair. It has been a pleasure serving the finest production society in the world. We have an incredible board from many backgrounds with endless talents. Special thanks to them and especially to your Executive Director, Katie McDavid, who has worked tirelessly to get your new website up and running. If you haven’t visited the new website, you can do so here: ipps.org. If you have comments on the website, please address them to your regional secretary. I also want to acknowledge and thank recent IPPS International chairs including David Cliffe, Alan Jones and Tim Lawrance Owen for keeping the “wheels on the bus”.
IPPS holds a special place in my heart. I gave the first student paper to the Southern Region in the fall of 1981. The meeting was in Houston, Texas and I had just graduated from Virginia Tech (Go Hokies!) in Horticulture. My talk was on the rooting of rhododendrons. I was as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room of rocking chairs. It was before that talk that I met a gentleman named Sidney Meadows from Flowerwood Nursery, who would speak after me. Mr. Meadows assured me that no one in the room would know the subject as I did.
My parents rode out with me and we went through New Orleans on the way. Driving a Chevy Chevette, my mom ended up going the wrong way on Bourbon Street. It was something I’ll never forget.
Over the years the greatest technological changes that I have seen as a grower originated at IPPS meetings. Some of those ideas such as using VPD (vapor pressure deficit) assistance in propagation and ET(evapotranspiration) based irrigation have helped our business improve our bottom line and made us more environmentally friendly.
I have also made some of my best lifetime friends at regional meetings. Seeking and sharing is the backbone of IPPS.
I hope to see you at a regional meeting soon.
Tom
Tom Saunders is the International Chair for IPPS. He is also part of the Saunders Brothers Family, working and managing Saunders Brothers and their wholesale nursery, orchard, and farm market in Piney River, Virginia, USA.
2026 Upcoming Events
Regional Conferences:
Southern Africa: March 3 – 5, 2026
New Zealand: April 30 – May 3, 2026
Australia: May 26 – 29, 2026
Eastern Region of North America: September 22 – 25, 2026
Western Region of North America: likely October 6 – 9, 2026
Europe: September 30 – October 2, 2026
Southern Region of North America: October 18 – 22, 2026
International Tour 2026: Hosted by the Eastern Region of North America, the long tour will start on
September 11, 2026, with the short tour starting on September 18,2026, and both tours concluding on
September 25, 2026. More information will be in an upcoming newsletter or you can check the ERNA website at:
https://ena.ipps.org/event/2026-international-tour/
*Please note these dates could change as regions finalize their conference details. Visit your regional website through ipps.org for the most up-to-date information!
Proceedings Highlight
As a society dedicated to plant propagation and production, our regional conferences cover a wide range of topics, from plant propagation techniques to greenhouse and nursery management, as well as valuable insights gained across generations. Our extensive Proceedings library reflects this diversity. For example, in Volume 68, Greg McPhee shared ‘A Decrepit Old Propagator Found New Life by Going Back to Basics’, while in Volume 74, Tom Saunders (our current International IPPS Chair), presented ‘Thinking Outside the Box(wood)’. Both papers, among many others, highlight lessons learned over decades and demonstrate how to adapt and grow a business in an ever-changing marketplace.
Access to Volume 74 is exclusive to members so click below to join and unlock this valuable resource!