Fw: We are so sorry to announce ......

> Marg,
> I totally agree with every point you make!! & was a member of RHS for
> several years-using the discounts offered to great advantage!I would like
to
> add that the other 2 summer shows _Hampton Court & Tatton Park are also
> excellent--& the  seasonal county show are just so much fun!! You can't
> imagine the vegs...wish I had a slide scanner The RHS can do no wrong IMO
&
> horticulture is a very respected profession in the UK..I will rejoin this
> year if I am able to travel
> SAin SA---NOW about 32 degrees!!!
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Marge Talt <mtalt@HORT.NET>
> To: <AHS_GARDENING@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM>
> Sent: Friday, January 24, 2003 2:17 AM
> Subject: Re: We are so sorry to announce ......
>
>
> > Well, Kitty, I've been a member of RHS since about '85 and AHS for
> > about as long or maybe a bit longer.
> >
> > I find the RHS 'The Garden' worth every penny of the membership fee;
> > it is an excellent publication and has been for many, many years.
> > Their website improves with every iteration and provides a lot of
> > great information without requiring a password - it is available to
> > everyone and their goal is to put even more of their resources online
> > for the benefit of the entire horticultural world.
> >
> > RHS is a society devoted to plants.  They have one of the greatest
> > (if not 'the' greatest) horticultural libraries in the world and any
> > member, located anywhere can ask for and receive information about
> > plant related issues and receive answers from their scientific staff.
> >  They publish, among other things, the Plant Finder, which, if not
> > useful in locating plants for us in the US, still provides the most
> > update nomenclature resource for genera, species and cultivars
> > available in one spot - AHS ought to be doing this for us in the US,
> > but is not.
> >
> > RHS encourages the national collection scheme - something sadly
> > lacking in the US and which AHS ought to be working on, but is not as
> > far as I can tell.   If we are so lucky as to be able to take a trip
> > to the UK, there are splendid RHS gardens all over the country to
> > visit and major garden shows in spring, summer and autumn.  Chelsea
> > garden show is worth making an effort to see; it is one of a kind;
> > absolutely nothing in the US even comes close.  I may be in error,
> > but do not think AHS sponsors any garden shows and the only garden
> > they maintain is the one around the headquarters and it, while
> > pleasant, is not really worth a lot of trouble to go see....it should
> > be so much better as the show garden of our national horticultural
> > organization.  The garden at J. Raulston Arboretum in Raleigh, while
> > small and young, is much more interesting from a plant standpoint as
> > well as a planting standpoint.
> >
> > In contrast, while 'The American Gardener'  does keep improving, it
> > has a very long way to go to catch up with 'The Garden'.  The AHS
> > site, which is an improvement on the initial one, has dead links to
> > its FAQ page, what's new and its site map - you get a 404 not found
> > on this server error.  I have not found any actual information about
> > plants; there might be something on the members only page, but it is
> > not accessible - will not accept this year's new password (an idea
> > that is really dumb in the first place IMO).  About the only really
> > useful information on the site is the link list and its got dead
> > links and is fairly limited compared to a lot of other garden link
> > lists on the web.  AHS, as far as I can see, is not, primarily, an
> > organization devoted to plants - it appears to be more interested in
> > "programs".
> >
> > I invite a web site comparison:
> >
> > AHS  http://www.ahs.org/index.html
> > RHS http://www.rhs.org.uk/
> >
> > Now, admittedly, RHS has been going longer (over 100 years) and has
> > more members (over 200 thousand world-wide) and more resources, but I
> > also think it has a focus that is more useful to gardeners...namely
> > plants.... plants don't care what country researches, grows or writes
> > about them and, if the information is excellent, neither do I:-)
> >
> > I have noticed in recent issues, articles about US gardens and/or
> > plants, as well, as they have a large US membership...so it's not
> > solely UK focused.  There have been excellent articles about South
> > African plants as well as other nations.  We grow plants in our
> > gardens from all over the world and detailed information about them
> > is always useful.  I found out about the reclassification of
> > Cimicifuga to Actea in 'The Garden' from an article written by one of
> > the team who did the research...the article included the new clad for
> > the genus among other information of a depth I have never seen in any
> > article in 'The American Gardener'.
> >
> > I am not sure what benefits AHS offers that RHS does not offer.  The
> > seed RHS seed exchange used to be fantastic (before the US seed phyto
> > stuff went into effect; now, thanks to our USDA,  it costs US members
> > when it used to be free, but it's still a marvelous list).  I have
> > quite a few plants in my garden started from RHS seed.
> >
> > The email list was really the only 'benefit' that AHS offered (other
> > than the mag) that I can use (I, too, have no use for expensive trips
> > to assorted meetings that do not focus on plants) and the list is
> > being dropped as it is not considered important to the society.  The
> > seeds offered in the small exchange list are very mundane and I
> > either grow them or don't want to. I once spent a lot of time
> > gathering, cleaning and labeling a large assortment of seed and sent
> > it in to that exchange to find it was not listed, and my donation was
> > not acknowledged, so that ended my participation in that exchange
> > from the donor standpoint.
> >
> > I have maintained my AHS membership because I felt I should support
> > our US national hort. organization; not because it was of extreme
> > value compared to RHS.  If I had to choose, I'd keep RHS; no contest.
> >
> > In all the years I've paid my AHS dues, I've never gotten a WFF $20
> > gift. The dues for AHS cost me $45US a year, only slightly less than
> > RHS with the exchange rate.
> >
> > Now, after my little rant, my question is how did you get such a
> > break on your membership fee for AHS?
> >
> > Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
> > mtalt@hort.net
> > Editor:  Gardening in Shade
> > -----------------------------------------------
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> > ----------
> > > From: Kitty <kmrsy@earthlink.net>
> > >
> > > Libby,
> > >
> > > Re>> I did appreciate having a benefit I actually used (I am not a
> > phone person so the hotline has less appeal, plus it doesn't provide
> > multiple opinions/experiences or discussion)<<
> > >
> > > You definitely raise a valid point.  I subscribed to RHS one year,
> > but had to quit because all benefits, save the magazine and seed
> > exchange, were only available overseas.  With AHS, I only benefit
> > from the magazine and seed exchange, and GIS, becuase I do not
> > travel.  Some of us cannot afford to attend symposiums at Riverfarm
> > that involve hotel stays at $150 a night.  Or group trips to gardens
> > of Eden off the coast of anywhere.  However, I  think the $15/yr
> > membership to AHS is worthwhile for the benefits of which I can avail
> > myself.  (That's $15 after subtracting the $20 WFF gift) Were it a
> > flat $35, with no gift, I don't think I could justify it.
> > >
> > > Kitty

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