Saratoga Hort is closing
- Subject: Saratoga Hort is closing
- From: &* T* <t*@pacbell.net>
- Date: Mon, 9 Feb 2004 07:27:53 -0800
- Thread-index: AcPvIUkCX6Yg0kqPQ+SUMfvYpHzZbg==
Half the plants in my yard came from this place. It will be sorely missed.
Bracey
San Jose CA
UPROOTING A PIONEER
PLANT RESEARCHERS TO SELL SAN MARTIN SITE
By Holly Hayes
San Jose Mercury News
The Saratoga Horticultural Research Foundation -- a non-profit organization
that since 1952 has introduced varieties of trees and ornamental plants now
common in California gardens -- is closing its three-acre research facility
in San Martin.
The foundation was for many years the go-to place for discoveries and
improvements in the plant world, but gradually its role has been eclipsed by
giant growers such as Hines and Monrovia, which do their own proprietary
research, development and marketing.
The board of the non-profit is seeking a buyer who will continue to use the
land for horticultural purposes. It is liquidating its nursery stock and
trying to figure out a new role for itself.
``It's the end of an era in many ways,'' said Don Dillon Sr., founder of
Four Winds Growers in Fremont and president of the Saratoga foundation
board. ``This has been a one-of-a-kind outfit in the whole horticultural
world. Saratoga Hort developed new plants and then just gave them away. No
patents. Oh, and we'd tell you how to grow them. It was pretty altruistic.''
The nursery industry in California ``has made millions off the work of
Saratoga Hort,'' said Dillon, who has served on the board for nearly 20
years. ``But there was never any intention to make a lot of money -- it's a
non-profit, after all -- but you do have to find a way to finance the
research.''
Dillon said the organization, which moved to San Martin in 1984, has
struggled to keep going with support from memberships, grants and monthly
plant sales.
Proceeds from the sale of the property would be managed in a trust by the
board, said Dillon, who declined to give the sale price. The mission --
introducing and advancing new and improved landscape plants for California
-- remains the same, he said, but it will be accomplished in new ways.
``We could contract with other growers to continue the propagation research;
we don't need the facilities to do that,'' Dillon said. ``We could develop a
scholarship program for horticulture students and help train the next
generation. There are all sorts of new adventures.''
Still, the closing is bittersweet.
``No one was doing what Saratoga Hort was doing when we started. The
universities were all about pure research. The arboretums were the
preservationists, but not noted for new introductions,'' Dillon said. ``That
was our niche.''
Dillon said he hopes that the foundation's extensive library and a trove of
research on plant development can find a new home.
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IF YOU'RE INTERESTED
For information on the Saratoga Horticultural Research Foundation in San
Martin, call (408) 779-3303 or see www.saratogahortfoundation.org.
