Data’s Impact

By Chris Keeney

Mary Salomon’s passion for research and science was evident during her years as a chemist at Lubrizol, which led her to develop patents and become a department head of data management. That passion serves her well in her volunteer role with the Research and Living Collections committee under the leadership of Dr. David Burke.

During a presentation to the committee by Dr. Juliana Mederios, a need for better data management systems at HF&G was identified.

“I know the value that this brings to an organization.” said Salomon. “And then I thought, well, who’s going to pay for it?” Salomon combined this unique interest supporting data management with a savvy way to donate. “There’s a way for older people where you can contribute money from an IRA and not have to pay taxes on it.” Salomon noted.

With more than 50 years of valuable breeding data and a manageable footprint, the David G. Leach Research Station was identified to pilot a data management and mapping project for HF&G. Salomon’s donation will provide for an intern as well as GPS equipment that will map the collection to down to 2-centimeter accuracy. The project will be of immediate assistance at the Leach station with the potential for global ramifications.

“There’s a lot of potential for impact. Immediately, it’s going to help me do my job more efficiently,” said Connor Ryan, Rhododendron Collections Manager. “We will also have the ability to eventually have all the information we collect at Leach in an accessible way that could live on the website. The potential is there for all kinds of scholarship in addition to the breeding work we do. We just have to get the word out there, and this project will allow us to do so.” sporadically along the steps down into the Japanese Garden and along the Woodland Garden outer path.

It all comes down to an equation. The right combination of organizational need, enthusiasm, savvy giving and timeliness could lead to a perfect solution for HF&G’s data management.

For many rhododendrons, you can enjoy their foliage year-round. In spring, I love to see the contrast between the foliage and flowers. While exploring at the arboretum, please do go off the main path up and down the rolling hills of the Layer Garden and Beech Knoll. You may stumble upon the bed of solely rhododendron species I like to call the “freaks and geeks” bed. All plants there are rhododendron species, meaning they occur naturally in the mountains and Forests of the Northern Hemisphere. Most plants there will have you reconsidering what you thought was a rhododendron. This bed gives you a glimpse into the incredible foliar diversity of the genus and our future aspirations for the rhododendron gardens as we build up the plant conservation and scientific research components of the collection.

At the arboretum, you can also view rhododendrons around Blueberry Pond, in the Wildflower Garden and just outside the arboretum Visitors Center. They also are subtly planted in seemingly every outdoor space at the botanical garden — you just have to look.

Enjoy these spaces at your own leisure or come to one of our spring tours and open days. Field Station Specialist Jing Wang and I will be hosting open houses at the David G. Leach Research Station in May. The station is seldom open to the public, so

At the arboretum, drifts of evergreen azaleas carry you through the Eliot and in

Rhododendron this is your opportunity to see one of HF&G’s hidden gems and learn about the important work we do. At the arboretum, Horticulturists Mary Lineberger and MaryAnn Thesing and I will also be leading a tour through the Helen S. Layer Rhododendron Garden near the end of the month.

Spring is a wonderful time to enjoy one of our largest and most valuable collections and the rest HF&G has to offer. The plants mentioned here are just scratching the surface. We hope to see you here!

Furthering our Research

Leach Research Station has a collection of over 1,400 rhododendrons developed and used by our rhododendron breeding program throughout the last 50+ years. Through the help of a generous gift from Mary Salomon, we are beginning to map this collection and organize our breeding data into a more user-friendly format. We have hired an intern, Phil Sturm, to assist with the project. The project will allow him to practice skills learned during and after college while creating something useful for us. Through Mary’s support, we will be able to generate a map and dataset comprised of all the plants at the station and everything we know about them. This will make our operations at the station much more efficient and allow us to make the Leach collection more front-facing. The more people know about the collection, the more potential there is for collaboration, scholarship and sharing.

Meet The Staff

Connor Ryan is the Rhododendron Collections Manager at Holden Forests & Gardens, which means he has a hand in all things rhododendron at HF&G. Prior to coming to Holden, he earned a bachelor’s degree in Plant Science from Auburn University and a master’s degree in Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics from the University of Georgia. In the growing season, he can most frequently be found at Holden’s David G. Leach Research Station, where he leads an ornamental plant breeding program and stewards a vast collection of named and unnamed rhododendron hybrids. Connor started at Holden in spring 2019.