Introduction to the Plant Introduction Scheme of the Botanical Garden of the University of British Columbia (PISBG)

The University of British Columbia Botanical Garden Plant Introduction Scheme (PISBG) has been introducing and recommending plants since 1985. Roy Taylor, then Director of the Botanical Garden established the program in 1980 to foster strong links with the local nursery industry and provide the public with a continuing source of interesting and reliable landscape plants. The UBC Botanical Garden's extensive collections of temperate woody and herbaceous plants are the source for the majority of the introductions.

Our past Director, Bruce Macdonald, was responsible for most of the nursery industry groundwork for the PISBG. Bruce can also be credited both in expanding the program internationally and in including a category for recommended plants in the introduction scheme. His close association with horticulturists and nursery owners in the UK allowed us to bring a number of exceptional plants into our garden, trial them and eventually propagate and distribute them to local nurseries.

Although we can point to excellent sales for many of our introductions and boast of consistent support by our industry partners, revenues to the Botanical Garden from introductions have tailed off significantly over the last few years. To address this problem, our industry partners-primarily Vancouver area nursery growers, led by the BCLNA, our local nursery trade organization - have formed a company with which to administer the introduction program. The company will collect and share with the Botanical Garden all royalties and license fees, and will determine production levels and develop marketing strategies for all introductions and recommendations.

Two of our first introductions Arctostaphylos uva-ursi 'Vancouver Jade' and Genista pilosa 'Vancouver Gold' were seedling selections given to us by Vancouver Island alpine plant enthusiast, E. H. Lohbrunner. 'Vancouver Jade' was nominated because of its heavy flowering, lush growth and consistent rooting under mist. 'Vancouver Jade' also performs well in Vancouver's moist, cool weather, and so has become an extremely popular groundcover plant in the Pacific Northwest.

'Vancouver Gold' is another excellent landscape plant, and was selected because of its fruitless habit. We have discovered to our dismay, however, that some Vancouver area nurseries are propagating a form of G. pilosa where seedpods form normally, and calling it 'Vancouver Gold.'

A number of our later introductions were wild collected British Columbia natives. Rosa woodsii 'Kimberley' was collected by one of our former staff scientists, Wilf Nicholls, outside Kimberley, in south-eastern BC, and Penstemon fruticosus 'Purple Haze' was found in the mountains near Whistler, north of Vancouver. 'Purple Haze' and an evergreen blueberry, Vaccinium ovatum 'Thunderbird' were both collected by Al Rose, the former curator of the BC Native Garden. 'Thunderbird' is an outstanding selection that shows good upright growth and berries that are much larger and bluer than those from typical seedlings.

Our collections of Asian plants are an incredible resource for introductions. To date, half a dozen plants derived from our Asian collections have made their way into the introduction program. Clematis chiisanensis 'Lemon Bells' is a selection we made in the garden from seedlings derived from Korean seed. The flowers are significantly larger and the stems darker than typical seedlings. Clematis koreana is another related species and we have made crosses between them. Both species are not overly robust, and are probably ideal for containers and patio gardening. Rubus pentalobus is an evergreen groundcover native to Taiwan. Richard Pearson, a UBC anthropology professor and amateur botanist, gave us seed he collected there, atop Mt. Morrison. Our selection, which is amber fruited, appears to be hardier than other forms, but benefits from overhead protection in the winter.

Veronica peduncularis 'Georgia Blue' is a recent UBC recommended plant. A first rate perennial that produces clear blue flowers in spring and fall, it was collected by Roy Lancaster in the Caucasus region of the Russian Federation. Other Asian recommended plant species include Microbiota decussata, a shade tolerant juniper relative and Lilium formosanum var. pricei, a dwarf lily easily grown from seed, and producing flowers at an early age.

Peter Dummer, formerly the propagator at Hillier Nursery, is pictured here with the hybrid smokebush he named for his wife Grace. Cotinus 'Grace' is a robust shrub showing excellent colour throughout the season. Peter Dummer is also known for his hybrid Phygelius cultivars, here pictured in the Contemporary Garden at UBC. While recommended plants are not a source of income - UBC normally supplies our industry partners with recommended plants at cost - we feel it is our role to make good plants as widely available as possible.

The Botanical Garden has derived plants from deliberate breeding efforts of its own , such as the popular Mandarin honeysuckle, developed by Wilf Nicholls. Mandarin is a hybrid of the hardy Lonicera × brownii 'Dropmore Scarlet' and the spectacular, long-tubed, open throated, Chinese L. tragophylla. 'Mandarin' is vigorous and hardy, and extremely popular across North America.