Book review – by Tish Varney

International Dendrology Society:

Yearbook 2023

Chronicling the 2023 activities of an active society like the International Dendrology Society (IDS) invites an appreciation of the rich and varied environments of trees around the world as well as the academic study that trees and shrubs invite. The society “Yearbook 23” as it is known is divided into distinct sections as follows:

-Reports

-Dendrology

-Tours

-Study Days

-Gardens & Arboreta

-Book Reviews

-Index

Under the Dendrology section, scientific reports address the “Tree of the Year’ (Magnolia denudate}, Ring study of Sequoia sempervirens . Also, debuting in 2023 is a new service “Trees and Shrubs” online, a free-to-access online encyclopedia of woody plants cultivated in temperate gardens worldwide.

Tours

Any armchair traveler would love the whole Tours section reporting eight wonderful hosted locations from March to November to places liked Madeira, Tuscany, and New Zealand to name a few. The tours last from one week to one month and take visitor to many private gardens, National Parks, nurseries and palaces.

Study Days

This section is spirit-kin to our own Tree Study Group in Durango where a specific focus brings the group to examine the following:

Winter Interest in February

Rhododendrons in May,

Urban Treescape and Quercus in July and finally,

Untangling Sorbus in November. All the study locations take place in the UK.

Gardens and Arboreta

This section first focused on the history and overview of the Polly Hill Arboretum located on Martha’s Vineyard. Programs include conservation, education, and curator training. This former sheep farm shows the transformation possible to “share beauty, mystery, and usefulness of plants”.

Hurricane Otis in Acapulco gives a counterpoint focus of the rescue work by in the Acapulco Botanical Garden ravage by the Hurricane Otis in October 2023. Luckily, many volunteers came to the rescue bringing private trucks, pumps, chainsaws and extra hands to clear away debris. An account of the restoration of the garden will appear in a future yearbook.

Book Reviews

Note: Unlike this book review, those submitted to the Yearbook are well written and considerably shorter.

The Yearbook offered seven book reviews. The following is a sample of titles:

The Lost Rainforests of Britain by Guy Shrubsole, The World Atlas of Trees and Forests: Exploring Earth’s Forest Ecosystems by Shugart, White et al. and The Essential Tree Selection Guide, by Sjoman & Anderson.

Finally, the Index includes Gardens, Arboreta and Nurseries also with a guide to indicate illustrations.