Planning the Development of Living Plant Collections in Botanical Gardens and Arboretums

If botanical gardens and arboretums are to be successful in serving their constituents in future decades, the directors, curators and administrators of these gardens must critically examine the purposes, programs and living plant collections of their individual institutions. collect plants at random. accessioning only those plants relevant to their purposes and programs? No longer can they afford to But how do they restrict themselves to The author consider-s both the theoretical arid the practical aspects of planning Living plant collection development. Examples are given of current planning methods used by personnelin selected botanical gardens aad arboretums in North America and overseas, and in selected American museums and libraries. In Chapter IV, following some basic guidelines for developing a policy for the living plant collections in any garden, the author explains the process followed in establishing guidelines for such a policy at the Arthur Hoyt Scott Horticultural Foundation, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. contains details of the preliminary work done on the evaluation of the present plant collections at the Scott Horticultural Foundation