From the Editor

This past winter was a real hard one for me. Health issues, a family death, and a January and February where it just "snowed and blowed" in Idaho buried me under a pile of work as well as a pile of snow. Fortunately, my prognosis is excellent, we finally have this spring issue out, the Olsynium (Sisyrinchium) is starting to bloom, and the snow is almost gone.

During those long, cold, dark days of winter, as I reflected back on a couple of meetings I had attended, it was hard for me to believe the stark pronunciations about pending effects of global warming, or better stated, global climate change. But, it's happening. According to some models, the 2000 ponderosa pine I've planted near my house will eventually be goners, replaced by seas of more drought-tolerant grasses. We can argue about the cause, but the effects are coming, and at some point it will greatly affect our native plant communities, and therefore, our vocations and joys. In the current world where we humans have divided up the natural world into bits and pieces, many of our native plants no longer have coterminous ranges. Their pathways to appropriate new locations, where the climate may be better suited for them, are stymied. It will be up to us, and to our children and grandchildren, to help them along to their new homes. The task will require new information about ranges, genetics, propagation, and ecosystem restoration. We will need more resources for the scientists to supply us with appropriate answers. As growers, we can start helping the process along right now. Share your propagation information, combine your knowledge with others; together our vast amount of practical experience can lay the foundation for future generations. Take the opportunity to regularly use the Native Plant Network (www.nativeplantnetwork.org), volunteer an article to NPJ, or make a presentation at an International Plant Propagators Society meeting. Our profession, and humankind, will be better off because of it.

As always, this issue contains a useful selection of articles. For example, subirrigation is a great way to use less water in the nursery, inoculating with mycorrhizal fungi is easy to do and can improve plant growth, portable refrigerators can maintain quality of collected seeds and cuttings, and, if you're planning to submit an article to NPJ and share your nursery experiences, read the article on digital photography—we'd love to use your outstanding photographs.

On the cover: Bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva D.K. Bailey [Pinaceae]) photographed in the White Mountains of eastern California. Photo by Kent Loeffler