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H. 'Allan P. McConnell' and Mr. Allan P. McConnell . . . . By Ernie Flippo (based on phone conversations with APM and several of his contemporaries)
Congratulations to Allan P. McConnell of Rumford, RI, who celebrated his 90th birthday on January 26, 1997. For many years an active and respected member of several plant societies, Allan has wide-ranging interests in irises, daylilies, hostas, and pomology, or fruit-growing. Today he lives in a high-rise apartment building, away from his beloved garden, but he still takes an interest in following developments in the horticultural world through nursery catalogs and plant society publications. Despite the infirmities which age has brought, Allan retains his appreciation for plants and fond memories of gardens and gardening friends he has known over the years. Hosta "Allan P. McConnell" started as a seedling grown by Allan McConnell in the 1970s. From a batch of seed obtained from the American Hosta Society, Allan grew sixty-four seedlings. Of these, only one was variegated. This seedling stabilized to become a small-leafed, white-margined hosta with a compact habit. Mildred Seaver, recognizing merit in this plant, encouraged Allan to introduce it. By 1980, with a generous helping of Mildred's gentle persuasion, Allan agreed to send a clump of this hosta in his name to the American Hosta Society convention in Minnesota, with Mildred. Mildred and Paul Aden worked together to divide the clump into 25 pieces for sale at auction to benefit the society. A virtue Allan does claim for this hosta is that its root structure allows easy division. Mildred Seaver went on to submit the registration paperwork for this cultivar, which she says is more than she did for many of her own prized introductions, due to the press of time. H. 'Allan P. McConnell' has found favor as a landscape plant. The 1996 Hosta Finder shows H. 'APM' as carried by 24 of the 36 mail-order catalogs surveyed. When Klehm's Nursery was featured several years ago on the PBS show The Victory Garden, Roy Klehm mentioned only one hosta that day, a favorite of his, H. 'Allan P. McConnell." Allan, modest as always, says that he prefers a showier, larger cultivar, H. 'Sagae'(formerly fluctuans 'Variegated') as his favorite hosta. He particularly enjoys Tony Avent's Plant Delights Nursery catalog for the lively and humorous writing in it. Allan's contacts with the Lowell nursery of Elizabeth Nesmith provided a doorway into the world of hostas for him, circa 1964. There he was introduced to Frances Williams' hostas among irises and daylilies. This world would widen for him with subsequent contact with pioneering New England hosta aficionados such as Mr. & Mrs. Parkman Shaw, Mrs. Williams, Leola Fraim, and Carl Calderara, to name a few. He remembers with pleasure the many visits he paid to hosta, daylily, and iris gardens, with dear friends such as Mildred Seaver. Recalling orchards he liked to travel to, Allan mentioned that the apple he prizes above others is the large variety called "Mutsu", known as "Crispin" in England. Besides the cultivar that bears his name, Allan made another enduring contribution to the world of hostas. At Heritage Plantation in Sandwich, MA, gifts of a collection of mature clumps of hostas in 1984 founded a hosta display garden. Many of these hostas came directly from Carl Calderara!s garden and others indirectly from Allan McConnell's garden. Allan's daylily friend, Don Marvin of Mattapoisett, MA, donated hosta cultivars given to him by Allan. When Mr. Calderara passed away, Heritage Plantation memorialized him by naming the hosta garden for him. |
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AAA Ornamentals,
8S953 Jericho Road, P.O. Box 277 ~ Big Rock ~ Illinois |