FOREWORD AND PREFACE

FOREWORD

   The papers contained in this volume of Acta Horticulturae report the proceedings of Symposium 19 titled ‘Elegant Science in Floriculture’. Each of the four days had a different theme namely, Biodiversity (Where do they come from? Issues in germplasm, biodiversity and new floral crops); Physiology, (physiology of flowering and flowers); Post-harvest (After the flower – Quality issues); and Biotechnology (Floriculture’s future in biotechnology). Each of the four themes was introduced by one (or 2) invited speaker(s) who presented a broad perspective on the state of knowledge within the particular discipline of floriculture. Due to the relatively large number of submissions, and the limited amount of time, we allowed 8 oral presentations and the remainder as posters. Some of the poster presenters were asked to give a summary of their research findings in a special discussion period. In total, we had 123 submissions of which 26 were in biodiversity, 25 in physiology, 26 in nutrition, 20 in post-harvest, and 26 in biotechnology. At the final day of the Congress, the participants were able to visit a number of commercial greenhouses and the Vineland campus of the University of Guelph.
   We like to express our thanks to the 9 members of the International Scientific Committee, the editors and the reviewers who helped with the editing of the submitted papers in order to improve the manuscript for this Acta Horticulturae, as well as the financial contribution by the Canadian Greenhouse Conference.

Co-conveners: Theo J. Blom and Richard A. Criley

PREFACE

   The papers contained in this volume of Acta Horticulturae report the proceedings of a symposium on ‘Elegant Science in Floriculture’. Keynote speakers and authors of selected contributed oral and poster presentations were given the opportunity to submit a manuscript for publication.
   These manuscripts were reviewed by the symposium editors and other referees. Only those papers judged suitable for publication following the authors consideration of reviewer suggestions appear in this volume of Acta Horticulturae.
   The ISHS acknowledges and appreciates the contribution of all editors and reviewers. They have made a significant contribution to assuring the quality of this publication.

The ISHS Board of Directors