Terry Hatch - Award of Merit

Tonight it gives me great pleasure to be able to talk to you all about the recipient of the IPPS award for our Award of Merit.

This person is well known throughout New Zealand and the international propagating circles.

A brief history of this person:

He was born in London in 1938 during the Second World War, the war which would destroy his first attempt to grow plants when a dudel bug bomb exploded and destroyed a planting of mustard seedlings.

In 1946 the family moved from London to Essex where he would help in 2 nearby nurseries digging up gooseberries and in the tomato houses. He left school as a young teenager not achieving any senior school certificates and got his first job in parks where he gained the art of digging snow, washing clay pots and growing bedding plants.

A short stint in the Royal Air Force saw him travel overseas and see more plants and gave him a desire to travel and leave England.

He met his wife at a local harriers meeting club and in 1963 they were married and left England on a boat bound for New Zealand.

The newlyweds settled in Manurewa and he got his first job working for John Pettit. He began growing his own plants in a tiny backyard. In 1973 they moved to Pukekohe where he formed his own fledgling nursery and named it Joy Plants.

By now his passion for plants and conservation had grown and bulbs and perennials were the main crops grown. His passion for plants had h

Over the years he has bred many plants including Helleborous orientalis Joy Bouquet, Sophora Dragons Gold and Phormium Chocolate Cookie - so the list goes on.

A love for conservation, he has been involved in ecological restoration projects on Mercury and Little Barrier Islands. These awakened his appreciation for the beauty and fragility of nature. Working as a volunteer has brought about the need to grow rare plants and work out how to grow the difficult ones and send them back to their place of origin. He continues to pollinate plants that he may never see flower or come to maturity in his lifetime but when something does happen, excitement happens.
He is also an author of books, one being a poetry book called Grandad went to Africa. This was initially aimed at raising funds for children in Africa, and was written on a five day period on a bus from Cape Town to an area known for its spectacular wild flowers.

He was a founding member of IPPS New Zealand attending the first meeting held in Hamilton by a handful of keen plantsmen. This would lead to an involvement as a committee member, Chairman and in late 2007/2008 as International President. He has also been involved with the Chelsea Flower Show setting up the winning entry.

45 years plus of nursery work and 70 plus years of growing plants; at the age of 72 you cannot keep him out of the potting shed, or stop him from collecting seed or putting in cuttings and trying something different. He celebrates his 73rd birthday with his IPPS family at this conference which shows his commitment to all things plants.

And so it gives me great pleasure on behalf of all IPPS here tonight to present TERRY HATCH with an IPPS Award of Merit.

Coming Up

IPPS Interantional Japanese Tour October 2012

News

Ellaby Martin - 50 years a member!

Australian Nursery Scene as seen by Bruce Higgs

IPPS on LinkedIN

IPPS Proceedings on PubHort Website

IPPS New Zealand's on Facebook

Black book papers available on the internet

Never spoken at conference and you'd like some help - Coaching is available

Archive of notable news items

Terry Hatch - Award of Merit

Coming Up

News

Sponsors