At the beginning of the 21st century, John Weagle and Ken Shannik led an effort to propagate some of Joseph Brueckner’s rhododendron hybrids with an eye to assessing their suitability in Atlantic Canada. Brueckner, a long-time Mississauga, Ontario resident, had done some hybridizing while in Fredericton, prior to moving to Ontario. Brueckner’s daughter, Kristina Woodward, provided cuttings from the gardens in Mississauga to Dick Steele at Bayport Nursery. These were rooted, and in 2002 planted out at a number of garden locations in Nova Scotia. One collection of about 60 rhododendron hybrids was planted on Morris Island, in coastal Yarmouth county. John Brett will show photos of many of these plants taken in the Spring of 2014, 12 years after planting. He will also supply an update on the other Brueckner test collections, and a brief bio of this important but little known Canadian plant breeder, with ties to Atlantic Canada.
