Palermo: afterword and announcement: Maurizio Vecchia appointed PSI Ambassador
Those lucky enough to attend the PSI conference in Palermo from 24th to 27th September will look back on it as a wonderfully enjoyable and happy event. For its success, we were particularly indebted to Francesco Landi and Natalia Vecchia, who put in a great deal of work on behalf of, and in honour of, her father, Maurizio.
Those unable to attend may have missed a further accolade to Maurizio. At the AGM it was announced that the management committee, on behalf of PSI, had appointed him an Ambassador of PSI, in recognition of his lifetime contribution to the missions of the society and to Passiflora in general, creating many classic cultivars and so beautifully documenting them on his website along with other cultivars and species. He joins our two other ambassadors, Ron Boender, our founder, and John Vanderplank, our President.
The photograph by Martin Wettges above shows Maurizio with one of his own cultivars, ‘Guglielmo Betto’, at the nursery of Paolo and Santo D’Aleo, who together with their family kindly hosted us on the Saturday. We are most grateful to them for their generosity.
We are exploring options for our 2027 conference, and are currently focussing on Northern Peru end July/early August. More on this as well as a full report on Palermo in due course. Watch this space !
First published on 11 October, 2026.