Farwest Show announces 2012 seminar lineup

Officials from the 2012 Farwest Show today announced the docket of professional seminars for this year’s event, according to Farwest Show director Allan Niemi.

“Farwest seminars are designed to provide some of the most valuable professional development in the nursery, landscape and garden center businesses,” Niemi said. “And this year’s lineup is one of our best in a decade.”

Among the 45 speakers conducting 29 seminars throughout all three days of the show, highlights include award-winning email marketer and humorist Michael Katz, who will speak on “E-Newsletters that Work”; nursery industry experts Mark Krautmann, Keith Warren and Nancy Buley fill out a panel on “The Wide World of Maples”; customer-retention pro Anne Obarski will present “New Xpectations of Customer Service in 2012”; garden center business consultant Sid Raisch will speak on “Inventory and Price Strategies for Healthy Margins-The Merchant Advantage”; horticulture professors Dr. Raymond Cloyd will conduct a seminar on “Pesticides and Biological Control: Are These Two Strategies Compatible?”; and Dr. Charlie Hall will talk on “Cost Accounting- How to Make the Most Out of Your Bottom Line.”

For the full schedule of 2012 Farwest seminars visit http://www.farwestshow.com/seminarschedule.shtml.

The 2012 Farwest Show will take place August 23-25 at the Oregon Convention Center, in Portland, Oregon. The Farwest Show is produced by the Oregon Association of Nurseries (OAN), a trade organization that represents and serves the interests of the ornamental horticulture industry. Any revenue realized by the OAN is reinvested into the industry through education, research, marketing support and government relations. For registration and more information about the 2012 Farwest Show seminar schedule, nursery tours, show hours and other features, visit www.farwestshow.com or call 503-682-5089.

The Oregon Association of Nurseries, based in Wilsonville, represents more than 1,100 wholesale growers, retailers, landscapers and suppliers. Oregon's ornamental horticulture industry is among the state's largest agricultural commodities, with annual sales of $676 million. Oregon’s nursery industry is a traded sector; nearly 75 percent of the nursery plants grown in Oregon are shipped out of state. For information, visit http://www.oan.org or call 503-682-5089.

Hinkley's former estate available at auction

Are you in the market for a 15-acre, world-class private botanical garden and estate with three residences, greenhouse facilities and more? You could do worse than Heronswood Gardens, which is located on the Kitsap Peninsula near Kingston, Wash. The former Mecca for Northwest gardeners, created by plant explorer Dan Hinkley and his parter Robert Jones, closed in 2006 after Hinkley and Jones sold it to the Burpee Seed Co. some six years earlier. The estate, previously offered for $1.8 million, will be auctioned on June 15. A minimum bid of $749,000 gets you in the game. There's more information here.

NOTE: If you merely want to see the estate, not buy it, it will be open June 30, July 28 and Sept. 29 through The Garden Conservancy's Open Days program.

Minnesota enlists dogs against emerald ash borer

The invasive emerald ash borer, a 1/2-inch beetle, has carved a path of destruction through the American Midwest and the East Coast. But now Minnesota officials are trying something new to combat the pest: trained, bug-sniffing dogs.

Rare vine blooms in Canby

Dan Heims of Terra Nova Nurseries sent us these photos of a Jade Vine (Strongylodon macrobotrys) in bloom at one of Terra Nova's greenhouses. The blooms sport a highly unusual shade of green. "It is amongst the rarest of vines," he said. "I saw it once in the Caribbean and literally was having to back hummingbirds away from it to get a look at it. It is one of the rarest colors in nature. Only three or four plants have it."

The unusual color caused Heims to covet the plant but it was quite some time before he was able to actually acquire one. He located it at Paul Hammock Orchid Estate in Miami, on a back table marked "not for sale." The owner nonetheless agreed to sell him a small plant. "I put it every year in different pots and prayed every year it would bloom, and after five years, it finally bloomed," Heims said. "It will bloom every year from now on."

Heims is willing to share the plant with those willing to support one of his favorite causes, the OSU Master Gardeners. Just $25 will get you your very own Jade Vine in a four-inch pot, with all proceeds going to the cause. If interested, contact Dan at dan(at)terranovanurseries.com. "It's one of the plants that keeps me in horitculture," he said. "I love being blown away." If you purchase one, keep in mind it is a tropical plant and hardy only to 15 C — you either need a greenhouse or to live in the tropics.

2012 Farwest Show announces themed nursery tours

The 2012 Farwest Show will present three special themed nursery tours — “Gen(i)us Acer,” “In the Shadow of Mt. Hood,” and “New Plant Trials.” The tours are scheduled in the two days immediately preceding the show — Tuesday and Wednesday, Aug. 21–22. The show itself will be Thursday–Saturday, Aug. 23–25, at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Ore.

“We’ve always structured our tours to serve all the major subsets of our industry — retailers, growers, landscape pros and plant buyers,” Farwest Show Director Allan Niemi said. “This year is no exception, and the tours cover a substantial geographical area of Oregon’s nursery and horticultural industry.” Here are details on the three tours:

• “Gen(i)us Acer” will take place Aug. 21. The tour will complement the two educational displays on maples that will be on Farwest the show floor. There will be stops at five different nurseries.
• “In the Shadow of Mt. Hood,” on Aug. 22, will feature small, medium and large conifer and shade tree growers, a bare root production nursery and a cedar box and retail display manufacturer.
• “New Plant Trials,” also Aug. 22, will include stops at annual and basket growing operations and The Oregon Garden and its 15 trial gardens. That’s not all. The tour also will visit a top Portland garden center and one of Oregon’s most innovative florist azalea nurseries (which may also be one of the country’s largest).

The tours will travel on luxury motor coaches. They will leave the Oregon Convention Center promptly at 8 a.m. and return by 6 p.m. Organizers will provide lunch, beverages and snacks for all participants. In addition, all tour participants will receive a free Expo Pass to visit the Farwest Show floor. The cost is $80 per person before July 31 or $115 for those who sign up after that. To register, log on to www.farwestshow.com/nurserytours.

Dwarf conifers highlight the May issue of Digger

Dwarf conifers (PDF) are on the cover of the May issue of Digger magazine. This issue has an unmistakable greenhouse focus. Go here to read the entire issue as a flipbook — fast connection recommended — or download the individual articles as PDF files. Additional articles in the May issue include:

• Leader Profile (PDF) — Jay Sanders of Sanders Horticulture LLC chairs the Farwest Show Committee;
• Protecting your discovery (PDF) — Plant patents give breeders the tools to gain recognition and earn income from new introductions;
• Getting ready for health care reform (PDF) — How businesses can prepare for the new requirements coming in 2014;
• Lessons learned from Phytophthora ramorum (PDF) — How a systems approach program can protect your nursery; and
• Calling Captain Obvious (Director's Desk) (PDF) — Jeff Stone, OAN executive director, calls for a more balanced approach to governmental regulation.

A reminder: you can now view our Classifieds online. Simply click to download the most recent version (Note: Updates every month).

Digger has been serving the nursery industry in the Pacific Northwest and nationwide for more than 50 years. It is mailed for free every month to nearly 8,000 nursery professionals. Would you like to be one of them? Simply fill out this handy online form.

Would you like to advertise in Digger or other OAN publications, or sponsor an OAN event? Jerry Simnitt talks about why that's a good idea. It's a great way to reach industry professionals. Check out our 2012 Exposure Kit for all the details and contact Chris Sweet (503-582-2012 or csweet@oan.org) if you have questions.

OSU names new dean of agriculture

Oregon State University has selected Dan Arp as the new dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences. He replaces Sonny Ramaswamy, who departed to accept a position heading the National Institute of Food and Agriculture in Washington, D.C.

Begonias are big in the April issue of Digger

A feature article on the re-emergence of begonias (PDF) is the cover story for the new April issue of Digger magazine. This issue has an unmistakable greenhouse focus. You can read the entire issue page-by-page as a flipbook here — fast connection recommended — or download the individual articles as PDF files. Additional articles in the April issue include:

• Truly connected (PDF) — Greg and Tamara Clift of McKenzie River Nursery enjoy growing their relationships with plants, retail customers and each other;
• Drawing on ingenuity (PDF) — How Bizon Nursery created an innovative, scalable water recapture and storage system;
• Piped-in nutrition (PDF) — How greenhouse growers can use fertigation to apply water and fertilizers to their crops at the same time;
• The downside of combination fungicides (Oregon State University Growing Knowledge series) (PDF) — Researchers believe that pre-packaged fungicide mixes can elevate the risk of developing pathogens that are resistant to treatment; and
• The hope of spring (Director's Desk) (PDF) — Jeff Stone, OAN executive director, looks at how the principles of winning baseball on a modest budget might help the nursery industry win in the marketplace.

You can now view our Classifieds online. Simply click to download the most recent version (Note: Updates every month).Digger has been serving the nursery industry in the Pacific Northwest and nationwide for more than 50 years. It is mailed for free every month to nearly 8,000 nursery professionals. Would you like to be one of them? Simply fill out this handy online form.

Would you like to advertise in Digger or other OAN publications, or sponsor an OAN event? It's a great way to reach industry professionals. Check out our new Exposure Kit for 2012.

World's largest hanging flower basket unveiled

The Garden Corner retail nursery in Tualatin, Ore. today unveiled what is believed to be the world's largest free-standing hanging basket. Measuring 16 feet tall and 10 feet wide, and weighing in at more than 2 tons, it truly is a behemoth. Garden Corner worked with several partners, all based in Oregon, to create this demonstration of what the Oregon nursery industry — the state's largest segment of agriculture with nearly $700 million in annual sales — can do.

The basket will be a permanent fixture at the suburban retailer, where owner Jonn Karsseboom plans to replant it every season with fresh new material. "We built the basket because we live our passion," he said. "We do hanging baskets, and our history is hanging baskets, so it's just a natural outgrowth."

The basket was constructed by Garden Gallery Iron Works in Hubbard, Ore. and lined with moss cloth from Tropicare in St. Paul, Ore. The soil was provided by ProGro in Wilsonville, Ore. "This is all local," said Karsseboom, who is pictured above with Garden Gallery owner Don Sprague. "That was our goal."

Jerry Simnitt, co-owner of the wholesale Simnitt Nursery and the current president of the Oregon Association of Nurseries, said he was duly inspired by the mammoth creation. "The nursery industry has seen some very tough days in the last few years," he said. "Sales for last year were down 9 percent. But it's kind of neat to have events like this to show that we're a resilient industry, and some of our best times are ahead of us. With the spring, everyone becomes a little more optimistic."

The unveiling was covered by most of the local TV stations, as well as print media. KATU-2 has coverage here and the Capital Press newspaper (Salem, Ore.) has an article here. We will post others as we become aware of them.

World's largest hanging basket to be unveiled

It weighs in at a whopping 2 tons and contains nothing but Oregon nursery products. The flowers, the moss cloth, even the basket and support structure — all are made in Oregon. The Garden Corner retail nursery (21550 S.W.108th Ave., Tualatin, Ore.) will unveil the world's largest hanging flower basket at 10 a.m. on Friday morning (March 23). And at 12 feet tall and 10 feet wide, it will be quite a sight.

The Garden Corner teamed up with Garden Gallery Ironworks to create the basket, which will be displayed year round at the nursery. Flowers will be changed out seasonally. Jonn Karsseboom of The Garden Corner and Don Sprague of Garden Gallery said they created it as a show of pride and passion for Oregon’s nursery industry, which is the largest segement of Oregon agriculture. Both of them will speak at the unveiling, as will Washington County Commissioner (and nursery owner) Bob Terry, and Oregon Association of Nurseries president Jerry Simnitt. All are welcome to attend. Digger will be there as well, and we will have pictures!