Annual bedding and garden plant sales represent approximately 70 percent of the total U.S. bedding and garden category, according to the USDA National Agriculture Statistics Services, totaling $1.29 billion out of $1.86 billion wholesale. Annuals pick up where perennials leave off, providing colorful foliage and flower displays inside the season. Customers are continuously searching for […]
Trees for screens
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Living screens are as versatile as they are varied. They hide the neighbors, block ugly views, provide backdrops and create garden rooms. Originally, though, screens were used to hem in livestock. When humans made the leap from hunter-gatherers to start an agrarian lifestyle, they prevented animals from wandering by using living screens left behind as […]
Mulching in containers
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With timely and full application, hazelnut shells and other mulches can keep weeds at bay Weeds. They can be like urban wildlife, with endless amounts of time to find the weaknesses in your domicile to one day become uninvited houseguests. Through drain holes, in small piles of woody debris and in bark — as tubers, […]
Grower guidance vs. customer demand
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Sometimes customers want one thing and climate wants another, but this dilemma presents opportunities for the grower If Mick Jagger had been a horticulturist, he might have sung, “You can’t always plant what you want.” Case in point: Sean Hogan, owner of Cistus Nursery (Portland, Oregon), was driving home from work in late August and […]
The lowdown on low conifers
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The interest and versatility of these slow growers makes them attractive for residential and commercial settings Conifers grow with such variation of habit that even of the low-growing types, the options are vast, offering a number of combinations of texture, color and height to meet a variety of landscape needs. From prostrate to spreading, low-growing […]
Native tree selections for urban shade
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Approximately 80 percent of the population of the United States now lives in urban environments where trees are both beloved — and imperiled. Estimates are that urban environments are home to 77 percent of invasive species introduced for horticulture and 13 percent for forestry. Species such as Callery pear (Pyrus calleryana) and Norway maple (Acer platanoides) […]
A perennial favorite
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Traditional and new Agastache varieties offer beauty, fragrance and other endearing qualities If not for agastache’s manifold attractive qualities, growers and landscapers may have given up on this sun-loving flowering perennial long ago for its finicky and sometimes sprawling growth habit. Agastache has endured as a garden favorite with growers and landscapers because it checks […]
Excellence on display
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Is it worth the trouble of creating a display or trial garden at your nursery? We spoke to several growers about the challenges and benefits Many wholesale and even retail nurseries establish a display garden on their premises. These gardens can impress, instruct and inspire customers, while showing them what the plants look like in […]
Preparing the load for shipment
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The majority of wholesale growers in the United States sell a variety of types of material in a variety of sizes and formats. In terms of shipping the material, that presents challenges, but each nursery is different. While all growers must pay attention to the cost and availability of freight, as well as the labor […]
Awe-inspiring vines
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Gardeners are often awestruck when they experience climbing vines in bloom. “It takes so long for a plant to get out into the public,” said Maurice Horn, co-owner of Joy Creek Nursery in Scappoose, Oregon. “It takes an encounter to fall in love with it. You turn the corner, and there it is. Then you […]