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You are here: Home / Archives for Tracy Ilene Miller

About Tracy Ilene Miller

Tracy Ilene Miller is a freelance writer and editor who covers several topics, including gardening. She can be reached at tmillerwriter@gmail.com.

A growing appetite for superfoods

By Tracy Ilene Miller — Posted May 25, 2022

Retailers and growers can fill the demand for nutrient-rich berries, fruits and vegetables A show of hands for those who think “superfood” when loading bananas in the supermarket shopping cart. No takers? No surprise. Even though bananas are touted as a good source of fiber and potassium, folate, vitamin C and B6, and other antioxidants and […]

Filed Under: Nursery Operations Tagged With: Digger, Digger magazine, Edibles, Nursery operations

Meeting online customer expectations

By Tracy Ilene Miller — Posted April 20, 2022

Prepare before jumping into online retail, lest the opportunity become a pitfall COVID-19 pushed many garden centers to catch the growing wave of online shopping. E-commerce sales are forecasted to account for nearly a fifth of all U.S. retail sales by 2025, according to Statista. Total retail e-commerce sales in 2021 increased 17.9%, according to […]

Filed Under: Nursery Operations Tagged With: Digger, Digger magazine, Retail Nurseries, technology

Unsung perennials

By Tracy Ilene Miller — Posted February 22, 2022

A treasure trove of options is available for those who want to go beyond the staples Thousands of books are written about them, as are poems, and there are even songs sung about the flowers we know as perennials. Perennials are the backbone of most garden designs and some container gardens, as well. Consumers adore […]

Filed Under: Plant Features Tagged With: Digger, Digger magazine, Perennials, plant features

Competing for key personnel

By Tracy Ilene Miller — Posted November 28, 2021

Nurseries dangle remote work, added benefits and work-life flexibility to attract top talent The nursery industry has struggled with labor shortages for years. It started with field, farm, and greenhouse workers, and more recently has grown to include the key roles of propagators, growers, sales representatives, and managers. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, horticulture and […]

Filed Under: Nursery Operations Tagged With: Digger, Digger magazine, Nursery operations, People

The impervious barberry

By Tracy Ilene Miller — Posted July 29, 2021

These top-selling shrubs are durable, beautiful and deer resistant Oregon is the number one producer of barberry, selling $7.7 million worth in 2019, according to the USDA Census of Horticultural Specialties. That’s 39% of a nearly $20 million national market, mostly attributed to Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii), a plant that has taken a hit with […]

Filed Under: Plant Features Tagged With: barberries, barberry, Digger, Digger magazine, plant features

A hearty appetite for edibles

By Tracy Ilene Miller — Posted May 27, 2021

Growers find they can’t grow enough edible plants, and retailers can’t keep them in stock In March 2020, U.S. governors began rolling out stay-at-home orders, including in Oregon, because of the coronavirus known as COVID-19. Not long after, Americans in lockdown turned their attention to edible gardening any way they could — in containers, in […]

Filed Under: Plant Features Tagged With: Digger, Digger magazine, Edibles, plant features

The foundation of learning

By Tracy Ilene Miller — Posted April 21, 2021

Growing minds: Part 1 Oregon’s higher horticulture education programs feed the pipeline of nursery talent When Ryan Contreras, associate professor at Oregon State University (OSU) in Corvallis, Oregon, talks to students with an interest in plants and the horticulture program, one point inevitably rises to the top. “I can guarantee you a job in the […]

Filed Under: Nursery Operations Tagged With: Digger, Digger magazine, Education

Flowering cherry trees then and now

By Tracy Ilene Miller — Posted February 25, 2021

Flowering cherry trees remain popular, from old mainstays to new selections, with more on the way It’s March, and soon showy displays of Japanese flowering cherry trees will trumpet their annual announcement that spring has arrived. Thus, consumers will be prompted to head to garden centers with hopes of adding the ephemeral beauty of these […]

Filed Under: Plant Features Tagged With: Digger, Digger magazine, OAN, OAN Members, plant features

Tough and beautiful

By Tracy Ilene Miller — Posted January 25, 2021

Spireas are mainstays of the shrub world, thanks to their gorgeous blooms and steadfast demeanor Timing is everything with Japanese spirea (Spiraea japonica). The time is now — as in no later than early March for a hard pruning — for this tough, summer-flowering shrub that blooms on new wood. Yet, pruning can be a […]

Filed Under: Plant Features Tagged With: Digger, Digger magazine, plant features

Tough, tall and reliable

By Tracy Ilene Miller — Posted November 30, 2020

Honeylocust provides abundant shade, grows quickly and adapts well to extreme conditions Acer (maple) and Quercus (oak) may monopolize spotlights on shade trees, but Gleditsia triacanthos var. inermis (honeylocust) holds its own as a major crop and it’s an important addition to the catalog of reliable tall trees. Oregon nurseries grow more honeylocust than any […]

Filed Under: Plant Features

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