Over the last few years, the green industry has rapidly pivoted to online sales and customer service. Growers and retailers were increasingly forced to interact with clients without face-to-face contact as they switched to online ordering and delivery, curbside pick-up, and virtual or socially-distanced landscaping services. From wholesale growers to garden centers and landscape technicians […]
Springing forward
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COVID-19 has meant two banner years for nurseries, but the future’s a little foggy Over the decades, Grace Dinsdale’s Blooming Nursery has enjoyed a fairly steady path of gradual growth. The past few years, the Cornelius-based wholesale nursery has seen solid sales increases, often between 5% and 10% each year. For Dinsdale, who founded Blooming […]
Lessons of the pandemic
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Every business sector has had to adapt to the pandemic. The various trade associations representing these sectors also had to navigate the same challenging environment, but they had a double responsibility. They had to steer their industry through the pandemic, as well. Nurseries did fairly well after an uncertain start to the pandemic. Other economic […]
January 2021 – Nursery Country
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With all the changes that happened this year, one thing didn’t: The nursery and greenhouse industry continues to be the #1 segment in Oregon agriculture. This year, we feature Advanced Ornamentals Inc., Ernst Nursery & Farms, Lone Elder Nursery, and Swan Island Dahlias in our annual Nursery Country issue. Meet the growers making some of […]
Trade shows in the time of COVID
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The Baltimore and Minnesota shows plan virtual offerings for January Since 1981, the Mid-Atlantic Nursery Trade Show has been held every year at the Baltimore Convention Center. One of the industry’s largest shows, it usually draws close to 12,000 attendees and nearly 1,000 exhibitors to about 300,000 square feet of convention center space. MANTS would […]
Disaster loans available for drought-stricken nurseries
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Nurseries in Baker, Grant, Harney, and Malheur counties are eligible for the Small Business Administration (SBA) economic injury disaster loans (EIDL) due to the declaration of a drought since August 11, 2020, according to a release from the agency. The deadline to apply is June 15, 2021. Certain businesses are eligible for a maximum loan […]
Managing epidemics
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Whether dealing with plant pathogens or COVID-19, common principles apply The COVID-19 pandemic has changed life as we know it, threatening human health, causing disruption to our society, and resulting in economic challenges. While impacts of plant pests and diseases may pale in importance compared to COVID-19, they still cause large-scale ecological and economic damage […]
Plants on the move: Freight with uncertainty
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COVID-19 threw nursery shipping for a loop, but things settled and stayed strong Gary “Bert” Bertleson used to have it pretty good in the summer. The head of nursery over-the-road sales for Integrity Logistics, a freight shipping and trucking broker in Wilsonville, Bertleson would regularly take an entire month off in the summer. He was […]
Plants on the move: Making room for safety
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On nursery loading docks, COVID-19 changed everything Uncertainty and panic about the COVID-19 pathogen quickly took hold of shipping companies and nursery loading docks across the United States earlier this year. “It was the third week of March — that Wednesday, Thursday, Friday,” said Matt Frederick, logistic coordinator and operations manager of K&M Distribution Inc. […]
Plants on the move: An oasis for the road
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Nurseries provide hospitality for drivers cut off from usual resources The open road has been lonely for truckers in 2020. That’s according to Matt Frederick, operations manager for of K&M Distribution Inc. (Rogue River, Oregon), which serves the nursery industry. When moving a nursery stock shipment in a refrigerated truck, a driver headed to the […]