News

Group selects 2016 as Year of the Delphinium

The National Garden Bureau (NGB) has selected the four plant classes that will be featured in the 2016 “Year of the” program. NGB has expanded the program to include a bulb crop into the Year of program.

• Perennial: Year of the Delphinium
• Bulb: Year of the Allium
• Edibles: Year of the Carrot
• Annuals: Year of the Begonia

NGB urges breeders, brokers, seed companies, growers and garden centers to consider highlighting these plants when planning marketing for the 2016 season, as the publicity generated from this program is substantial.

Both members and non-members are encouraged to take advantage of the publicity this program generates by using NGB “Year of” logos in their 2016 catalogs, websites, advertisements and other marketing materials.

By mid-November of this year, NGB will have photos of numerous varieties of all the crops posted on its website. Download PDFs of fact sheets, flyers, handouts, and signage after November 15 at www.ngb.org.

OHP and Bayer ES change marketing relationship

OHP Inc. and Bayer Crop Science announced the termination of their long-standing, marketing agreement effective Oct. 31, 2016. OHP Inc. has been the exclusive marketer of Bayer products into the U.S. Ornamental Nursery and Greenhouse market for some 26 years.

“Our partnership with Bayer has been an important part of the OHP business over the years and we look forward to working together with them going forward on selected products,” says Ron Soldo, president and CEO of OHP.

OHP will continue to service the full line of Bayer products through Oct. 31, 2016. After that date, OHP will continue to market Marathon G, Marathon 60 and Marathon II Insecticides, Discus Insecticide, Decathlon Insecticide and OHP Chipco 26019 N/G Fungicide sourced from Bayer.

“Bayer and OHP have had a mutually rewarding relationship for the past 26 years and OHP has done an excellent job of building and servicing Bayer products,” says Gilles Galliou, president, Bayer Environmental Science North America. “While we value our partnership with OHP, Bayer Environmental Science has made a strategic decision to fully service the turf and ornamental market utilizing our internal resources.”

Coalition organizes to battle oak decline

The mighty oak is in trouble. As development and suburban sprawl have risen, the once plentiful oak trees are dwindling. A consortium of tree-minded organizations doesn’t want that trend to continue, so the group is mounting a campaign to encourage communities to plant acorns that some day will grow to the size of oaks planted hundreds of years ago.

The Chicago Region Trees Initiative, a coalition of organizations including the Morton Arboretum, the Forest Preserves of Cook County, the U.S. Forest Service and other partners, is spearheading an effort to raise awareness about the oak tree’s steep decline.

Last month the office of Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner had named it Oaktober Oak Awareness Month, and communities and organizations throughout the state hosted programs and events to nurture and educate people about the oak.

“If nothing is done, we will not have the next generations of oaks,” said Valerie Blaine, nature programs manager for the Forest Preserve District of Kane County. “Those big old oaks that the pioneers saw are not being replaced.”

For more: http://bit.ly/1GvxsHn

Source: ACT and the Chicago Tribune

Pest & disease news

Illinois drops internal EAB quarantine

The state of Illinois will no longer restrict the movement of any cut, non-coniferous firewood within the state. Illinois joins Missouri, Iowa and Kentucky in the deregulation of emerald ash borer (EAB).

The 2015 survey of traps detected EAB in 10 new counties in Illinois: Madison, Mercer, Jackson, Saline, Hamilton, Wayne, Clay, Jefferson, Washington and Bond. The addition of 10 new counties has brought the total count of confirmed counties to 60.

“The survey results this year support deregulation with nearly 60 percent of our counties confirmed positive for EAB,” said Plant and Pesticide Specialist Supervisor Scott Schirmer. “Over the past decade, the regulations and quarantines have served their purpose to slow the rate of spread and afford people time to manage for this pest. However, there comes a time when the pest is too widespread to continue to regulate, and this is our time.”

Previously EAB presence was confirmed in 50 counties, but 61 of Illinois’ 102 counties were under a state quarantine, which was intended to prevent artificial or human assisted spread of the beetle.

For more: www.illinoiseab.com

Colorado aims to stop the spread of Japanese beetles

This fall, the Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) issued a proposal of changes to the current regulations surrounding the threat of Japanese beetles to nursery stock. This invasive species has been located in parts of metro Denver, Boulder, Pueblo and various nurseries and sod farms, but the majority of Colorado is not yet infested.

In an effort to thwart the spread of the beetle to the rest of the state, CDA is urging commercial nurseries, landscape contractors and garden centers to abide by an internal quarantine along the Colorado Front Range. An external quarantine helps prevent the pest from entering the state via nursery stock, but moving plants and soil within the state could spread the pest to non-infested areas. The internal quarantine area would include Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, El Paso, Jefferson, Larimer, Pueblo and Weld counties.

For more: http://bit.ly/1LVAbqo
 

Texas finds another case of fusarium wilt on palms

Fusarium wilt has been confirmed on a South Harris County palm. The Texas Nursery and Landscape Association is working with members and the Texas Department of Agriculture to determine the proper regulatory response.

Fusarium wilt of queen palm and Mexican fan palm is a devastating disease caused by the Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. palmarum fungus. The disease is widespread in Florida. In 2012, this fungus was confirmed on a Mexican fan palm in Harris County, Texas. Since then, a few potential infections have been suspected but not confirmed on both queen palms and Mexican fan palms in Texas, until this recent confirmation.

This fungal disease blocks the water-transporting (xylem) tissues, causing the leaves to wilt, turn yellow, and then brown. Eventually the entire leaf dies. The symptoms spread progressively from the lowest to the uppermost leaves in the canopy until the tree dies, often within two to three months. There is no cure.

For more: http://bit.ly/1H4xBw8

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

As most members of this industry, I enjoy the winter and mid-summer breaks and going to the trade shows. I get to see what’s new and exciting in equipment, plants and hard goods. What I don’t enjoy is being ignored by my peers at these shows. Countless times I have been ignored at trade shows. The salesman’s eyes avert my glance, they start talking on their cell phone or never even look up from their cell phone.

Why? I have money to spend on your business, and that’s why you are at the show, to make money. It’s not because I have bad breath or scream and yell at you. No, it’s because I’m a woman! Before you pooh-pooh the notion, remember that this was always a male dominated profession until the past few decades. When they do talk to me, many times it is condescending as if I wouldn’t understand more technical terms. If I don’t understand something about your product, I ask. I have a degree in horticulture. My resume includes a professional greenhouse grower and manager, a horticulturist for a park system that includes 12,000 acres of park land, an ISA certified arborist, a licensed pesticide applicator with 4 categories, an author, lecturer, and did I mention I’m a member of the press? Last year I spent approximately $28,000 in trees and shrubs — not the largest purchaser, but not the smallest — and several thousand dollars in seed, plugs, hard goods, fertilizers, chemicals and equipment.

Look around at a trade show and you will see women there. We aren’t there as part of a husband-wife team (although some are), we aren’t there because our boss said we could go to the show, and we aren’t there just to look at pretty things. We are there because we are growers, business owners, extension agents and more. We want to know what is new and exciting, what will increase our bottom line and how you can help us.

Last year, I attended one of the largest trade shows on the East Coast. Towards the latter part of the day, I walked up to a booth of a very large nursery company. The two salesmen were laughing about something on their cell phone. I had stopped to pick up a new catalog since I hadn’t received one in a while from them, and I do purchase from them. I lingered a bit looking at the supplement when one of them turned around and looked at me and made eye contact. Then he turned around and started talking to his companion. He never looked at me again. This led me to rant on a Facebook page about being treated this way. The men that commented told me if I stopped at their booth, they would gladly take my money, and they couldn’t believe this still happened, but acknowledged that this industry is still behind in parity.

This is an industry that relies more and more on what the consumer wants and that consumer is usually a woman. So why wouldn’t you want us to be at the table with you?
 

Denise Schreiber
Public horticulturist/greenhouse grower and garden writer Pittsburgh, Pa.

CALENDAR

December
2-4: New England Grows
Boston, Mass.;
www.newenglandgrows.org

January
6-8: MANTS
Baltimore, Md.;
www.mants.com

11-15: Green & Growin’
Greensboro, N.C.;
www.ncnla.com

11-13: CENTS
Columbus, Ohio;
www.cents16.com

18-20: Next Level
Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.;
www.yournextlevel.org

18-22: Mid-Atlantic Horticulture Short Course
Virginia Beach;
www.mahsc.org

20-22: TPIE
Ft. Lauderdale;
www.tpie.org

21-22: Western Trade Show & Education
Kansas City, Mo.;
www.wnla.org

February
3-5: iLandscape The Illinois Landscape Show
Schaumburg, Ill.;
www.ilandscapeshow.com

9-12: ProGreen Expo
Denver;
www.progreenexpo.com

16-18: Salon du Végétal
Angers, France;
www.salonduvegetal.com

24-25: NJ Plants
Edison, N.J.;
www.njplantshow.com

March
9-10: FloraHolland Seasonal Trade Fair
Naaldwijk, Netherlands;
www.floraholland.com

31-April 1: The Native Plant Show
Kissimmee, Fla.;
www.nativeplantshow.com

April
9-14: California Spring Trials
multiple locations in California;
www.springtrials.org


If you’re hosting an upcoming horticulture event, please share it with managing editor Matt McClellan at mmclellan@gie.net.