Industry News

APHIS adds 10 plants to Phytophtora ramorum regulations list
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the United Kingdom’s Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs, Food and Environment Research Agency have identified plants associated with P. ramorum that were not previously recorded. APHIS has added the plants to its regulations list.

• Choisya ternate (Mexican-orange)
• Cornus kousa (Kousa dogwood)
• Daphniphyllum glaucescens
• Ilex aquifolium (European holly)
• Lithocarpus glaber (Japanese oak)
• Magnolia cavalieri (Michelia)
• M. foveolata (Michelia)
• Ribes laurifolium (bayleaf currant)
• Vaccinium myrtillus (bilberry)
• V. vitis-idaea (cowberry, lingon berry, mountain cranberry)

Nurseries currently operating under a compliance agreement with APHIS may continue to ship hosts and associated plants including the newly listed plants. Any nursery containing these newly listed associated plants that is not currently operating under a compliance agreement must be properly inspected, sampled, tested, and placed under a compliance agreement by March 31, 2010 to be able to move any plants interstate.
 
To see the entire list of regulated plants, click here.

Eastern Shore Nursery of Virginia receives 2009 Ground Water Award
Because of outstanding work in practicing water conservation, water pollution prevention and educational outreach, Eastern Shore Nursery of Virginia and co-owner Robin Rinaca have won the 2009 Ground Water Award from the Virginia Eastern Shore Regional Ground Water Commission.
 
The company has made a decades-long voluntary commitment to improving environmental practices. In the process, land areas were re-engineered employing state-of-the-art water conservation, recycling, and pollution prevention practices. Eastern Shore Nursery is among the first nurseries in the state to develop a Nutrient Management Plan to insure they do not have excess fertilizer that could pollute the Chesapeake Bay.
 
Eastern Shore Nursery of Virginia was established in 1966 in Keller, Virginia and is owned and operated by husband and wife team Robin Rinaca and Nick Covatta, along with partner Mark Hopkins. The wholesale nursery grows more than 400 varieties of trees and shrubs for garden centers, re-wholesalers and landscapers from North Carolina to Illinois to Maine.
 
“Ms. Rinaca and Eastern Shore Nursery have distinguished themselves in all focal areas required of this award,” said Curtis Smith, regional planner for the Accomack-Northampton Planning District Commission. “The nursery initiated container production as early as 1982 as part of an overall policy of water conservation and pollution prevention.”
 
The award is presented to individuals and groups on the Eastern Shore of Virginia who employ water conservation techniques, practice recharge area and aquifer protection and preservation, employ recycling and reuse techniques for stormwater and wastewater, prevent pollution and also serve as public educators who regularly perform community outreach.
 
For more: www.esnursery.com

New Jersey encourages growers to recycle plastic
The New Jersey Department of Agriculture’s year-round nursery and greenhouse film recycling program is entering its 14th year.
 
Since the film-recycling program was initiated in 1997, growers in New Jersey have recycled more than 7 million pounds of used film. During 2009, 935,920 pounds of film were recycled – a 49 percent increase over 2008 – the largest volume of nursery and greenhouse film recycled in a single year since the program was started.
 
Two regional sites accept film year-round -- the Burlington County Occupational Training Center in Mt. Holly and the Cumberland County Solid Waste Complex in Deerfield. Out-of-state growers can take their used film to the Mt. Holly site, but the Cumberland site only accepts New Jersey growers’ film.
 
Both white and clear nursery film and clear multi-season (two-year, three-year, and four-year) greenhouse covers can be recycled. Film must be free of lathing, staples and saran. Loads containing other agricultural plastics, such as bags, mulch film, shrink film, stretch film, drip irrigation or ground cover film, will be rejected at the collection sites.
 
The department also offers year-round mulch film and drip irrigation tape recycling, seasonal plastic pesticide container recycling and information on nursery pots, plastic flats, trays, and cell packs recycling.
 
For more: www.nj.gov/agriculture/divisions/md/prog/filmsites.html.

Wisconsin Nursery Association names 2010 Plants of the Year
The woody ornamental plant of the year is Quercus muehlenbergii (chinkapin oak). A large shade tree with unique chestnut-like leaves, it turns a deep yellow to orange-brown in autumn. It grows best in full sun and can grow in dry and heavy clay soils. It’s tolerant of urban environments and adaptable to most soils and pH levels, and is a good ash replacement. The chinkapin oak grows from 40-60 feet tall with an equal spread. It is hardy to USDA Hardiness Zone 4b.
 
The perennial plant of the year is Calamintha nepeta var. nepeta ‘Montrose White’. This clump-forming plant is covered with tiny white flowers for most of the summer. It grows best in full sun and well-drained soil. It can grow up to 9-12 inches high and 1 foot wide, and is hardy to Zone 4.

The Wisconsin Nursery Association’s Plant of the Year Program was initiated to promote quality – and underused – plants to the public. 
 
For more: www.wislf.org.