| Join Our List |
Eileen Nelson
UW-Madison Department of Horticulture
608-265-5283 |
|
|
|
Field Days: WNA and Commercial Flower Growers
Thursday, August 11, 2011 (This Thursday)
9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
West Madison Ag Research Station
This is an excellent opportunity to:
- Check out the annual, perennial and field cut flower trials
- Hear Jim Kennedy from Ball Floral discuss vegetative Petunia breeding
- Listen to Phil Pelletieri, UW Entomologist talk about current insect problems in greenhouses
- Get answers to your plant disease questions from Brian Hudelson, UW Plant Pathologist
- Participate in the WNA field day and tours
- WNA Tours of The Bruce Company's nursery and retail centers
Make a day of it -- bring your staff, learn, visit and take away new ideas for next year!
CFGW Program
WNA Program
Directions to West Madison Research Gardens |
| Urban Hort Day at UW-West Madison Research Station | | |
Make sure your customers, family and friends know about a jam-packed Urban Horticulture Field Day set for Friday August 20 at UW-Madison's West madison Agricultural Research Station.
There will be lots of hands-on activities, experts answering questions and an opportunity to see the latest in annuals, perennials, fruits and vegetables. Check out the
complete description here.
|
| Successly growing the 2012 Perennial Plant of the Year | | |
Source: Ball Publishing Grower Talks
Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack Frost' has opened up all new possibilities for shade gardeners, giving them something new to complement the hostas, ferns and lungwort already in their gardens.
Many retailers have reported that customers come in the store looking for hostas, but leave with a load of brunnera. It's a woodland perennial that naturally prefers loose, organic, moist, but well-drained soil in the landscape. Its leaves are intricately detailed with a crackle-like silver finish and deep green veining, and their fuzzy texture makes it less favorable to deer and other pests. Tiny, baby blue, forget-me-not type blossoms are held above the foliage in spring.
|
| Shrink | | |
As you peruse publications you see lots debate about putting your annuals on sale or tossing them in the compost heap. In this article Dr. Will Healy of Ball Horticulture discusses ways to "Shrink your Shrink". He starts by saying:
"In its simplest form, shrink is the difference between the inputs you start with and the plants you get paid for. If you purchase 1,000 seeds, unrooted cuttings (URCs) or liners and get paid for 800 blooming plants, then you have a 20% shrink. If you add the indirect overhead costs of labor, electricity, fuel and so on to the direct costs of seed, plugs, soil and containers, you suddenly have a large number that's slipping through your hands.
Shrink hits you at the end of production after all your costs have occurred and your ability to remedy the situation is gone. Shrink is opportunity lost. With a clear eye we can easily uncover the obvious sources of shrink, but often we miss the hidden shrink that lurks around our industry."
Read the rest of his article here.
|
| Waters Gardens and Proven Winners - what will it mean to you? | | |
For a transcript of an interview with Niles Riese of Walters Gardens and Mark Broxon of Proven Winners on how their alliance will affect the horticulture industry link here. |
| Favorite Plants from OFA | | | Source: Today's Garden Center
Four reltailers attending the recent OFA Short Course picked their favorite plants. What do you think? |
| Do You Twitter? Follow Facebook? | | |
Ways to keep up with the horticulture world.
|
| Garden Center Symposium -- January 11-12, 2012 | |
Remember to mark your calendar for the Garden Center Symposium in January! See Details |
|
|
