EDITORIAL

On Wednesday, October 12, the Commercial Flower Growers of Wisconsin (CFGW) held their annual fall conference -- and nobody came. 

Well, that's not exactly true.  There were people there.  The speakers, board members, 15-25 students from several technical colleges and UW - River Falls. . and then regular attendees -- but only about 75-80 greenhouse owners/managers/operators. . .   and yet, there are an estimated 500-600 garden centers and greenhouses in Wisconsin.

The cost to attend was $65.00/person

A hot meal was included

The parking was free

Gas is low right now so it wasn't going to break the bank to

         drive, especially if you carpooled.

Alan Armitage from the University of Georgia spoke about annuals and perennials to consider. . . but his underlying message was that we in the horticulture industery have to adapt to changing conditions if we are to survive.  His examples centered on his daughter:  She has a house.  She wants plants that are nice to look at and will survive.  She doesn't care what their name is, she doesn't care if they are an annual or perennial, and she doesn't want to choose from 50 varieties of Heuchera.  She just wants somebody to listen to her, answer her questions and tell her what plants will work.

Mike Gooder of the Plant Peddler talked about their organization -- and even though they have a successful wholesale business, he can't stand to see greenhouses he has already paid for standing empty for part of the year. So they have started growing niche crops, vegetables, fruit, etc. to use the space, bring in extra profit - and provide people with fresh food, locally grown.  He didn't say it would work for everyone. He didn't say everything he has tried has been a success.  He simply shared his trials and errors  so that others could learn.  His message, put succinctly, was we have to adapt if we are to survive.

Jennifer Brinker of Focus on Energy talked about how her program could help greenhouses assess their energy losses and needs and find money to help make improvements.  She also said if her program couldn't do it, she would help find a program that could.

Dr. Lou Berninger, Professor Emeritus from UW-Madison's Department of Horticulture was present to accept the WGIF 2012 Hall of Fame Award.  In his brief remarks he addressed the changing face of the horticulture industry and the need to adapt.  For someone well into his 80's he had a better grasp of the status of the industry than many who are currently in decision making positions.  His message:  if we don't know how to adapt, we don't survive.  

But, very few people heard any of this. 

One of the philosophies I try to live by is "if you don't learn something every day, it probably isn't worth getting up in the morning."  

I learned a lot from that program.  It was worth getting up that morning.

Maybe those who didn't come are already adapting and were so busy with customers they didn't have time to come.

My guess is, many of them didn't get up.

Eileen Nelson