VNLA Field Day
Wednesday, August 19at Merrifield Garden Center at their new location Gainesville, VA 
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VNLA Summer Tour
Behind the Scenes tours of the gardens at Mount Vernon and the American Horticulture Society's Headquarters at the River Farm
Thursday, August 20
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Advanced Virginia Certified Horticulturist Exam
Friday, September 11, 2009
1-5 p.m.
at Strange's Garden Center
West Broad St
Richmond
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Basic Virginia Certified Horticulturist Exam
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Charlottesville
CLASSES: Monday and Wednesdays, 6:00-9:00 pm,
October 26, 28, November 2, 4, 9, & 11 Registration deadline: October 12, 2009
Class Registration Form Windridge Landscaping, in Afton, VA will be hosting the Review Sessions. Instructors will be from PVCC, UVA, and the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service. We will need at least six people to sign up for the review sessions, in order to pay for the instructors. Monday and Wednesdays, 6:00-9:00 pm, October 26, 28, November 2, 4, 9, & 11 Registration deadline: October 12, 2009
Windridge Landscaping, in Afton, VA will be hosting the Review Sessions. Instructors will be from PVCC, UVA, and the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service. We will need at least six people to sign up for the review sessions, in order to pay for the instructors.
34th annual Nursery, Landscape and Arboricultural Field Day
of Virginia Tech's Hampton Roads Agricultural Research and Extension Center (HRAREC) will be held on Wednesday,
September 9, 2009.
This year's Field Day will focus on educating attendees about current issues in the landscape, nursery, and arboricultural industries. The Hampton Roads Nursery and Landscape Association will again run their silent auction.
Two sessions with concurrent topics will run from 8:30 a.m. until noon when lunch will be served. Among the topics to be covered are invasive insect, disease, and weed pests, ergonomic tools, development of a sustainable garden, and phytoremediation work using plants to clean storm water runoff. After lunch there will be a tour of the turf plots and research.
Pre-registration will be $25, and on-site registration will be $30. This is a commercial, not a consumer or homeowner field day.
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VNLA President's Message
[Note: this is a reprint of the President's Message from the May/June VNLA Newsletter which you should be receiving this week. Due to layout issues at the printer and errors in proofing, Duane Shumaker's President's Message had some graphics over the text]
I hope the spring has been good to everyone or at least as good as it can be with the current economy status and weather conditions. It seems as though we've been getting sufficient rainfall in our area and based on reports the same can be said for the rest of the state. This should help us with the upcoming "Dry Months", as well as help fill up our water reservoirs for drinking and/or irrigating. Speaking of irrigating, Thanks to those that have sent in their responses regarding their water conservation ideas, irrigation modification ideas and some potential changes for the irrigation industry regarding the % of organic content present in the existing soils. These suggestions/ideas will prove to be helpful when we go to Washington, DC in July for our Legislative Conference. Please continue to send in your comments so we know how to properly represent our membership. Other items of discussion will be Immigration, Employee Free Choice Act and the Green Infrastructure Panel.
I'd like to Thank the NVNLA for having me attend their latest meeting at NVCC. It was very interesting touring their Horticulture Program facility and learning more about the NVCC Horticulture Program, as well as seeing their newest state of the art greenhouse. It was also impressive to learn that they have 150 students enrolled for this semester. Some graduates of their program are successfully employed at: The Smithsonian Institute, U.S. Botanic Garden, U.S. National Arboretum, as well as other Nationwide and local nurseries, garden centers and installation companies. Mr. Robert Saunders of Saunders Bros. Nurseries was their guest speaker and he did an outstanding job with his presentation on Boxwood.
I also had the chance to speak with Mr. Bill Bland with L.C. Smith, Inc. He informed me that he and several others had created a "Hardscapes Committee" for the NVNLA area. Their proposed focus will be on: Education, Marketing (of NVNLA's benefits to potential clients of its members), and Member Business Practices. He mentioned that one item of interest discussed was "How do you know how to Choose a Good Installer?", which I think is a very good topic for discussion. They would appreciate any suggestions/comments you may have and he has provided the following contact info: billbland@lcsmithbrick.com or USPS to NVNLA, PO Box 2155, Centreville, VA 20122-8926.
Please continue to send any comments or suggestions and I look forward to meeting more of you as I travel around the state.
I met with the Beautiful Gardens Committee on May 27 to express some member concerns and misconceptions about the BG plant introduction program. As a result of this meeting, at the VNLA Board meeting on June 3, Dr. Rumen Conev, Doug Hensel and Rick Baker gave some background and updates on the program noting that the plant introduction process is a long-term project. The "Plants of Distinction" program, promoting under-utilized plants, is laying the marketing groundwork to be ready to market new introductions when they are released, starting with the triploid daylily in 2012 and the Jocelyn Couture-Nowak Lily in 2013.
The committee needs feedback from members, so please let them know about any concerns, suggestions or questions about this exciting program. (BG@BeautifulGardens.org).
Duane Shumaker, VNLA President
******************************************************************************* **************************************************************************** Grower/Retailer Invitation
to participate in the
2010 "Plants of Distinction"
Marketing Program
The VNLA Beautiful Gardens® Plant Introduction Program will be promoting the following list of plants as their 2010 'Plants of Distinction' selections.
Cercis Canadensis 'Hearts of Gold'
Buxus sempervirens 'Dee Runk'
Corylopsis pauciflora 'Goldleaf Buttercup Winter Hazel'
Dryopteris erythrosora 'Brilliance'
Eucomis 'Sparkling Burgundy'
Rudbeckia subtomentosa 'Henry Eilers'
Schizachyrium scoparium 'The Blues'
Thermopsis chinensis 'Sophia'
Yucca filamentosa 'Color Guard'
These plants were selected because of there hardiness, beauty and real potential for increased sales. It is the purpose of the Beautiful Gardens program to help you sell more plants. We encourage you to include your company in the growing of one or more of these plants for 2010.
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