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
Register TODAY for the VNLA Field Day and Summer Tour
and save $10 per person! *************************
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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How the Political Climate in Washington
Affects the Green Industry
Free Webinar this Thursday, 2:00pm
ANLA's Vice President of Government Relations and Research, Craig Regelbrugge, and Director of Legislative Affairs, Corey Connors, will conduct a webinar to provide their perspective on the conference and offer an overview of the current political landscape. This event is available FREE to VNLA members through your participation in ANLA's Lighthouse Program. Learn about the issues affecting our industry and feel empowered to reach out to your representatives next month while many Members of Congress are home in their districts for August recess.
To register, visit
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/708354561
For more education and resources online, go to ANLA's Online Industry Knowledge Center. This multi-media industry resource contains hundreds of business forms, educational videos, photos, ideas and business tips. VNLA Visits Congress
VNLA members: Art Parkerson, Lancaster Farms; Ed Tankard, Tankard Nurseries; Duane Shumaker, RSG Landscaping and VNLA President, Kevin Warhurst, Merrifield Garden Center; Lou Kobus and Jeff Miller, VNLA Executive Director spent three days in Washington getting updates on current legislative issues and visiting 9 congressmen and both senator's offices and staff.
 Washington, D.C.- The recently completed 2009 ANLA Legislative Conference resulted in higher levels of attendance and a new record for Congressional office visits by green industry professionals. Organized by the American Nursery and Landscape Association (ANLA), other national groups partnering on the conference included the National Christmas Tree Association, National Greenhouse Manufacturers Association, the Irrigation Association, and OFA, an association of floriculture professionals. Final attendance, more than 20% over target, based on past years, allowed for well over 300 visits to House and Senate offices. In his opening remarks, ANLA President Greg Schaan stated, "With the significant change in Washington, DC, brought about by the November 2008 elections, our industry faces a window of new opportunity and great risk, making our strong presence at this event more critical than ever before"
We (ANLA) were thrilled to welcome about 185 ANLA members and Lighthouse Partner members to Washington, DC for the successful event. As many of you know, attendees heard presentations from Rep. Walter Minnick (ID), Rep. Earl Blumenauer (OR) and Senator Charles E. Schumer (NY) - just to name a few. The attendees made their voices heard on Capitol Hill by meeting with their Representatives on issues including labor, green infrastructure and other small business issues affecting the green industry.
In addition to a special briefing on health care, which was being debated during the dates of the conference, the event focused on several key industry issues. In addition to ANLA's ongoing effort to secure immigration reform for the entire industry, attendees were briefed on new challenges with water use regulations and small business issues ranging from tax issues to unionization. The conference focused on more than threats; market-building opportunities were center-stage. Over the past six months ANLA has worked to earn recognition for the green infrastructure benefits of trees and managed landscapes. Many attendees reported a strong positive response during their Congressional visits, to the idea of an energy tax credit for shade tree or windbreak plantings, similar the credit consumers receive for purchasing energy-efficient appliances or windows.
Register for the VNLA Field Day and Summer Tour, TODAY, and save $10 per person!VNLA Field Day/Summer Tour Info/Registration
Field Day Benefits:
Tips on:
· Designing with Perennials
· Fallscaping
· Grow and Design with Boxwood
· Landscape Operation Tips from manager of 30 Designers
· State-of-the-art Garden Center Ops
· Green Roof and Rain Garden Tours
· Congressman Connolly
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Nursery growers and landscapers
- we need your input
Please attend this important meeting on the future of the green industry. A unique meeting opportunity to develop research and education priorities for woody ornamental plant production in the southeastern states is scheduled for Quincy, FL on 5 and 6 November 2009.
This effort is being led by Dr. Russ Mizell, Professor of Entomology at the University of Florida's NFREC-Quincy who received a USDA Specialty Crops planning grant to conduct the meeting. The meeting will lay the ground work for a large scale multidisciplinary grant proposal to be submitted to USDA in early 2010. Up to $8 mil is available for the proposal to support "sustainable systems" research and education objectives focusing on the woody ornamental-landscape industry.
Dr. Pete Schultz and other scientists from Florida and surrounding states are joining in this important cooperative effort but a wide range of people associated with the various phases of the green industry are needed to complete the planning. The effort will provide a unique opportunity to set priorities and determine industry production practices for years to come.
The group is soliciting nursery growers, landscapers and garden center and other industry personnel to attend and assist in the meeting. There is partial funding of travel costs for participants. Contact Pete Schultz (schultzp@vt.edu ) or (757)363-3907, or R. Mizell no later than September 1, 2009 at rfmizell@ufl.edu or (850) 875-7156. |
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