Digger magazine

OBC Northwest appoints new VP of sales and marketing

By Bill Goloski — Posted March 30, 2020

Melanie Miller-Gonzalez has been promoted to the position of vice president, sales and marketing at OBC Northwest, Inc., according to a release by the company. She has been with the company since 2009 and will supervise the sales and marketing division of the nursery and greenhouse equipment supplier, which is based in Canby, Oregon. Raymond […]

Seeing the light on powdery mildew

By Lloyd Nackley — Posted March 27, 2020

Testing the efficacy of using ultraviolet spectral lights to protect greenhouse tomatoes By Kristine R. Buckland, Cynthia M. Ocamb, Lloyd Nackley and Ann L. Rasmussen Widespread outbreaks of powdery mildew have been occurring in fresh market tomato crops in western Oregon over the past decade. Disease incidence and severity tend to be greater in tomatoes […]

Visions of white

By Tracy Ilene Miller — Posted March 27, 2020

These white-blooming plants brighten up landscapes Part 1 of 2: This month: Perennials, groundcovers, bulbs, vines, edibles and Hydrangeas. June: Woody trees and shrubs. Blooms come in all variations of color and hue, but there is a special place for white blooms in a garden or landscape. “White goes with everything,” said Justin Hancock, senior director […]

Up, down and all around

By Mike Darcy — Posted March 27, 2020

Sometimes popular phrases never really disappear. They just go dormant and then come back again. We might refer to them as being recycled, but I prefer using the word “dormant” since this is a garden column. The phrase “up, down and all around” was commonly used in garden training sessions in the 1970s and 1980s, […]

Lending our future a hand

By Jim Simnitt — Posted March 27, 2020

The nursery industry as a whole is mutually supportive. We help each other out. There is always someone willing to assist a fellow nursery or talk with someone looking to start a career in this great industry. One of the ways Oregon Association of Nurseries members help each year is to promote horticultural education through […]

Mastering the merge

By Jon Bell — Posted March 27, 2020

Nurseries share the benefits of integrating wholesale and retail in one operation It was 38 years ago and Grace Dinsdale had just launched Blooming Nursery, a wholesale nursery in Cornelius, Oregon; just west of Hillsboro. Her goal from the get-go had been to operate as a wholesale nursery that could supply the industry with a […]

OAN promotes ‘Safer Shopping’ garden retailers

By Bill Goloski — Posted March 27, 2020

As a bittersweet side effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, people are spending more time in their yards and gardens. They are eager to still tend their gardens, put in vegetable starts, beautify their yards, try new things and enjoy healthy outdoor time. But they also want to observe social distancing. To help them, the Oregon […]

Charlie Hall updates economic projections amid COVID-19

By Curt Kipp — Posted March 25, 2020

A U.S. economy that already had several telltale signs of a possible recession has now likely entered one for sure, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, green industry economist Dr. Charlie Hall told listeners at a Monday webinar presented by AmericanHort and the Nursery and Landscape Association Executives (NLAE). “Our economy was functioning, we’ve had a […]

Rationality is our friend

By Jeff Stone — Posted March 23, 2020

The COVID-19 virus will most certainly impact families, friends and businesses. It is already causing tremendous disruption in the economy, not to mention knocking our daily lives off auto-pilot. In mid-March, I communicated with our membership the need to embrace that fear is not our friend — rationality is. We provided reliable resources people can […]

March 2020

By Bill Goloski — Posted March 3, 2020

Take a look at the next wave of annual, perennial, and woody favorites breeders and growers are introducing to the marketplace, and copy down some notes from our valuable column on plant patent and copyright protections. Growers will also benefit from tips for detecting boxwood blight symptoms in the field. In this issue: The next […]