Digger magazine

Written to make you a nursery industry expert.

People’s Choice Award winners announced for the 2020 Farwest Show New Varieties Showcase

By — Posted

Three plants and four runners-up were chosen as People’s Choice Award winners this year for the 2020 New Varieties Showcase, presented by the Oregon Association of Nurseries and the Farwest Show, and sponsored by Hip Labels. This year’s Farwest Show did not take place due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting closure of host […]

Can-do conifers

By — Posted

As home gardening booms, these unheralded trees shine as wise, low-maintenance investments In a northwest region surrounded by forests of Doug fir, Ponderosa pine, grand fir and hemlock, people could easily take conifers for granted. However, many gardeners recognize the versatility and minimal care that make them a staple in the landscape. Even before COVID-19 […]

Preventing fraud at your business

By — Posted

Recently there have been a few high-profile embezzlement cases at nurseries. Just in Oregon, almost $5 million was stolen from two nurseries. Any industry can be impacted by embezzlement and fraud. Fraudsters generally don’t target a specific industry. They end up seeing an opportunity where they work. The best way to stop an embezzlement is […]

The silver linings of COVID-19

By — Posted

When the pandemic started, it threw our businesses and lives into chaos. It was difficult to follow as scientists continually discovered more about the disease, and we all had to adapt. Social distancing slowed many of our plant production processes, and trips to the grocery store became infrequent. As we come into September and the […]

Augmented reality app allows New Varieties Showcase voting

By — Posted

Augmented reality is the next best thing to being there — at least where the hottest new plant introductions are concerned. Nursery professionals can view, and vote on, 2020 Farwest Show New Varieties Showcase selections using the new HipEngager™ augmented reality feature from showcase sponsor Hip Labels. They simply scan any plant photo from the […]

August 2020 — Farwest Edition

By — Posted

The 2020 Farwest Show, the biggest green industry trade show in the West, was canceled due to COVID-19. However, it just gives us time to pause and reflect on almost five decades of success the show created for thriving businesses here in Oregon Nursery Country. Read on for our history of the show, from its […]

Farwest Show launches virtual contest to crown 2020 New Varieties Showcase winners

By — Posted

There is no Farwest Show this year in Portland due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and therefore, no opportunity to see the hottest new plants in person. But there is still a New Varieties Showcase — it’s just being held online and in the pages of Digger magazine. Like past editions, the 2020 New Varieties Showcase, sponsored by Hip […]

Growing with the industry: Farwest memories

By — Posted

Kathy LeCompte My husband Dave and I started Brooks Tree Farm in 1980, so we’re celebrating our 40th year in business this year. Our first year in the show was actually 1982. My mother and father had a booth with Drake’s Crossing Nursery, where I’d grown up on the farm. We developed a really unprofessional sales […]