Columns

A summer of reconnection

By Jeff Stone — Posted June 28, 2021

It felt like home. Last month, the nursery and greenhouse family came together to golf at the Duffers Classic, our annual tournament to raise funds for the Oregon Nurseries’ Political Action Committee (ONPAC). Although some displayed a rusty golf game, that could not hamper the tremendous feeling of reconnection we all shared. Our long national […]

Stop and smell the roses

By Kyle Fessler — Posted June 28, 2021

The annual chaos of spring has slowed down a bit the past few weeks here in Nursery Country. It’s almost a mirror image of the chaos curve we see in the Fessler household each year. Flower season has its big push through Mother’s Day. The weekly yardwork around the house is in full effect at […]

Let’s keep them growing

By Mike Darcy — Posted May 27, 2021

I have written several columns on the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on garden centers and how they have responded to it. These last two years have been like no other in recent history —not just for garden centers, but every citizen. In many cases, our lives have been adjusted for us and we have had to […]

Sustainability is our calling card

By Jeff Stone — Posted May 27, 2021

It is fitting that this issue of Digger focuses on sustainability. Sustainability is embedded in how our nurseries operate, and it comes standard with all of our products. Last Labor Day, our region and the nearby Cascade forests came under attack from raging wildfires. Communities were destroyed, people were forced to evacuate, and the sky […]

Smart stewardship

By Kyle Fessler — Posted May 27, 2021

It’s tough to think about the future when we’re trying to keep up with solving the problems of the day. This is something we face nearly every spring, when the most important thing is getting plants out the door to our customers. We do, however, need to set aside time to strategically plan for the […]

Lessons of the pandemic

By Jeff Stone — Posted April 21, 2021

Every business sector has had to adapt to the pandemic. The various trade associations representing these sectors also had to navigate the same challenging environment, but they had a double responsibility. They had to steer their industry through the pandemic, as well. Nurseries did fairly well after an uncertain start to the pandemic. Other economic […]

Knowing what we don’t

By Kyle Fessler — Posted April 21, 2021

Some of the smartest people I know have one thing in common: They know what they don’t know. Years ago, I was fresh out of college and back in the industry, and I didn’t have a clue how much I really didn’t know. I had the opportunity to attend a multi-day conference put on by […]

Positive indications for 2021

By Mike Darcy — Posted March 23, 2021

One year ago, on March 6, 2020, Plant Nerd Night was held for the 19th consecutive year with more than 500 attendees. Little did we know that the following week COVID-19 restrictions would begin, and Plant Nerd Night suddenly had the dubious distinction of being the last large in-person consumer gardening event that year. Gone […]

A pause of appreciation

By Jeff Stone — Posted March 23, 2021

This is my 126th column as your executive director, and a lot has happened in the last 10½ years. As a history nerd, I went back to find the oldest version of Digger I could. I was able to locate Issue #2 (ever), from June 1956. The Oregon Association of Nurserymen, as it was known […]

Brighter days ahead

By Kyle Fessler — Posted March 23, 2021

This past month marked the one-year anniversary of our lives getting flipped upside down by COVID-19. What began as a passing phrase on the news ticker quickly turned into what some expected could be the Great Recession 2.0. Uncertainty became the norm. Expectations changed by the day. We were all in need of direction, and […]