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You are here: Home / Archives for Columns

Director’s Desk: Sticking it to England — the birth of Presidents’ Day

By Jeff Stone — Posted January 27, 2025

February is a dreary month, so let’s brighten it up with a civic lesson on the origins of Presidents’ Day.

Filed Under: Columns, Director's Desk

President’s Message: Where the rubber meets the bug

By Ben Verhoeven — Posted January 27, 2025

Inspiration from the automotive industry leads industry veteran at Woodburn Nursery & Azaleas to an innovative and low cost solution to replacement rubber gaskets for beneficial insect colony container lids.

Filed Under: President's Message Tagged With: pests and dieases

Director’s Desk: Buckle up for a testy political year

By Jeff Stone — Posted January 7, 2025

Elected officials can make the industry buckle as quick as a pen signs a piece of paper. We have you covered at the state and federal level.

Filed Under: Director's Desk

In the Know: Naturally native

By Mike Darcy — Posted January 7, 2025

Whether a plant is native or not can create confusion for the gardener and this is where an independent garden center can shine with knowledge to share.

Filed Under: Columns, Mike Darcy Tagged With: Native Plants

President’s message: Linkage and flow

By Ben Verhoeven — Posted January 7, 2025

It is always good to get off the farm. Every time I visit a nursery, I come back with new ideas and fresh energy. I’d like to use this column to share some of those ideas and introduce you to the people who inspired them. It’s a blustery morning today in western Oregon. The driving […]

Filed Under: Columns, President's Message

Director’s Desk: A year to take stock and be grateful

By Jeff Stone — Posted November 21, 2024

It is an understatement that 2024 has been a year full of anxiety. There’s been a contentious election season, uncertain economic conditions, and the emergence of challenges for nurseries specifically.

Filed Under: Director's Desk

Emphasizing fall planting for color

By Mike Darcy — Posted November 21, 2024

How does a garden center capture the
kaleidoscope of fall colors and turn it into potential sales?

Filed Under: Mike Darcy Tagged With: Plants

President’s Message: Effective communication

By Ben Verhoeven — Posted November 21, 2024

Over the next year. I’d like to use this column to share some of those ideas and introduce you to the people who inspired them. My first foray brings me to Smith Gardens in Aurora, Oregon, where I learned a lesson in effective communication.

Filed Under: President's Message Tagged With: OAN, OAN Members

A gathering of community

By Jeff Stone — Posted October 24, 2024

Our nursery industry community is special. This will be my 19th year celebrating our annual gathering at License to Grow: The 2024 OAN Convention. Mark Krautmann and Kathy LeCompte were easy choices to serve as honorary co-chairs on November 15–16 at Salishan Coastal Lodge in Gleneden Beach. Changing of the guard At convention we celebrate […]

Filed Under: Columns, Director's Desk

Growth means more when it’s a team

By Ben Verhoeven — Posted October 24, 2024

When you think about growing, what comes to mind? Root structure and branching? Fertility and weed management? Perhaps it is personal growth. Greenhouse structures and irrigation design? Or business and community? For me it is cultural growth — how a group solves problems together, makes small, meaningful improvements, how they interact with the outside world, […]

Filed Under: Columns, President's Message

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NURSERY NEWS

Terra Gardens owner’s gesture for his mother opens the door to other wheelchair-bound gardeners

OAN announces 2025 Friends of Nurseries award winners

OAN leads grower-driven Japanese beetle solution

AmericanHort president and CEO to step down

In memoriam: Bill Van Belle

Longtime employee buys Heritage Seedlings and Liners

In Memoriam: Melvin John Steffenson

New USDA Census of Hort arriving in mailboxes this month

More Nursery News

From the pages of Digger

March: The Perennials Issue

February: The Greenhouse Issue

January 2026: The Retail Issue

November 2025: The Transportation Issue

October 2025

More issues of Digger

Pests and Diseases

OAN leads grower-driven Japanese beetle solution

Prioritizing nursery pest challenges

New tools in the battle against thrips

Aiming for precision in pest control

Oregon’s nursery licensing program aims to keep the entire industry healthy

More articles

FARWEST SHOW UPDATES

2026 Farwest Show issues calls for speakers

Excitement, optimism prevail at 2025 Farwest Show

Dazzling plants, products garner Retailer’s Choice Awards

Youngblood Nursery wins Best in Show booth honors at the 2025 Farwest Show

Glow Sticks Fescue wins top honors from judges at Farwest Show’s New Varieties Showcase 

More Updates from Farwest

The Value of Membership

AmericanHort president and CEO to step down

OAN honors industry leaders at 2025 Convention

Meet the Leader: Patrick Peterson

More member stories

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