Issued today by the Oregon Association of Nurseries:

Wilsonville, Ore. – Biodynamic farming techniques, Oregon wine tasting, conifer arboretum, a national award-winning zoo and one of the country’s largest cut flower businesses. These are a few of the discoveries in store for guests at the 2009 Farwest Show Nursery Tours. Most important, the tours include 10 wholesale nurseries that have never before been featured, representing a unique opportunity to meet some of Oregon’s premier growers.

The tours, Aug. 18 and 19 in the Portland, Ore. area, help green industry guests discover the state’s natural beauty, meet some of Oregon’s premier growers and see first hand how Oregon’s temperate maritime climate helps the nursery industry thrive. Each tour showcases visits to nurseries offering a variety of plant material, growing environments, and production operations.

“Oregon is a great destination to combine business—the Farwest Show and nursery tours—with vacation,” said Ann Murphy, director of marketing for the Oregon Association of Nurseries (OAN). “We have so many wonderful nurseries located in close proximity to Portland that it can be overwhelming for first-time visitors. That’s one reason why the tours are so well-received by Farwest Show guests.”

In addition to meeting some of Oregon’s best growers, each tour will include at least one unique Oregon experience. Examples include:

• Behind-the-scenes horticultural tour of the acclaimed Oregon Zoo, whose gardens have more than 1,000 species of exotic plants.
• Wine tasting and biodynamic farming techniques at an Oregon winery.
• Private tour of an arboretum with more than 2,000 varieties of conifers.
• A premier cut flower operation that ships throughout the country.

Tours are appropriate for growers looking for liner material, retailers interested in new ideas and unique, new or proven favorite plants for their customers, and green industry professionals wanting to purchase landscape-ready or bare root plants.

“The nursery tours were started to help introduce guests interested in buying Oregon plant material to some of its growers,” said Murphy. “At the same time, we hope to give people a small taste of the Oregon experience so they will want to visit again.”

Early bird pricing ends July 31 for the 2009 tours and the Farwest Show. For more information and to register, visit www.farwestshow.com or call the OAN office at 800-342-6401. To assure an exceptional experience, space is limited to 50 people per tour.

The Oregon Association of Nurseries, based in Wilsonville, represents more than 1,300 wholesale growers, retailers, landscapers and suppliers. Oregon’s ornamental horticulture industry is the state’s largest agricultural commodity, with annual sales of more than $988 million. For information visit our Web site at www.oan.org or call 503-682-5089.