The Western Region of the International Plant Propagators’ Society will hold its 58th Annual Meeting Tuesday–Friday, October 17–20, at the Holiday Inn in Wilsonville, Oregon. This year’s conference theme will be “Growing in Diversity.”

Conference organizer Melanie Miller promises something for everyone. “We will visit a wide variety of nurseries and listen to experts in all types of propagation and plant production”, Miller said. “Our organization’s purpose is to seek out new information on plant production and share it with the people in our industry. These annual conferences are a great way to do just that.”

The conference will include tours of Oregon nurseries and speakers from throughout the region. Those attending will likely include plant propagators, nursery owners and plant production workers from throughout the western United States, but all are welcome. The schedule is as follows:

• Tuesday, October 17 — A preconference tour will include visits to Youngblood Nursery, Monrovia Nursery, Carlton Plants, and North American Plants, followed by an evening reception.
• Wednesday, October 18 — The conference officially begins. There will be morning tours to Aroma Cannabis, Woodburn Nursery and Azaleas, and PlantSmith Nursery with a lunch stop at Fir Point Farms. In the afternoon speakers will give talks on container options, controlled release fertilizers and biocontrol in propagation.
• Thursday, October 19 — In the morning there will be tours to Smith Gardens, Minto Island Growers and Heirloom Roses. The afternoon will include talks on automation, ornamental plant breeding and biological agriculture. An evening banquet will feature networking and a silent and live auction.
• Friday, October 20 — The meeting concludes with presentations on biological control and plant disease diagnosis. Also featured will be talks by New Zealand Exchange recipients and a question and answer period with growers.

To register or for more information, log on to www.wna.ipps.org or by calling 503-580-2960.