Digger – Page 47

The value of influence

By Jon Bell — Posted February 25, 2019

Nurseries strategically seek influence and recap the rewards About 10 years ago, Costa Farms launched a campaign called “O2 for You,” which was designed to play up the valuable role that houseplants can play in cleaning pollutants out of indoor air. The Miami, Florida-based horticultural grower — now one of the largest in the world — compiled […]

A corner of the market

By Kym Pokorny — Posted February 25, 2019

The path of the specialty nursery has unique challenges and rewards There are many Oregon wholesale growers that offer something for everyone. For them, it’s all about variety — growing and shipping as much of what their customers need as possible. Specialty growers, by contrast, are a whole different breed. They pick one plant and […]

Meet the leader: Janet Poot

By Bill Goloski — Posted February 25, 2019

Tell us about yourself. I grew up on a farm in the San Joaquin Valley of California where my parents had a greenhouse operation that grew hothouse tomatoes and European cucumbers for grocery stores. In 1985, we moved up to Hubbard, Oregon. In high school, I worked for Case Nursery (Aurora, Oregon) doing cuttings on […]

Start here: your marketing budget priority list

By Ian Doescher — Posted February 25, 2019

Wouldn’t we all love to have the advertising budgets and marketing teams of Nike or Apple? Unfortunately, that’s not in the cards for most of us. Generally, small- and medium-sized business owners must prioritize their time and money. Are you wondering where to start, or whether you’ve covered the most important things? Here is my […]

Part of the climate change solution

By Jeff Stone — Posted February 25, 2019

Someone has done the calculations, and it turns out that Oregon is responsible for 0.14 percent of the world’s carbon emissions. This means that 99.86 percent comes from outside of our little slice of the Pacific Northwest. Oregon is abundant in natural resources. Timber, food and nursery production reign. It is no accident that we […]

Couldn’t stand the weather

By Mike Hiller — Posted February 25, 2019

Legendary Texas bluesman Stevie Ray Vaughan famously sang that he “Couldn’t Stand the Weather.” Here in Oregon, enduring the weather is one thing. As I suspect they do in Texas, we’re just trying to figure out what’s going on from one moment to the next. While the rest of the United States was suffering under […]

February 2019

By Bill Goloski — Posted January 30, 2019

As some nurseries begin building relationships with gardening groups, columnist Mike Darcy shares what many homeowners have planned for their yards this season. Growers also consider how recent tariffs are impacting Oregon’s nursery industry, or how to use grapes in their production line. In this issue: Garden clubs: Cultivating buzz: Growers benefit by building relationships with […]

Garden clubs: Cultivating buzz

By Curt Kipp — Posted January 25, 2019

Growers benefit by building relationships with gardening groups, both in person and online Garden clubs have always had a mutually beneficial relationship with wholesale and retail nurseries. Each can provide something the other needs. Nurseries need passionate gardeners who are always in search of new and interesting plant discoveries. Gardeners hunger for knowledge about new […]

Taxing times for trade

By Jon Bell — Posted January 25, 2019

How Trump’s tariffs and trade policies are impacting Oregon’s nursery industry Jeff Stone has been in the nursery industry in Oregon for nearly 15 years. And in that time, the executive director of the Oregon Association of Nurseries has seen his share of industry ups and downs, particularly in the area of trade. Most recently, […]

Grapes as a nursery opportunity

By Patricia Skinkis — Posted January 25, 2019

Grapes are one of the ancient commodities, as they have been important to agriculture and human history for centuries. The growth of grapes and production of wine are rife with tradition. As a result, wine grapes are one of the least improved crops in modern agriculture. The wine industry’s strong tradition has growers in both […]