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Native plants can solve Willamette Basin problems

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When people think of an unhealthy river, chemical discharges may be first thing that comes to mind, but other conditions in the water can also be a problem for fish and wildlife. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality just released a 650-site assessment of the Willamette River basin which concludes in part that high water […]

Suitable for work?

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If you’re at all involved in growing, marketing or selling flowers, then this week’s Doonesbury strips have been hilarious. (The link sends you to Wednesday, then clicking “next” will bring up Thursday and then Friday.)

APHIS considers regulating wood in shipping

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The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is considering proposed rule changes involving wood packaging material used in domestic commerce, such as crates, pallets and sticks. Nurseries commonly use pallets and sticks when shipping plant material, but such wood material unwittingly could transport unwanted and dangerous hitchhikers, such as the emerald ash borer and […]

Practically green

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SPROut, the Sustainable Plant Research and Outreach Center, is offering a couple of upcoming all-day workshops of note. The details: Ecological Design Principles for Water Treatment – Saturday, Sept. 26Ecological design principles have been the basis for many commercially-available, plant-based engineered systems for water treatment such as Living Machines, Eco-Machines, and Lake Restorers. Applications of these […]

Pay by scam

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Increasingly, mass market retailers are paying wholesale nurseries for plants only when (and if) they are sold to the consumer. It’s called “pay by scan” (excuse the typo in the headline). The grower absorbs the cost of any plants that die or are stolen, and they also pay to keep them alive on store shelves […]

Maple Society coming to Portland

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The North American Branch of the Maple Society will hold its annual meeting in the Portland area this October! The conference will be Friday-Sunday, Oct. 9-11, at the Embassy Suites hotel near Washington Square mall in Tigard, Ore. Among the speakers will be Dick Van der Maat, a grower of Japanese maples from Boskoop, The […]

Horticulture classes this fall

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Chemeketa Community College has announced several classes in horticulture, landscaping and agribusiness on its fall schedule. Among them are classes on growing media, green roofs/green walls, ecological design for water treatment, urban applications in ecological horticulture, and more. Check out the offerings on Chemeketa’s Hort Department Web page (scroll down to see fall classes).