CORRECTION: Initially this post listed the incorrect year for the tour. The tour will be taking place Oct. 19–28, 2014. We apologize for any inconvenience. Anglatin Travel Ltd. is organizing a guided and hosted tour of Brazil for nursery professionals this coming October. The group will visit nurseries, botanical gardens, flower markets, greenhouses, rain forests, […]
Bamboo fiber may be used in toilet tissue
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In a few years, bamboo might start popping up in some unexpected places — including Kleenex tissues, Huggies diapers, Viva paper towels, Scott toilet tissue and maybe even Kotex pads. Booshoot, the Mount Vernon, Wash.-based bamboo breeder and propagator, has signed an agreement with the Kimberly-Clark consumer products company, which makes all the aforementioned products. […]
State of Perfection Nursery #2: Crispin’s Creations, Molalla, Ore.
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A short while ago, we announced that Youngblood Nursery will be featured in the upcoming State of Perfection issue of Digger, which will be published in January. Now we can announce the second State of Perfection nursery for 2012: Crispin’s Creations Nursery in Molalla, Ore. This smaller operation, owned by Crispin and Karen Silva, specializes […]
Ag inspections suffered in wake of 9/11
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If you fly on an airplane, then you have experienced firsthand how U.S. security priorities changed following 9/11. A huge new agency, the Department of Homeland Security, was created and given broad powers to stop terrorist threats. Passengers were treated to body imaging, patdowns and a thicket of regulations governing what they can and can’t […]
Plant patent holder delivers a knock out blow
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We’ve been talking about plant patents a bit recently, and the coming changes to the patent system. In light of that discussion, it’s helpful to realize that plant patents don’t enforce themselves. The holder of the patent must take enforment action if they discover a violation. Conard-Pyle recently did exactly that, forcing a New Jersey […]
Sweeping changes coming to patent system
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Yesterday, on a lark, we posted about patents. Little did we know. Today, we have word that the U.S. Senate approved the America Invents Act on a 91-9 vote. The bill will implement sweeping changes to the U.S. patent system for the first time since 1948. The bill had already passed the U.S. House of […]
Portrait of a plant patent
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If you have never seen a plant patent application, there’s a lot of detail involved. This application from Terra Nova Nurseries was for a new cultivar of Echinacea, specifically Echinacea spp. ‘TNGD’ which is described in painstaking detail. The patent application was submitted May 11, 2010 and granted Tuesday (Sept. 6), so the process took […]
New Varieties Showcase award winners shine
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Picking the very best plants displayed in the 2011 New Varieties Showcase at the Farwest Show was a tough task falling to no single group. Show judges handed out the official awards, while show attendees voted separately on the People’s Choice awards. As things turned out, however, the two groups agreed more often than not. […]
OAN publishes 100-page guide to reducing pest and disease risks
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The Oregon A The Oregon Association of Nurseries has published the “Safe Procurement and Production Manual,” a 100-page guide to producing healthy nursery stock by using a systems approach. The book is available online now as a PDF download, at no cost. In addition, a free, full-color print version is available for the asking at […]
California closing its only reforestation nursery
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California’s state budget crisis has claimed another victim: the state’s only publicly-owned reforestation nursery. It will be closed due to budget shortfalls. (Via Capital Press (Salem, Ore.).)