The spirit of camaraderie distinguishes the Oregon nursery industry from others, but the spirit of competition ruled the day at the Farwest Show, and it resulted in some creative booth displays. 

Impartial, non-industry volunteer judges walked the floor to find the best of the best. They chose Youngblood Nursery Inc. in Salem, Oregon for the overall Ted Van Veen Best in Show booth award for 2025. This award comes with a free 10×10 booth space for the 2026 Farwest Show.

The booth awards encourage exhibitors to go the extra mile in making the show more engaging and more interesting. “The amount of creativity displayed by exhibitors this year was really exceptional,” said Stephanie Collins, director of finance and administration for the Oregon Association of Nurseries, which produces the show. 

“There were some attention-getters this year,” said Farwest Chair Mikaela Eaton. “It seemed like everywhere you turned there was a booth that caught your eye.”

Six exhibitors were chosen for best in division prizes, and three others were awarded Far From Ordinary booth awards for exceptional creativity. The Best of Division award winners included the following:

Growers:

• Best 10×10 Booth — Blooming Nursery Inc. of Cornelius, Oregon;
• Best 10×20 or Larger Row Booth — Youngblood Nursery Inc.; and
• Best Island Booth — Bountiful Farms of Woodburn, Oregon.

Service and Supply:

• Best 10×10 Booth — Red Pig Garden Tools of West Linn, Oregon;
• Best 10×20 or Larger Row Booth — Northwest Nursery Buyers Association (NNBA) of Welches, Oregon; and
• Best Island Booth — RAYN Growing Systems of Middletown, Wisconsin.

The show also recognized exhibitors who put extra creativity into their booths with three Far From Ordinary booth awards:

• J&S Nursery Sales of Newberg, Oregon;
• The Pottery Patch of West Palm Beach, Florida; and
• Hopper Bros. of Woodburn, Oregon.

From the September 2025 issue of Digger magazine | Download PDF of article