People, Events and News

AmericanHort renames annual convention and trade show

AmericanHort announced that its annual convention and trade show has been renamed Cultivate’14 – An AmericanHort Experience. Formerly known as OFA Short Course, Cultivate’14 will continue to offer premier educational, and networking experiences, and more than seven acres of trade show exhibits including technology, new products and services, and new plant varieties. This year’s event will also be marked by an expansion of products and services for retailers, nursery production, and landscaping. Thousands of attendees from more than 20 countries are expected this year.

“The word ‘cultivate’ reflects what happens at the event. Thousands of people attend each year to cultivate their businesses and professional networks,” said Michael V. Geary, CAE, the president and CEO of AmericanHort. “Updating the brand of the 85-year-old event makes sense for the vision of AmericanHort. Cultivate captures the essence of what the experience is for our attendees.”

“This is not your grandfather’s trade show. In fact, Cultivate is more than a trade show. It is a dynamic experience designed to offer interactive learning and community building, and it celebrates all of horticulture,” said Mark Foertmeyer, AmericanHort’s chairman of the board.

Geary said, “We refresh this event every year, and now the name truly reflects what people will experience. And industry companies use this event to introduce innovative products and new varieties. This is fitting in the host city of Columbus (Ohio) because it has also become known as an incubator for innovative companies, including some of the world’s premier retail brands.”

Considered to be the largest horticulture trade show in North America, Cultivate’14 will be held in July 12-15, 2014. Cultivate’15 will be held on July 11-14, 2015, and the future events are scheduled in Columbus, Ohio, each July through 2018.

For more: www.americanhort.org/Cultivate
 

USDA grants will aid communities with water challenges

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced Feb. 24 that the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) will make $6 million in grants available this year, and up to $30 million total over the next five years as part of a new initiative to provide solutions to agricultural water challenges.

NIFA has identified three critical topics that will be funded through this new challenge area: 1) ensuring the water security of surface and ground water needed to produce agricultural goods and services; 2) improving nutrient management in agricultural landscapes focused on nitrogen and phosphorous; and 3) reducing impacts of chemicals and the presence and movement of environmental pathogens in the nation’s water supply.

NIFA is expected to make $30 million available over the next five years for the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) water challenge area, with the expectation that the new projects awarded this fiscal year would receive additional funding in the following four years. All additional funding is contingent on future congressional appropriations and achievement of project objectives and milestones.

For more: http://goo.gl/n5qpdb
 

AFE offering scholarships to ‘green’ industry students

The American Floral Endowment (AFE) is offering more than 20 scholarships for horticulture and floriculture students. The deadline for application submission is May 1.

Scholarships are available for undergraduate and graduate students.

Students must be at least sophomores in college to qualify. For 2014, AFE will award a little less than $40,000 in scholarships.

There are more than a dozen scholarship offerings strictly for undergraduate students, two scholarships strictly for graduate students, and five scholarships available to both undergraduate and graduate students.

Complete descriptions of each scholarship are available on the AFE website. Many of the requirements vary from scholarship to scholarship.
 

Horticultural Research Institute invests $400,000 in projects

The Horticultural Research Institute (HRI) has announced that it is providing $400,000 to 16 new projects.

The projects are seeking solutions to problems in the fields of pest managment, horticultural production, environmental stewardship, and business and marketing. HRI encourages investigators to seek out matching funds as part of the proposal application process. As a result, an additional $445,000 in funds from other granting agencies more than doubles HRI’s 2014 research investment.

For more: http://goo.gl/HUXWA0
 

New flower fashions for spring on Pinterest

Pinterest is blooming this spring with the introduction of a garden of new beautiful and colorful boards from The Suntory Collection. Known worldwide as a premier breeder of long-lasting flowers, Suntory’s new Pinterest boards are created to inspire and inform gardeners of all levels, from brown thumbs to green.

“Pinterest is the perfect platform for sharing our beautiful new flower fashions, latest news and fun how-to videos,” says Taizo Chunju, managing director of Suntory Flowers.

Suntory’s Pinterest boards help unleash home decorators’ creativity with fresh ideas and practical inspiration. The boards spotlight new plants and collections for 2014, editor’s picks from spring and summer test gardens and recent press coverage.

“We want to see how pinners are using Suntory plants in their celebrations, whether it’s a garden party, a wedding, or a Mother’s Day gift,” says Chunju.

The boards highlight Suntory’s most popular flower brands, including ‘Surfinia’ petunia, ‘Million Bells’ cailbrachoa, ‘Senetti’ pericallis, and ‘Sun Parasol’ mandevilla. Pinners will find a variety of color options, care tips, and ideas of how to combine their favorite flowers in their own backyard, or container planting.

Pinterest is the fastest growing social media platform, allowing 1.36 million daily users to “pin” pictures they like to their created specific boards. The average users are mothers, and 28 percent have a household income of $100,000 or more, and many gardens.

“We recognize that Pinterest is the new platform to showcase exciting and inspirational new flowers, and The Suntory Collection is excited to get pinning,” adds Chinju.
 

Campaign to promote value of horticulture to kick off

AmericanHort, the American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS), and Longwood Gardens are urging the national horticultural industry’s support for a new project study and promoting the perceived value of horticulture in the United States.

The project proposal states, “We are concerned that, for those aware of horticulture, the perception is increasingly negative, while much of the general public, especially young people, appear to have little or no awareness of the importance and value of horticulture.”

The proposed effort would begin with a study of perceptions held by students, associations, government agencies, and the public. Those findings would be used to develop a program for promoting horticulture as a career and an industry, and its value to the public.
 

Pioneer Gardens, Botanical Trading Company merge

Pioneer Gardens and Botanical Trading Company have merged.

The combined BTC/Pioneer organization offers an expanded product assortment and support services to North American growers and finishers.

Pioneer Gardens, Inc. of Deerfield, Mass., is a grower of field-grown bare root and greenhouse plug perennial starter plants for wholesale growers and finishers throughout North America. Botanical Trading Company of Hockessin, Del. is an international horticultural trading company that specializes in the North American market, with a focus on domestically grown plants and bulbs.

For more: goo.gl/TGIjMy
 
 

Educational greenhouses popping up across Cape Cod

Schools in the Cape Cod region of Massachusetts are increasingly using greenhouses as educational structures for students.

The Cape Cod Times notes that the Nauset Regional MIddle School is the latest to add a greenhouse to its educational facilities. The school received $125,000 to build a greenhouse, $84,000 of which will be spent on the structure itself.

Schools use the greenhouses for a variety of educational purposes. Namely they are used to teach science and horticulture, giving students a hands-on experience with gardening and tending. For students, time in the greenhouse represents a sort-of escape; time spent outside the walls of a classroom.

For more: goo.gl/kd9w0p
 

AFE releases 2012-2013 annual report

AFE recently released their 2012-2013 annual report.

During the 2012-2013 year AFE issued a number of scholarships, including the Vic & Margaret Ball Scholarship (to six students) , the Mosmiller Scholarship (issued to eight students), and the James and Helen Phillips Scholarship Grant (issued to six universities).

The full report details all of the grants and scholarships that were issued.

The report breaks down the various scholarship and research project allocations. In 2012-2013 AFE funded seven production and post-harvest projects:

• Providing Practical Solutions to Increase Fresh Cut Flower Quality and Vase Life While Identifying Consumer Preferences, Dr. David Clark, the University of Florida—$34,000
• Effect of Pesticide Mixtures in Controlling Arthropod Pests of Greenhouses, Dr. Raymond Cloyd, Kansas State University—$25,000
• Preventing Powdery and Downy Mildews from Ruining Flower Crops, Ms. Margery Daughtrey, Cornell University, and Dr. Mary Hausbeck, Michigan State University—$50,000
• Introducing Broad-Spectrum Disease Resistance into Floricultural Crops by Transferring NPR1 Gene, the Key Regular of Plant Systemic Acquired Resistance, Dr. Zhanao Deng, University of Florida—$32,000
• Optimizing Banker Plant Systems for Aphid Biological Control in Floricultural Greenhouses, Dr. Steven Frank, North Carolina State University—$18,000
• Development of a Grower Friendly Detection Method for Virus Infecting Ornamentals, Dr. Francisco Ochoa-Corona, Oklahoma State University—$35,000
• Granular Formulations of Insect-Killing Fungi with Plant-Mediated IPM Systems for Thrips, Dr. Margaret Skinner, University of Vermont—$24,000
   

For more: goo.gl/ks6KGg
 

Arborjet installs solar panel energy system

Arborjet announced the installation of a 60-kilowatt photovoltaic solar energy system that will meet 100 percent of the company’s electricity needs.

The project was designed and installed by Astrum Solar, a national full-service solar provider headquartered in the eastern U.S. All of the panels were made in the U.S. This specification is particularly important to Arborjet as it continues to pursue LEED certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) from the U.S. Green Building Council.

As part of its company strategy, Arborjet has installed reduced-use water fixtures, LED lighting, and streamlined its operations to replace less efficient processes, in addition to investing over $200,000 in the new solar energy system.

“We are strong believers in our responsibility to continue to reduce our carbon footprint. From the environmentally responsible products we produce, to the philanthropic efforts we put forth in our industry, and now our efforts to reduce the impact of our operations, Arborjet aims to lead the way when it comes to corporate responsibility,” says Russ Davis, president and chief operating officer of Arborjet. “This happens not because someone thought it would be cool; it’s part of our strategic plan. It’s part of our DNA.”

For more: goo.gl/F3jvxR