IPPS group tours Connecticut growers [slideshow]

HARTFORD, Conn. -- The 66^th annual conference of the International Plant Propagators Society’s Eastern Region featured three days of educational sessions and two half-day bus tours of area nurseries and greenhouses. The event, which took place Sept. 21-24, showed attendees the wide variety of nursery and greenhouse production in Connecticut, and many of the 150-plus attendees came away with a new tip or trick.

A wide variety of topics were covered in the educational sessions, including the latest on greenhouse coverings, foliar application of rooting hormones, marketing natives, propagation of Aronia, creating a system that works for propagating challenging plants, propagating for pollinators, evaluating Hydrangea performance and much more including some out-of-the-box topics like chestnut restoration, hops production and viticulture in New England. Panel discussions tackled the hot topics of branding and the role of GMO's in horticulture.  

Related story: Two major awards were presented at the event, as well.

The bus tour began at Summer Hill Nursery, a container operation that sells to IGCs and landscapers throughout New England. Mike Johnson, the founder, has been a member of IPPS for 60 years and loves the challenge of trying to grow new plants. The nursery has put a lot of effort into the production of “hard-to-grow” items that are uncommon in the trade. For instance, after attending a fascinating IPPS presentation on bamboo, Johnson began growing the crop himself, and now the nursery has more than 50 varieties.

Mike’s daughter, Holly Johnson, led the tour. She runs the business end of the nursery, which allows her father to do propagate, grow and find new introductions. Some of his discoveries include Spiraea x ‘Mini-Gold,’ a chance cross of ‘Alpina’ and ‘Gold Mound,’ Pieris japonica ‘Summer Hill,’ which boasts thicker, shinier leaves, and Clethra alnifolia ‘Ann’s Bouquet,’ named for his wife. ‘Ann’s Bouquet’ has practically no winter dieback of branches, a common condition of container-grown clethra.

The second stop was Broken Arrow Nursery, a destination nursery and haven for plant fanatics. After 25 years as a plant breeder and horticulturist at the Connecticut Agricultural Station hybridizing Kalmia, Dick Jaynes founded Broken Arrow Nursery. It became a source for rare and unusual plants, as well as Jaynes' mountain laurel selections. Adam Wheeler, propagation manager, said the nursery follows Jaynes’ spirit of growing plants that are a bit “left-of-center” of the typical nursery crop.

“We seek out rare, new underutilized plants,” Wheeler said.

Whether it’s a unique stem structure or dramatic foliage, the staff of Broken Arrow appreciates the different. More than 1,500 varieties of woody plants and perennials are available, and most are propagated and grown right on the property. Along with 30 mountain laurel cultivars, like Kalmia latifolia ‘Peppermint’ and ‘Starlight,’ the retail nursery has discovered and/or introduced other plants as well. Nursery manager Andy Brand’s fascination with Epimedium led to introductions like ‘Space Invaders’ and ‘Raspberry Rhapsody.’

The nursery also hosts a 25 acre “Choose-and-cut” Christmas tree farm.

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The third and final stop on Thursday’s tour was Casertano’s Greenhouse & Farm, a large operation that produces 3 million one-gallon containers per year. That’s 40,000 pots per day. Sales manager Mike Joy led the tour of the Chesire, Conn. establishment.

Currently, the greenhouse is ramping up production of its Christmas products. A large assortment of holiday wreaths, log boxes and other items are available.

“It was originally just to keep us busy in the fall, but it’s really taken off,” Joy said.

The first stop on Friday’s tour was nearby Lebanon, Conn.’s Prides Corner Farms. The entire facility was on display for the guests, including tours of Prides Corner’s Lean flow shipping area, a hoop house overwintering display, and a delicious lunch. Attendees were invited to tour Prides Corner’s arboretum and display gardens, showcasing the latest from brands like Proven Winners, American Beauties, First Editions, Plants That Work, and Sara’s Superb Herbs.

With 500 acres of farm, and 350 acres of growing area, the scale of the operation was impressive. Nursery manager Mike Emmons and president Mark Sellew rattled off facts about the nursery, like that Prides Corner uses eight tons of nails each year when covering its overwintering hoophouses.

The nursery was under construction, and tour attendees were able to view the progress of Prides Corner’s new 1.75 acre Nexus greenhouse, which is being built to cover its shipping pad. It will have a solar array on its roof to generate electricity for the nursery’s use.

The next stop was The Plant Group, a finished perennial grower that sells primarily to New England independent garden centers. The nursery does custom growing for landscape contractors and other customers, and also held onto its its IGC business after starting with Home Depot. that showcases two glass greenhouses – one Dutch, one Belgian, standing side by side.

When Ira Feinberg, the owner of The Plant Group, and nursery manager Phil Allegretti founded the nursery in 1986, they faced the challenge of proving itself in the business with no reputation. They committed to the ideal of trying to be just 5 percent better than everyone else. After selling 100,000 plants in its first year, the nursery’s sales volume expanded 22-fold over the next 30 years.

The final stop on the tour was Canterbury Horticulture. This wholesale producer of container-grown shrubs and perennials sells to IGCS, re-wholesalers and landscapers throughout the northeast. The majority of Canterbury’s plants are propagated on site from softwood and hardwood cuttings or by seed, said Lincoln Gillon, the nursery’s propagation supervisor.

The nursery was founded in 1999 by Todd Burnett on the site of the former Verkade’s Nursery of Canterbury. In its first decade, the 85-acre site grew from eight hoop houses to more than 70, while tripling its production area under irrigation.

Currently, the nursery has expanded to more than 80 overwintering houses and eight minimum heat houses.

For more: http://ena.ipps.org