Acres & Acres

How Growing is Like School

Chris Beytes

To be an A student—or an A grower—you don’t have to do 100% of the tasks 100% of the time and do them all 100% on time.

Columns

A Grower’s Guide to PGRs: Tips for Ornamentals & Veggies

Joanne Lutz

Use of these products can yield a variety of benefits.

Columns

Grumbles & Gripes

Steve Hutton

Complaining is cheap and easy; it’s fixing the problem that’s hard.

Columns

History Major

Jennifer Zurko

It’s fun and interesting to see how much has changed over the years … and how much we can learn from it.

Columns

The Family Matriarch

Chris Fifo

Carol Swift leaves behind her core values, which we all aspire to achieve: integrity, honesty, fairness and loyalty.

Cover Story

Introducing "Grower Talks"

Jennifer Zurko

Eighty years ago, George J. Ball—frustrated with the lack of a timely floriculture publication—created GrowerTalks. To acknowledge how long we’ve come, we’re re-printing the May 1937 issue in its entirety on these pages. All of the grammar, punctuation, slang and typos is how George Ball and his sons originally wrote them.

Culture Notes

Bidens Pretty in Pink

Mike Fernandez

New color developments are opening the door for bidens to become a major player in the vegetative plant world.

Culture Notes

Cook up a Storm with Amsonia Storm Cloud

Jeremy Windemuller

Storm Cloud is a new cultivar most noted for its incredibly dark emerging foliage in early spring and natural late-spring blooming.

Culture Notes

Royal Collection Pennisetums

Josiah Raymer

This collection gives you the best of both worlds—the look of phormium along with the vigor and other characteristics of pennisetum.

Features

A Taxing Situation

Mark E. Battersby

Is the property tax assessment on your growing and/or retail business’ property correct?

Features

Are You Missing Something?

Jennifer Zurko

How to get more out of your greenhouse and the equipment that goes in it.

Features

Biopesticides: What Are Your Options?

Steve Arthurs & Kevin M. Heinz

While pests and diseases are here to stay, pesticides have come a long way since the days of DDT, arsenic or lindane.

Features

Doing the Math

Ed Bloodnick & Troy Buechel

Use of biologicals in growing media can save you money.

Features

High Qualitree Teamwork

Sylvia Schaap

From a college project to reality, this BC-based company has grown into a world-class operation, thanks to the “A players” on their team.

Features

Steps to Avoiding Aphids

Dr. Raymond A. Cloyd

Cultural strategies that must be implemented in order to avoid or alleviate problems with aphids.

Features

The Helping Robotic Hand

Amanda Williams

Spending money for equipment up front could save you money (and time) in the long run.

Growers Talk Business

The Waves of Spring

Abe VanWingerden

Our team does all we can to bring a positive attitude to each day and do what we can for our customer’s success. That’s our game plan, it’s accomplishable and it keeps it to the basics.

GT in Brief

AIB Welcomes New Board Members and Officers

Jennifer Zurko

America in Bloom elected new board members and officers at its annual meeting in February.

GT in Brief

Ball Sells Darwin Plants—But NOT Darwin Perennials

Chris Beytes

Ball Horticultural Company is NOT getting out of the perennial business. Far from it.

GT in Brief

Delray Sells to Costa

Chris Beytes

Delray Plants owners Ed Koornneef and his brother-in-law Randy Gilde have sold the family business to Costa Farms.

GT in Brief

Dramm’s Coldfogger Gets an Upgrade

Chris Beytes

If you like your Coldfogger, you’ll love the new Coldfogger AR, which features a more durable pump that is easier to use and allows for the use of corrosive chemicals.

GT in Brief

Dümmen Orange Expands Rose Business

Chris Beytes

Dümmen Orange expands its rose business even further, as it becomes the agent for rose breeder Jan Spek Rozen in 10 countries, including Ethiopia, Kenya, Colombia, Poland, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

GT in Brief

EU Chemical Agency Says Roundup’s AI Not a Carcinogen

Chris Beytes

On March 15, the European Chemical’s Agency (ECHA) announced that it had found glyphosate, the active ingredient in the popular herbicide Roundup, not to be a carcinogen.

GT in Brief

Fast Five with Ball CTO Matt Mouw

Chris Beytes

Meet Ball Horticultural Company’s newest executive, who fills a brand new position: Chief Technology Officer.

GT in Brief

HRI Now Accepting Grant Proposals

Jennifer Zurko

The Horticultural Research Institute (HRI) is actively seeking research proposals for projects that will produce new knowledge and lead to applied advice for the green industry.

GT in Brief

In Memoriam: Jim Corfield

Chris Beytes

James Lyle “Jim” Corfield died March 14 from an aggressive brain tumor. He was 72.

GT in Brief

In Memoriam: Marc Laviana

Chris Beytes

Marc Laviana passed away at home on Saturday, March 11, 2017, surrounded by his loving family after battling cancer. He was just 62.

GT in Brief

New Varieties: The Spice of Life

Chris Beytes

Held April 1-6 along the California coast, this year’s Spring Trials featured 16 locations (mainly greenhouses and a pair of wineries) from Oxnard in the south to Gilroy in the north.

GT in Brief

On The Move

Jennifer Zurko

BALL SEED; DANZIGER “DAN” FLOWER FARM; DOSATRON INTERNATIONAL, INC.; HOFFMAN NURSERY; HORT AMERICAS; SYNGENTA; VILLAGE NURSERIES WHOLESALE, LLC

GT in Brief

Save the Date: PPA Symposium

Jennifer Zurko

The 35th Annual Perennial Plant Symposium and Trade Show will be hosted in Denver, Colorado, on July 23-28, 2017.

GT in Brief

Toscana Breeding Acquires Endisch Geranium Genetics

Chris Beytes

Toscana Breeding BV is a joint venture formed in 2012 between three companies.

GT in Brief

USDA Drops Annual Floriculture Crops Summary

Chris Beytes

If you're wondering why you didn’t get your annual Christmas-time survey in the mail from USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), it’s because they’re not conducting said survey for the 2016 growing year.

New Products

New Products

Adriana Heikkila

Bougainvillea Growers International; Concept Plants; Ball Horticultural Company; AmericanHort; Danziger “Dan” Flower Farm; Premier Tech Horticulture

SAF in the Lobby

SAF Lobbies for Additional Research Funding

Society of American Florists

Every year, U.S. citizens, buoyed by their own initiative or representing an industry they work in or a cause they believe in, submit tens of thousands of requests to members of Congress to fund various programs.

Under an Acre

For the Love of Food

Anne-Marie Hardie

Entrepreneur Jeff Bednar’s career into horticulture began from an interest not in plants, but food.