All-America Selections (AAS) is bringing the International Plant Trialing conference back after 10 years. The first conference was held in the UK in 2011, with meetings at Longwood Gardens (Pennsylvania) and Farwest (Oregon) following in 2013 and 2015. Since then, the show has been on a break. Next October, the 2025 conference will be held in Bloomington, Minnesota.

The conference will be informative for plant evaluators and trial gardens personnel of all types and levels. While we all know that ornamentals are the most exciting, the show will feature trialing from all aspects of edibles and vegetables, as well.

 

Education will highlight a plethora of informative topics, including trialing techniques and industry trends, and you'll hear form some of the most well-respected trialers. Anything you might want to know more about should be here (at least regarding plant trialing). Most of all, this will be an excellent opportunity for trialers (like me) to coordinate and network.

 

As we've seen a drawback in university trialing programs (like many other programs), it's important that we continue to work together to serve our stakeholders. Meetings like this will be a perfect opportunity to push this collaboration. If you're in any way affiliated with plant trialing, I think this is going to be a great place to visit. Plus, who wouldn’t want a trip to Minnesota in October for some nice fall weather?

 

The event will be held from October 13-15 at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Bloomington. Registration is open and you can book your rooms. For more information, check out the website HERE.

Elliott Kenney, a third-year graduate student in landscape architecture at the University of Maryland, has been awarded the prestigious Carville M. Akehurst Memorial Scholarship.

 

This honor was established in 2002 by the Mid-Atlantic Nursery Trade Show (MANTS) to honor Carville M. Akehurst’s significant contributions to the horticulture industry and his commitment to education.

 

Elliott serves as the Treasurer of the Maryland student chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects. After 10 years of impactful work in non-profit advocacy, Elliott brings her dual passions for nature and justice to her studies. Her master’s thesis, inspired by her own experiences as a late-diagnosed neurodivergent individual, focuses on designing public parks that prioritize accessibility and inclusivity, and fostering environments of beauty and belonging for all. In addition, she's involved in research using VR technology to model urban flooding, demonstrating her commitment to addressing real-world environmental challenges.

 

Carville Akehurst’s daughter, Vanessa Finney serves as the Executive Vice President of MANTS. Vanessa expressed her support for the scholarship program and excitement for this year’s recipient, saying, “This scholarship honors our father’s belief in the power of education and his passion for the green industry. We are thrilled to see the scholarship awarded to Elliott Kenney. We are proud to support her educational journey and look forward to seeing her contributions to the industry.”

 

Congratulations to Elliott on this prestigious honor. Can’t wait to see how far you go!

Anyone in or near North Carolina might want to mark their calendars for November 21, as Proven Winners is hosting a Landscape Roadshow at The Carolina Hotel in the Pinehurst Resort & Country Club.

 

This show will feature speakers from across the U.S. and local experts form North Carolina Cooperative Extension all joining together to share some exciting news about using plant material in fun and exciting ways, new material to look for, and some benefits of bringing nature into the landscape. I'm especially excited for the talk about pesticides and pollinators—a topic that definitely needs more clarity. 

 

 

Attendees can earn CEU credits for various licensures (check this announcement for more details). Plus, you can finish the day with a 19th hole celebration courtesy of Pinehurst Resort. Can you think of a better way to spend the day?

 

Proven Winners has hosted Landscape Roadshows across the U.S. in previous years and they're always a blast.   

In less than 80 days, Gulf States (or GSHE, as it's affectionately known to folks down here) will open its doors to host growers, landscapers and horticulture enthusiasts from more than five states. With advertisements going out to approximately 25,000 potential attendees, this is a fantastic opportunity to get your business out in front of everyone and make some strong connections.

 

There are still booths available if you haven’t yet signed up, so make sure you hop over to the GSHE website for more information. Plus, this year’s theme of PLANTAPALOOZA! will be a hoot. A perfect time to come on down to the gulf south, where we're known for our music and excellent food. 

 

For our team, GSHE is an annual event. The educational sessions are held on Wednesday, January 22, with plant conferences, pest management sessions and much more. After education day, you can head down to the floor to visit with everyone. The show starts at 9:00 a.m. Thursday, January 23 and runs through Friday (January 24) afternoon. This is a can’t-miss event. 

The nursery and landscape industry has a wealth of knowledge at its fingertips. Our members have seen just about everything you can face with regards to growing, production, sales, installation, plant material, etc. If you've been through it and learned, chances are someone else is experiencing that same conundrum. So why not give back and help the industry grow?

 

Farwest is seeking presenters for next year’s conference. If you're interested in sharing your experience or knowledge with your colleagues, give them an idea HERE. 

 

On a side note: One of the best parts of the green industry is our willingness to share and help our competitors. Not only for the good of the industry, but just out of mutual respect and admiration. I remember early in my career visiting growers and there were other growers from competing nurseries on the farm discussing various practices. I thought that was crazy—why would we help our competition? But that’s the fun part of horticulture. Most of us are probably in this business because we were drawn to plants, and plant people like other plant people. 

Some exciting news on substrate sustainability to close this newsletter: A key component to incorporating sustainable practices in horticulture is decreasing resource linearity throughout production. When we consume in a linear habit, the end of their life cycle usually results in materials becoming disposed, wasted or thrown away. A popular phrase that describes this form of a linear economy is known as the “take-make-waste” cycle.

 

As we all know, the second pillar of the recycling symbol encompasses reusing. For many producers after production, the remaining substrate (called spent material) is often considered useless and becomes discarded. Substrate scientists (including myself) have explored alternatives for peat moss as a method to reduce overall use … but what if we can cut back our peat applications by reusing these spent substrates? 

 

There have long been concerns regarding the physical, chemical and biological stability of reused substrate. A recent research article from a group of Belgian scientists has explored the concept of reusing their peat-based substrate material. The research team, led by Bart Vandecasteele, compared “virgin” peat blends not previously used in cultivation with reused blends. These reused substrates were shredded and steam-treated prior to reuse. They grew strawberries in three different growth trials over three years, and measured similar yield across the three growth trials, with little to no differences in nutrient retention in the spent substrates. Plus, they didn't observe significant biological degradation—in other words, all reused substrates had high biological stability. No disease issues to consider either and this is in food crops.

 

In our world, we would ideally sell our substrates (with the plant attached if all goes to plan), but in many horticultural sectors, a fruit or vegetable is picked and substrate discarded. For those growers, reusing substrate material might save serious money. That being said, I'm confident that we all have culled plants and some plants that don’t sell, so this information isn't lost on us. The ability to reuse peat or other substrate components with proper sanitation can be a huge boon to nursery and greenhouse ornamental growers as well. This is exciting news on the front of circular substrates.

 

If you want more information, you can check out the research article HERE.