With production costs going sky-high and no relief in sight, it’s more important than ever that you optimize your greenhouse environment in a way that reduces your use of heating fuel, electricity, water, fertilizer and other inputs—while still maximizing plant quality, of course. That's something your environmental control system should be capable of doing—provided you have the right equipment and know how to set up and monitor the system!

In the free webinar, "Control Your Growing Environment, Control Your Costs!", environmental controls expert Dirk Sprangers from Argus Controls, along with Shawn Cooney, a CEA lettuce and hemp grower and co-founder of the Sustainable Cannabis Coalition, will discuss how automating your growing environment can lead to a more profitable and sustainable operation.

You will learn:

- If you have the right equipment installed
- The potential ROI for various investments in energy efficiency
- Environmental control system capabilities for managing your equipment
- Control tips for energy conservation
- How to leverage “smart” irrigation and fertigation
- Innovations coming from “plant-centric” controls suppliers
- And much more!

The webinar will be held on Thursday, May 5, 2020 at 1:00 p.m. Eastern/Noon Central and hosted by Chris Beytes, editor of GrowerTalks/Green Profit and Acres Online. 

AmericanHort is excited to welcome Dr. Alicain Carlson to the Women in Horticulture interview series. (I personally second that, as I consider Alicain an outstanding scientist and even better person, mentor and advocate for our industry.)

Dr. Carlson is a young mother holding her "dream job" as the technical manager at Syngenta Flowers where she manages a team of technical leads and horticultural scientists across the country and at two trial locations.

She is co-author of a book on cut flowers post-harvest called "Postharvest Handling of Cut Flowers and Greens." She’s received a variety of awards and recognitions, including being named an AmericanHort HortScholar in 2008 and a 2021 North Carolina State University Outstanding Young Alumni. She's a leader within both her company and the industry, serving as vice president of All-American Selections (AAS) and is a founding member of Syngenta Women in Flowers Team (SWiFT ERG), a recently formed employee resource group at Syngenta.

In this interview, Alicain will discuss how she has learned to juggle life’s demands and how women can support each other while working to achieve both personal and professional success.

And, yes – any guys out there with half a brain should realize that we could learn a lot from paying attention to professional mothers, as I personally have no clue how moms keep everything together. Just further proof that women should run the world.

This is one of those twists on an old favorite taxa (sedum) that I find to be very interesting as a standalone, mass planting or mixed with the old standard green cultivar (e.g. Sedum Autumn Joy).

Evolution Purple Crush (a Terra Nova introduction) is hardy in Zones 4 to 9 and offers dense, distinctive blue-green foliage with a deep purple hue that pairs well with other sedums and succulents. Pink summer flowers add a color contrast that's unique in the garden and that draws the attention of visitors (especially insect visitors).

Photo courtesy of Terra Nova.

One really nice trait of this cultivar is that it has a very dense habit that doesn’t lodge (stems fall over) in heavy rain, like some other cultivars succumb to. As said above, it’s also an excellent pollinator species when blooming and you can (depending on the time of day) witness moths, bees, wasps, beetles and flies all buzzing around this 18 to 24 in.-tall beauty.  

The National Association of Landscape Professionals’ (NALP) annual collegiate career event and competition, the National Collegiate Landscape Competition, was held March 16-19, at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina.

This year, more than 500 horticulture and landscape students from more than 40 universities and colleges tested their skills in 31 real-world, competitive events, like Exterior Landscape Design, Plant Identification, Robotics and Technology in Landscape Design and Maintenance, Irrigation Design, and more.

“The National Collegiate Landscape Competition highlights the many wonderful career paths and skills needed for a career in the landscape industry,” said Britt Wood, NALP CEO. “The event brings together the top horticulture and landscape students, companies and manufacturers, exposing students to the breadth and scope of the $115 billion industry that they will enter into after college.”

Irrigation installation is one of the many competative events and is always fun to watch! Photo courtesy of NALP-NCLC. 

Congratulations to the top schools at this year’s event:

1. Brigham Young University - Provo
2. Cuyahoga Community College
3. North Carolina State University
4. Brigham Young University - Idaho
5. Cincinnati State Tech. & Comm. College
6. Michigan State University
7. Mississippi State University
8. Penn State University
9. Colorado State University
10. Alamance Community College

Additionally, big kudos to the top individual performers at the event (who participated and exceled in five events):

1. Petyon Musgrove (Cuyahoga Community College)
2. Eric Levine (Alamance Community College)
3. Christian Schloegel (College of Dupage)

The event was produced in partnership with NC State University. In addition, the National Collegiate Landscape Competition is supported by partners, including STIHL, Inc. (Platinum); John Deere (Gold); Caterpillar, Davey, Ferris, Gravely, Husqvarna, (Silver) and Anchor, Aspire, Bartlett Tree Experts, Belgard, Corona Tools, Ewing, Hunter, Kawasaki, Kubota, LandCare, Permaloc, Proven Winners, Rainbird, SiteOne, Timberline Landscaping, Toro, and Yellowstone Landscape (Bronze).

It’s always wonderful to hear about successful partnerships between academics and industry, and this time we can look to Canada for a great new(ish) consortium that’s connecting the two entities. Greening the Landscape Research Consortium is an initiative of Vineland Research & Innovation Centre that brings together diverse stakeholders from across the value chain to develop evidence-based solutions for challenges in urban forestry.

I heard about this program from a press release by A.M.A., which has just joined the effort.

“Healthy trees are vital for healthy urban environments and it all starts with our industry,” said Rick Bradt, who serves as A.M.A.’s managing director together with his wife, Connie Bradt. “As part of the Consortium, A.M.A. is committed to collaborating, learning and sharing knowledge to help raise public awareness about the importance of sustainable green spaces and help growers produce quality products that will thrive in urban settings.”

The Consortium brings together municipalities, conservation authorities, nursery growers, professional associations, landscapers, suppliers and others to build the collective capacity of the Canadian urban tree value chain by developing and mobilizing scientific knowledge and enhancing collaboration. Together, consortium participants set research priorities that reflect industry needs, and access training and skills development, innovative data, network connections and emerging knowledge. They will also take part in an urban forestry pilot project.

“The goal is simple. We want to bring together all voices from across the value chain to drive change in the areas where it’s most needed so that collectively we can make our landscape greener and more sustainable,” said Dr. Darby McGrath, who leads the Plant Responses and the Environment program at Vineland.

Earlier this month, the Consortium hosted its first membership-wide workshop where participants established key themes, reviewed priorities and discussed pathways forward.

“The passion and knowledge within the group is truly motivating and we’re excited to see what we can accomplish moving forward,” added Darby.

As of now, it seems like this effort is internal to Canada, but that doesn’t mean some inspired folks couldn’t mirror the effort in other nations. After all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!

A Bailey Innovation introduction, Standing Ovation Serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia) offers a much better/more refined plant (15 ft. height and 3 to 5 ft. width) habit compared to other cultivars on the market. And, quite frankly, this is why I think it’ll be a popular choice moving forward in Zones 2 to 8a landscapes. Flowers appear in early spring and it’s a decent pollinator shrub, but it really shines as purple fruit mature in late spring-early summer. Then it shows off again in fall with yellow fall color.

Photo courtesy of Bailey Innovations.

I like the species, as it's a North American native that's tolerant of a wide range of soil types, and has a wide range of uses, from seasonal screens (it’s deciduous) to more natural/woodland edge plantings. And it’s a good option for bird lovers (they enjoy the fruit), yet deer don’t preferentially forage on the foliage.

If it had one negative, it’s that it doesn’t like dry spots, but with proper mulching I've never had it do more than drop some foliage during severe droughts.

The Perennial Plant Association (PPA) has announced that Monday, August 1, during its 2022 National Symposium, will be Perennial Plant Education Day. Attendees will have the option of attending a day of education at the Lancaster Marriott at Penn Square or choosing from two different day-long bus tours.

The educational sessions will be presented by PPA, Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS), Morris Arboretum and the Penn State Extension Master Gardener program. The speakers and topics are designed with the public in mind, and everyone from garden enthusiasts to gardening professionals are encouraged to attend! This is sure to be an excellent program.

Participants who attend education sessions will engage in lectures by five speakers with lunch included. Information is centered around the theme Native Friendly Gardening and Supporting Pollinators and includes:

• Plants for Pollinators: The Ecological Value of Perennial Garden Flowers presented by Emily Erickson, Postdoctoral Research with Tufts University
• Have You Thought of Growing Clematis for Pollinators? What We Know About Their Ecosystem Functions presented by Jeff Jabco, Director of Grounds & Coordinator of Horticulture with Scott Arboretum at Swarthmore College
• Champions or Chumps? Perennial Plant of the Year Winners in Review presented by Stephanie Cohen, Author, Gardener, also known as the “Perennial Diva”
• Containers That Create Spaces presented by David Mattern, Horticulturist with Chanticleer Garden
• Pennsylvania Horticultural Society Gardens: Flourishing through Sustainability presented by Andrew Bunting, Vice President of Public Gardens and Landscapes with PHS

The other option of Perennial Plant Education Day is designed for horticulture industry professionals to attend one of two bus tours for a hands-on approach to learning, while navigating through the beautiful countryside of the piedmont region of Pennsylvania. All tours include snacks and lunch.

At the Lancaster & Local Tour, attendees will be able to visit garden centers, greenhouses and a unique production facility for the entertainment industry. These tours include:

• Penn State Trial Gardens
• Briar Rose Greenhouses
• Black Creek Greenhouses
• Esbenshade’s Garden Center
• Rock Lititz
• Stauffers of Kissel Hill At the Northwest & York

Tour attendees will have the opportunity to explore greenhouses and private gardens located in this region of Pennsylvania. These tours include:

• Quality Greenhouses
• Millbourne
• Fears Private Home Garden
• Brister Private Home Foodscape Garden

The early bird registration deadline is June 24 and final registration deadline is July 22. Full details and registration for the Perennial Plant Education Day can be found at perennialplant.org/page/2022NSMonday.

I recently addressed some published predictions regarding the possibility of a recession in the coming year and in response I got a few folks emailing me wondering how to “recession-proof” or “inflation-proof” investments.

Now, first, I'm no financial planner. I'm a Ph.D. (professional hole digger), so I'm not going to take anyone down into that hole with me without first stating the obvious. And I don’t believe in moving money out of long-term stock-based or mixed investments like mutual funds due to early-withdrawal penalties or capital gains taxes. I’ve always believed that a Roth IRA is the best investment (for me) and I think it’s particularly good for early career professionals. You can even be really nerdy like me and open a Roth IRA for your kids!

Having said that, there's one tool that I've used in the past when inflation was high and interest rates were also high (not to say interest rates are high now – but they’re predicted to increase). That tool is the Series I Savings Bond. The Series I can be pretty confusing compared to other savings bond categories when trying to determine the future value of the bonds, as the interest rate adjusts every six months (interest also compounds semi-annually).

Also, it requires a minimum investment of 12 months, and to avoid a three-month interest penalty, you should retain the Series I for a minimum of five years. But in the medium-term, it's a good protection against the combination of inflation and struggling stock market and is particularly appealing as interest rates increase. In other words, it’s a “safe” investment if you’re risk-averse.

Right now, the interest rate for the Series I is 7.12% (until the end of this month – in a few days). If you want to learn more, you can check out the Treasury Department FAQ page HERE. And as always, it’s best to take the time to speak to a financial planner before making decisions. It may cost a few hundred bucks, but it will always result in you being more comfortable with your personal plans and circumstances.