MARCH 2018 Demand on the rise PAGE 15 Tips for retaliers PAGE 18 PUBLISHED BY Need Poly Film? T&R’s Got You Covered! Ginegar’s Advanced 5-Layer Poly Film Technology for Greenhouse Covers: • Reduces dust on greenhouse covers • Blocks IR to prevent heat loss • Reduces frost damage • Saves heating costs • Maintains higher foliage temperatures and drier plants Your area representative: Ginegar Plastics now joins the T&R family of products Courtney Lewis-Borts 503-951-3929 Outdoor nursery containers Greenhouse film covers [email protected] Fill trays, handlers, inserts and flats,eco Polyethylene films friendly products, and thermoformed pots Landscape fabric, shade cloth, Greenhouse containers, baskets and frost protection and trays Thermoformed and injection molded Propagation trays trays, packs, flats, pots and hanging baskets www.trlcompany.com SPRAYERS High clearance and width adjustability is customizable for your crop GREENHOUSES H7 TREE DIGGER COMFORT STATIONS TRACKING TRAILERS GK’s pre-drilled system will Digs trees, chopper/topper, Meets all OSHA Standard or custom save you time and money row planter and bed lifter sanitation requirements trailers available Call for a friendly quote! 503-678-5525 10590 Donald Road NE · Donald, Oregon 97020 WWW.GKMACHINE.COM March 2018 Vol. 62 No. 3 17 15 15 15 A houseplant awakening COLUMNS 7 President’s Message Growers and retailers are tapping into a renewed interest in indoor houseplants. For them, deciding what 13 Pivot Points products will meet customer demands takes a bit of 30 Director’s Desk study. Many of them are making those choices in smart, interesting ways. DEPARTMENTS 18 Houseplant sales tips 8 Calendar Northwest News Ten helpful tips for business owners who wish to target 9 customers looking to buy and maintain their own indoor 21 Classifieds houseplant haven. 23 Advertisers Index 23 Subscription Info 13 When simplicity beats creativity 25 Growing Knowledge Sometimes being too creative with your marketing 31 Digger Marketplace messages can work against your goals. 25 Heroes and villains Research identifies harmful and beneficial microbes in nursery soil. On the cover: Houseplants are creatively display at Cornell Farms in Portland, Oregon. On this page: (Left) Unique options for a miniature garden and (right) colorful tropical plants Printed in Oregon on domestic entice customers at Al's Garden & Home in Sherwood, Oregon. Photos by Dawn Hummel. recycled paper when available. 4 MARCH 2018 DIGGERMAGAZINE.COM Astun Ornamental Fungicide Astun_Ad_17.indd 1 9/13/17 3:09 PM LEONARD ADAMS INSURANCE Offering employer and individual health, dental, property and casualty insurance 29751 S.W. Town Center Loop West Wilsonville, OR 97070 PH 503-682-5089 PORTLAND PH 888-283-7219 NATIONWIDE FAX 503-682-5099 MAIN OFFICE FAX 503-682-5727 PUBLICATIONS [email protected] EMAIL www.oan.org WEB www.diggermagazine.com NEWS BLOG ____________ STAFF Jeff Stone EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR [email protected] 503-582-2003 Beth Farmer COMMUNICATIONS & [email protected] WEB DESIGN MANAGER 503-582-2013 Bill Goloski PUBLICATIONS [email protected] MANAGER 503-582-2009 Kelsey Hood EVENT & PROGRAM [email protected] COORDINATOR 503-582-2010 Debbie Hopkins ACCOUNTING & [email protected] DATABASE MANAGER 503-582-2004 Curt Kipp DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS [email protected] & PUBLICATIONS 503-582-2008 Allan Niemi DIRECTOR OF EVENTS [email protected] 503-582-2005 Blair Thompson ADVERTISING [email protected] ACCOUNT MANAGER 503-582-2012 Kristen Urban EVENT & EDUCATION [email protected] MANAGER 503-582-2011 Stephanie Weihrauch DIRECTOR OF FINANCE [email protected] & ADMINISTRATION 503-582-2001 OAN members have exclusive program access DIGGER Curt Kipp EDITOR with Providence Health Plans and LifeMap [email protected] Bill Goloski ART DIRECTOR [email protected] Blair Thompson ADVERTISING [email protected] ACCOUNT MANAGER ____________ HEALTH WORKERS AUTO AGRI PROPERTY & COMPENSATION HOME BUSINESS CASUALTY Copyright © 2018 by the Oregon Association of Nurseries (OAN). Digger magazine is an official publication and a member service of the Oregon Association of Nurseries, 29751 S.W. Town Center Loop W., Contact Randy Skinner: 503-296-0077 • 866-907-1850 Wilsonville, OR 97070. [email protected] • www.lacoinsurance.com REPRINTS AND SUBMISSIONS Digger allows reprinting of material with written permission; requests should be directed to the editor. We are not responsible for unsolicited freelance manuscripts and photo- graphs. Contact the editor for contribution information. SUBSCRIPTION AND CHANGE OF ADDRESS Circulation is controlled. Domestic subscriptions are complimentary to qualified U.S. nursery industry members. Non-qualified U.S. subscriptions are $42. Qualified foreign subscriptions are $35 to Canada; $45 to Mexico; and $80 for all other countries. Single copy rate is $6 while supplies last. Notify OAN Publications of change of address. Please allow 3-4 weeks for OREGON ASSOCIATION OF NURSERIES address change. 5201 S.W. WESTGATE DR, SUITE 300 GROUP HEALTH, DENTAL, PROPERTY & PORTLAND, OR 97221 CASUALTY INSURANCE PROVIDER Postmaster: Change of address correction requested to above address. ADVERTISING Contact OAN Publications for display and classified advertising rates. Deadlines are the 1st of the month Employer & Individual Health and Dental Insurance • Property & Casualty Insurance preceding the month of publication. Agribusiness Insurance • Workers Compensation Insurance • Auto & Home Insurance 6 MARCH 2018 DIGGERMAGAZINE.COM PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE 2017–2018 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Josh Zielinski Alpha Nursery PRESIDENT 5050 Hazelgreen Rd. N.E. Christmas [email protected] Salem, OR 97305-3519 503-390-1286 FAX 503-390-2639 Mike Hiller Kraemer’s Nursery Inc. is here PRESIDENT-ELECT P.O. Box 930 [email protected] Mt. Angel, OR 97362 503-845-2283 From the looks of this title, you FAX 503-845-6557 Jim Simnitt Simnitt Nursery may be wondering if it’s a misprint VICE PRESIDENT 138 NE 22nd Ave. [email protected] Canby, OR 97013 or if December’s article somehow 503-266-9640 FAX 503-263-6330 crept its way into the wrong issue. Kyle Fessler St. Christopher Nursery LLC TREASURER 12936 Portland Rd. N.E. By now, even the discounted holiday [email protected] Gervais, OR 97026 Josh Zielinski 503-580-4470 OAN PRESIDENT FAX 503-792-3902 decoration aisles have all been put Mark Bigej Al’s Garden & Home away, right? PAST PRESIDENT 1220 N. Pacific Hwy. [email protected] Woodburn, OR 97071-3616 It’s not a mistake. For many of us in the nursery business, March is harvest time. 503-981-1245 FAX 503-982-4608 Or, as we say at our early spring staff safety meetings: “Get ready, Christmas is here!” Josh Robinson Robinson Nursery Inc. Of course, any new team members are a bit confused and probably making a SECRETARY P.O. Box 100 quick glance at the calendar, but sooner rather than later they begin to understand. [email protected] Amity, OR 97101 503-835-4533 Hopefully, they don’t look at my calendar. I’ve chicken scratched “Christmas” on FAX 503-835-3004 March 1 for years. Denece Messenger Decorative Bark Products As growers, we spend months on end MEMBER AT LARGE P.O. Box 1198 [email protected] Tualatin, OR 97062 getting all of our plants ready for market We are somewhat abruptly 503-510-4029 — planning, planting, pruning and grinding FAX 503-859-3764 reminded of why we’ve ____________ away, day in and day out. Retailers engage in a similar amount of planning, purchasing been doing what we’ve STATE BOARD and projects, so everything is ready for cus- REPRESENTATIVES been doing all year long. tomers to come pouring into the parking lot CENTRAL OREGON CHAPTER Gary S. English Landsystems Nursery when the sun starts to shine. [email protected] 541-382-7646 It’s honestly pretty grueling work. It’s easy to lose sight of why we do it all when CHRISTMAS TREE CHAPTER we’re in the middle of an unpleasant task, like applying pesticides at 1:30 a.m. on a vacant warm August night, or repainting the customer bathrooms on a wet and cold CLACKAMAS CHAPTER January day. Adam Farley Countryside Nursery [email protected] 503-678-0511 But then, one day we get up to a distinctive noise that isn’t exactly sleigh bells or Amanda Staehely Columbia Nursery reindeer hooves on the roof, but it’s equally magical. It’s the sound of semi-trucks roar- [email protected] 503-810-2598 ing into our docks and driveways. We are somewhat abruptly reminded of why we’ve EMERALD EMPIRE CHAPTER Tamara Clift McKenzie River Nursery been doing what we’ve been doing all year long. [email protected] 541-747-2767 Christmas is here! GREENHOUSE CHAPTER As an industry, we spend a lot of time producing plant material — often years. Andrea Avila-Aragon Smith Gardens [email protected] 503-678-5373 When it’s time, we carefully select the orders, pack the plants and trees neatly into Mark Leichty Little Prince of Oregon Nursery trailers and ship them to destinations near and far. The plants are then unloaded and [email protected] 503-678-5687 matched up with the perfect customer. It’s a monumental effort that everyone in our MT. HOOD CHAPTER Scott Ekstrom Ekstrom Nursery Inc. industry takes part in each season. [email protected] 503-663-4035 We quickly become absorbed in the fervor of the “holiday” itself, scrambling for Anthony Kinen Kinen’s Big & Phat Special Plants more supplies, more labels, more trucks and more labor. More, more and more. It’s [email protected] 503-866-3627 good fun work and there’s so much urgency that the days quickly fly by. RETAIL CHAPTER Should we run out of plants or supplies, it’s time to check OAN Nursery Guide Laura Hammond Al's Garden & Home [email protected] 503-981-1245 and www.nurseryguide.com for countless listings of the usual and the obscure.