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Gathering In Gainesville
Flower aficionados convened at the Floriculture Field Day to view University of Florida field trials and learn new trends and techniques.
By Tacy Callies,
Editor
tlcallies@meistermedia.com
Growers looking for advice on automating their nurseries, landscapers needing tips for successful color installation, and retailers hungry for the latest new varieties found everything they were searching for — and more — at the 2005 Floriculture Field Day.
Held May 18-19 at the Paramount Plaza Hotel and the University of Florida (UF) in Gainesville, the event attracted a record number of attendees (nearly 300). Presented by the Florida Nursery, Growers & Landscape Association, UF, Grandiflora, and Ornamental Outlook, the two-day event included seminars, a trip to Kanapaha Botanical Gardens, vendor displays, and tours of the UF field trials.
Speakers Spark Ideas
On the first day of the program, held at the Paramount, attendees learned about the latest plants to be named to the Athens Select collection. Chosen from Dr. Allan Armitage’s trial gardens at the University of Georgia, the plants are proven to stand up against heat and humidity.
Robbie Dupont of Dupont Nursery presented "Cajun Color: Great Plants from Louisiana," and Dr. Karen Stever of ItSaul Plants in Chamblee, GA, discussed plant picks for dry soil that provide color, structure, and texture.
Dave Self of Wyld West Annulas, Barry Troutman of ValleyCrest Co., and Frank Giglia of Signature Supply spoke on strategies for hurricane recovery and preparation. Much of the information is now available on FNGLA’s Web site. Go to www.fngla.org and click on the Hurricane Tips and Information box.
While most of the speakers were from the Southeast, Candi and Lloyd Traven, owners of Peace Tree Farms, left their Kintersville, PA, nursery in the middle of the busy spring season to make the trip to Floriculture Field Day. Candi gave an uplifting presentation that answered the age-old question nursery owners sometimes ask themselves: Why are we in this business? Among the many reasons she gave were to bring beauty to the world, to work with family, and to be your own boss. Her husband, Lloyd, who spoke on automation, said there are five questions growers should answer before going high-tech:
- Who and what do the job? If the owner is doing it, automate it. Mechanize daily or repetitive tasks, like irrigation.
- Does it fit or can we change? Don’t rebuild a greenhouse to get a piece of equipment through the door.
- Does it make it simpler? Don’t invest in a tag machine if you only grow a few varieties.
- Do I need it or do I want it? Wants probably aren’t good investments.
- Where’s the money coming from?
Other highlights included a panel discussion on caladiums and overviews of production at American Farms and Lake Brantley Plant Corp. nurseries. After the first full day of seminars, attendees visited Kanapaha Botanical Gardens for a tour and dinner.
Off To School
Day two of Floriculture Field Day took place at the UF campus. Attendees could choose from four tracks: production, new crops/landscape, retail, and outdoor (field trials). In the production track, growers learned about weed control in herbaceous crops, new container laws, topiary techniques, and more. On the agenda for landscapers were native wildflowers, bog plants, long-blooming tropicals, and heat-tolerant grasses, among other topics. Retailers took away mixed container recipes, an overview of new plants from the 2005 California Pack Trials, and more. In the outdoor track, attendees toured the UF’s 2005 spring trial garden, which includes approximately 600 different varieties, as well as an ornamental grass display. Surrounding the trial gardens are landscape plantings. Since some of the plants have been in the ground for many years, visitors can see how well the plants perform long-term.
Verbascum boerhavii bicolor, from Thompson & Morgan,
is one of the larger, more unique plants in the trial garden.
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sponsors:
PLATINUM
Hatchett Creek Farms
GOLD
Agri-Starts Inc.
Costa Color
Crompton Corp.
Farm Credit Associations of Florida
GRACO Fertilizer Company
Syngenta/S&G Flowers
SILVER
Ball Seed/PanAmerican Seed/FloraPlant
Florikan E.S.A. Corp.
BRONZE
Berger Peat Moss
Bethel Farms Ltd.
Bill Moore Co.
BioWorks Inc.
Buffalo Horticulture Sales Co.
Cleary Chemical Corp.
Fafard Inc.
Henry F. Michell Co.
Knox Nursery Inc.
Lake Brantley Plant Corp.
Landmark Plastic Corp.
Milestone Agriculture Inc.
OHP Inc.
Regal Chemical Co.
Signature Supply Inc.
Wyld West Annuals Inc.
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