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Photo courtesy of Plantpeddler

‘Callie Eclipse Raspberry,’ ‘Elegant Feathers’ among standouts at Plantpeddler Variety Day

Cresco, Iowa-based grower Plantpeddler held its annual Variety Day on Friday, Aug. 2, officially opening the newly expanded trial site. This space represents an investment in grower success by “Testing the Best in the Midwest.”

The event showcased nearly 1,200 varieties of vegetative annuals in large containers, hanging baskets and beds from a global array of breeders. Growers, breeders, brokers and retailers spent the day evaluating the trial gardens, attending seminars by industry professionals and touring the greenhouses. Presenters included Jennie Smith of BASF, Dr. Carlos Bográn of OHP, Lisa Heredia representing Danziger, Bart Hayes of Westhoff and Mike Gooder of Plantpeddler. Participants had the opportunity to vote on their top three varieties.

Photo © vermontalm | Adobe Stock

Cultivate trends and holiday plants on the Green Industry Leaders Network podcast

The Green Industry Leaders Network podcast recently featured Greenhouse Management Editor Kate Spirgen for its 59th episode, “Cultivate & Holiday Plant Trends.” Spirgen and Chris Sabbarese, digital marketing and communications manager at Corona Tools, talked about their experiences at Cultivate’19, as well as holiday plant trends.

The podcast takes a look at what's hot in holiday plants outside of poinsettias and what growers can pair with the popular plant for more sales.

Canadian greenhouse operations say cannabis industry is worsening labor shortages

Canada’s labor-strapped greenhouse vegetable and flower growers are ramping up efforts to keep and recruit more workers in the face of pressure from the country’s budding cannabis industry, farm groups say.

“Many of the cannabis producers are very cash rich. They’ve got the resources to pay a very good wage,” said Andrew Morse, head of the Flowers Canada industry group.

Canada’s greenhouse, nursery and floriculture sectors employ 16% of all workers in Canadian agriculture. The industry has been grappling with a tight labor supply for years, and the current record low national unemployment rate is compounding the problem.