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  • Hydrangea Pruning

    Solution Center (end of Aisle 10,000)

    Speaker: Nita-Jo Rountree This FREE mini-session is included with your trade show pass! Pruning Demo

  • Nursery Science Summit: Plant Pathology

    Room B119

      Speaker 1: Jay W. Pscheidt, Ph.D., Extension Plant Pathology Specialist, Oregon State University Title: Smart Spraying Grapes Leads to New Boxwood Blight Management Description:

  • Raymond Cloyd

    The Fundamentals of Resistance Management

    Room B113

    Unfortunately, Raymond Cloyd is not be able to attend the show this year. Speaker: Raymond A. Cloyd, Ph.D., Professor and Extension Specialist, Kansas State University

  • Nursery Science Summit: Insect Pest Management

    Room B119

    Speaker 1: Jana Lee, Ph.D., USDA Entomologist Title: Using Natural Enemies in Outdoor Nurseries, and Silicon for Pest Management Speaker 2: Man-yeon Choi, Ph.D., USDA

  • Alison Kutz

    IPM Strategies to keep Pesticides in the Toolkit

    Room B113

    Speaker: Alison Kutz, Consulting Director, Sound Horticulture Pests trying to outwit you? This talk will cover best practices for keeping beneficial insects and microbial controls

  • Top Consumer Garden Trends to Drive Sales

    Room B110

    Speaker: Katie Tamony, Chief Marketing Officer and Trend Spotter, Monrovia Nursery Company Want to know what home gardeners are thinking? Every year, Monrovia conducts large

  • IPM for Horticulture Crops

    Room B113

    Speaker: Vanessa Vassilaros, M.S., Consultant Attendants will learn about steps to prevent, decrease, or contain pest and disease pressure using integrated pest management strategies in

  • Nursery Science Summit: Plant Selection and Production

    Room B119

    Speaker 1: Ryan Contreras, Ph.D., Professor, Oregon State University Title: Past Successes and Future Directions for Nursery Breeding at Oregon State Description: Since 2009, the

  • The Retail Experience: Boxwood Problem Solving

    Room B119

    Speaker: Pat Reilly, Horticulture Outreach Specialist, Saunders Genetics LLC and NewGen Boxwood Landscapers, garden center staff, growers, and homeowners alike encounter issues with boxwood. Attention to

  • Advancing Boxwood Blight Monitoring Techniques

    Room B113

    Speaker: Luisa Santamaria, Ph.D., Professor, Extension Plant Pathologist, Oregon State University Boxwood plants, which are widely utilized in gardening and landscaping, are seriously threatened by

  • AI in the Landscaping World

    Room B116

    Speaker: Paige Tisdale, Business Developer, Dennis’ 7 Dees This presentation explores the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) in revolutionizing the landscaping industry. It highlights how

  • Danny Summers Managing director and chief instigator, The Garden Center Group

    The Garden Retailing Train: Looking Ahead to 2026

    Room B110

    Garden retailing is like a train moving down the tracks to a new destination and the constant evolution of trends and management needs requires you to stay on the train in order to meet the changing needs of the consumer. Garden retailing has experienced major growth in new customers and sales since 2019. [read more]

  • Todd Davis Director of the Catalog/OnSyte Division of Veritiv Visual/Horticultural Printers

    Labels, Tags and Marketing: The Latest Trends and Innovations

    Room B119

    This seminar will discuss everything from the latest in FRID tags to printing your own labels in house. Whether you're new to labeling and tagging or looking for the most up-to-date systems, this seminar will help you find the best solutions for your needs. [read more]

  • Michael Brownbridge Sr. technical services manager, Bioworks Inc.

    Big, Bad Botrytis: How to Beat It, Biologically

    Room B113

    Botrytis is a tough disease to manage at the best of times but its resistance to many conventional fungicides adds another layer of complexity. This has focused attention on the use of cultural and biological techniques as a first, and sometimes only, line of defense against this pathogen. [read more]

  • The Importance of Emotional Intelligence in the Green Industry

    Room B110

    As innovations in technology, automation and AI are on the rise, our ability to connect with and understand each other on a humanistic and emotional level declines. Now more than ever, emotional intelligence, or EQ, is a valuable and necessary skill in the workplace [read more]

  • Broch Martindale National nursery and greenhouse account manager at Corteva Agriscience

    The Importance of Training in Your IPM Program

    Room B113

    How we train greatly depends on several factors. In this talk Martindale will demonstrate the importance in training your team. Martindale will highlight some techniques for you to use the next time you train members of your team. [read more]

  • Tim Quebedeaux Owner of RetailKPI, service provider for The Garden Center Group

    Streamline your Inventory

    Room B110

    Learn the key performance indicators that will show you how your inventory is performing. By measuring three KPIs down to the category level, you will learn where to spend your time improving your business. [read more]

  • Karen Stever

    Developing a Biological Control Strategy that Works for You

    Room B113

    Success with biological pest control requires developing a strategy that accounts for the nature of the crops being grown, environmental conditions, and expected pests. Another important element of developing an effective biocontrol strategy is defining what success means. [read more]

  • ODA Case Studies and Lessons Learned

    Room B119

    This presentation includes a review of several ODA pesticide investigations from recent years. We will discuss the lessons that can be learned from these investigations to improve future pesticide applications. [read more]

  • John Kennedy Co-founder of Boomerwrangle

    You Can’t Expect What You Can’t Inspect

    Room C124

    Fostering a culture of measurement and metrics is vital for a profitable and productive workplace in the green industry. Knowing your numbers and sharing them with your team is a great way to create a culture of engagement [read more]

  • Ron McCabe President of Everbearing Services

    Creating Your Internet Marketing Plan 2025–2026

    Room B110

    Digital marketing shapes how customers find and choose services. This session covers proven strategies to strengthen you online presence, connect with the right audience, and turn website visits into business growth. [read more]

  • Aaron Palmateer, Ph.D. Director of horticulture, Harrell’s, LLC

    Why Do Some Pesticide Applications Fail?

    Room B113

    This presentation will review pesticide use in nursery and greenhouse production focusing on factors that influence pesticide performance. Common examples and reasons for pesticide failures will be provided [read more]

  • Ryan Watkins Founder, HortMentor

    How A Quick Sketch Can Double Your Sale

    Room B110

    Boost sales by providing clients with a basic, hand-drawn visual of their space. This simple, yet effective tool can be utilized by sales associates to illustrate recommendations and assist clients with understanding how to accomplish their landscape goals. [read more]

  • Hot Yards, Cool Tips: Fire-wise Landscaping 101

    Room B119

    Speaker: Amy Jo Detweiler, professor and Extension horticulturist, Oregon State University Extension Service Join us for a practical approach to fire-wise landscaping. We’ll break down

  • John Kennedy Co-founder of Boomerwrangle

    The One-Hour Strategic Plan

    Room C124

    It’s never too early or too late to create a strategic plan for the future. John Kennedy is a master of this practice and will introduce the audience to his tool kit [read more]

  • Michael Brownbridge Sr. technical services manager, Bioworks Inc.

    The Value Proposition of Beneficial Microbes

    Room B113

    Biofungicides are increasingly utilized in integrated disease-management programs. They bring proven efficacy and performance, are safe for and compatible with other components of integrated pest management [read more]

  • Michael Maggiotto Jr., PHR, SHRM-SCP Director of human resource solutions, BEST Human Capital & Advisory Group

    Human Capital Risks When You Have Limited Resources

    Room B110

    Are your people generating unnecessary risks to your business? Do you struggle managing people risks because of limited resources? Simple mistakes can cost a company millions or even end a business altogether. [read more]

  • Ryan Watkins Founder, HortMentor

    Landscape Design Basics: Time-Saving Tips

    Room B116

    Learn concepts of landscape design in this introductory class tailored to industry professionals. Dive into the 4Ts and DS4, two powerful methods that streamline plant selection while guaranteeing results your clients will rave about. [read more]

  • Plants that Pay the Rent

    Room B119

    No plant — be it tree, shrub, bulb, or perennial — evades eviction. Tap Heims’ 50+ years of plant knowledge to find out which plants fill multiple seasons with foliage color, long bloom times, fragrance, and decorative character. [read more]

  • Raymond Cloyd

    Biological Control: The Importance of Quality Assessment

    Room B113

    Cloyd will provide a brief introduction to biological control and will then focus on the importance of quality assessment associated with biological control agents, such as, parasitoids, predators, and entomopathogenic nematodes. [read more]

  • AI for the Green Industry

    Room B110

    Learn how to overcome labor shortages, grow revenue, and optimize inventory by leveraging AI. In this session, we'll cover tactical tools and insights [read more]

  • Purchasing 101: Horticultural Professionals Discuss Purchasing

    Room B110

    Panel: Representatives from Growscape, Monrovia Nursery Company, Smith Gardens, Al’s Garden & Home, Anderson Pots, and OBC Northwest Inc.

    Panel discussion on basic purchasing and receiving processes and best practices from three growers and two manufacturers/distributors. Principles and processes that ensure efficient operations by securing the right product, right customer, right quantity, right condition, right place, right time, a

  • How We Relate to Plants Today — and Why We Buy Them

    Room B116

    Speaker: Erica Grivas, garden journalist/speaker

    Plants are more than decorations, they function as companions, wellness tools, and lifestyle statements. This session looks at how today’s buyers relate to plants, from food growers and pollinator supporters to low-maintenance gardeners and self-described “plant parents.”

  • Best Practices for Water Management and Recirculation in Nursery Operations

    Room B119

    Speakers: Tim Reusch, national sales manager at Dramm Corporation, and Alex Ramos, operations manager and co-owner of Walla Walla Nursery Co.

    Alex Ramos and Tim Reusch will review how effective water-use strategies are crucial to promoting plant health and sustainability. Cultural and mechanical best practices to implement in the nursery can help ensure growers understand the tools and techniques available.

  • How Diseases Hitch a Ride: When Insects Act as Plant Pathogen Vectors

    Room B113

    Speaker: Sierra Laverty, assistant professor and horticulture educator, University of Idaho Extension

    Some of the most common greenhouse, nursery, and landscape pests are also harbingers of plant diseases. Certain insect pests act as pathogen vectors, spreading fungal, bacterial, and viral diseases from plant to plant like wildfire through a growing operation or landscape.

  • Purchasing 102: A Deeper Dive

    Room B110

    Panel: Representatives from Growscape, Monrovia Nursery Company, Smith Gardens, Al’s Garden & Home, Anderson Pots, OBC Northwest Inc., Simplot Turf & Horticulture.

    A deeper discussion of today’s supply chain and how it’s affected by issues like tariffs, price, environmental legislation, and long lead times.

  • Listen Up! Garden Podcasts are in Your Customers’ Ears

    Room B116

    Speaker: Kathy Jentz, author, podcaster, Washington (DC) Gardener Magazine editor, GardenDC Podcast

    Garden podcasts are wired directly into your customers’ brains. Their hosts are telling them what to grow and purchase on this unique medium. You need to get hooked on them to reach this growing audience and spread plant knowledge.

  • Navigating The Use of Wood Fiber in Your Growing Media

    Room B119

    Speaker: James Owen, Ph.D., technical manager, Profile Products LLC, Professional Growing Solutions

    Attendees will review the physical and chemical properties of conventional Pacific Northwest growing media components. Attendees will also be introduced to wood fiber(s) and its impact on physical and chemical properties of the growing media.

  • The Art of Chemical Application

    Room B113

    Speaker: Edgar Tuna, greenhouse and nursery crop specialist, area sales manager Western U.S., Envu

    Effective chemical application is far more than simply operating a spray gun or pulling a boom. It is both an art and a science. It requires a good understanding of the equipment being used, the products applied, the environmental conditions at the time of treatment, and the specific characteristics of the application site.

  • Charlie Hall, Professor and Ellison Chair in International Floriculture at Texas A&M

    KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Charlie Hall, Ph.D.

    Featured
    Room C124

    Overcoming Decision Paralysis in the Midst of Uncertainty WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 11 a.m. in Room C124 FREE to all registered Farwest Participants. Charlie Hall, Ph.D.

  • Hands-On: New Ways to Host High-Profit Creative Workshops at Garden Centers

    Room B110

    Speaker: Katie Elzer-Peters, CEO, The Garden of Words LLC

    Attendees will learn about the rise of maker spaces at retail and how a garden center can hop on board this emerging, profitable trend driven by the age 25–45 demographic. They will learn how to teach two types of garden-adjacent creative art projects that use the same low-cost

  • Beyond the Hype: Targeting Trends that Matter

    Room B116

    Speaker: Erica Grivas, award-winning garden journalist

    Garden trends don’t move in a straight line. Why do some fade quickly while others persist? In this session, a national garden journalist presents a curated roundup of garden trends showing signals of staying power, drawn from reporting and industry observation.

  • Chaos to Clarity: Building an AI Stack for Growers and the Green Industry

    Room B116

    Speaker: Chris Sabbarese, co-founder, Infusion Management Services

    Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping how businesses operate, but many organizations struggle to move from curiosity to practical implementation. This session provides a clear framework for understanding and building an AI technology stack that supports marketing,

  • Soil, Systems, and Sustainability: Transforming Landscape Practices for a Changing Climate

    Room B119

    Speaker: Trevor Smith, regenerative landscape designer, CFS Regenerative Design Studios, LLC

    As climate pressures reshape plant performance and client expectations, landscape professionals must align ecological function with profitability. This session explores soil-centered design, resilient plant communities, and strategies for building a niche market through sustainable materials, including native

  • The Retail Playbook: Strengthen Sales Without ‘Selling’

    Room B110

    Speaker: Neal Glatt, founder and CEO, Neal Glatt Sales & Strategy

    In this extended session for retailers, you'll learn to build a practical retail playbook to help your team confidently guide customers to increased ticket volumes without making customers feel sold to. Explore how customers shop, decide, and engage with your team. Learn how to use

  • Mastering Career Development Planning Part 1: The Foundations of a Career Advancement

    Room B110

    Speaker: Neal Glatt, founder and CEO, Neal Glatt Sales & Strategy

    Employees don’t just want a job — they want a clear pathway for growth. A career advancement plan gives them a documented roadmap for developing skills, earning new responsibilities, and achieving meaningful progress in their careers. When implemented well, it creates consistency

  • Promoting Soil Health: A Prescription for Landscape Success

    Room B116

    Speaker: Bryce Lane, distinguished professor emeritus, North Carolina State University

    As landscapers, and gardeners, we typically spend most of our time thinking above ground. We spend countless hours selecting the right woody plant, considering the right exposure, combinations, size, color, and textures. Woody plant’s success is equally dependent on what is going

  • From Manual to High-Tech: How Automation Empowers Growers

    Room B119

    Speaker: Raymond van den Berg, sales manager Americas, TTA-ISO

    In this session the speaker will discuss and explain the challenges, practices and benefits of introducing (high-tech) technology into a greenhouse or nursery.  Introducing technology into your operation does not only mean buying machinery, but will also challenge you to look more

  • Vascular Streak Dieback (VSD): What Growers Need to Know

    Room B113

    Speaker: Luisa Santamaria, Ph.D., professor, Oregon State University

    Vascular streak dieback (VSD) is an emerging disease affecting woody ornamentals in several regions of the United States and has raised concern for nursery production systems. Increased awareness is essential for early detection and prevention in the Pacific Northwest.

  • Lawn Alternatives: Hot Design Style, or Challenging for Homeowners and HOAs?

    Room B116

    Speaker: Sue Goetz, garden designer, consultant, speaker and author, Creative Gardener

    You’ve heard the buzz words — rewilding, regenerative, and naturalism Ripping out traditional lawns and creating magical meadow plantings, no-mow-seed mixes, and more. It is all getting attention and becoming more mainstream, but is it sustainable for customers and landscape

  • Consumers and Environmental Health: How Growers Can Respond to Changing Market Demand

    Room B119

    Speaker: Marie Chieppo, CFS Regenerative Design Studios LLC

    Climate change and rising environmental awareness are reshaping how plants and horticultural products are selected, specified, and purchased. Designers, municipalities, and consumers are prioritizing climate-resilient, ecologically functional plant material while also examining

  • Wrecking Root Rots

    Room B113

    Speaker: Janna Beckerman, ornamentals technical specialist, Envu

    Root rots are some of the most devastating pathogens that growers face but often remain under and misdiagnosed. This talk will review the diagnosis and integrated disease management of the most common root rots grower face, including Fusarium, Phytophthora, Pythium and Rhizoctonia.

  • Mastering Career Development Planning Part 2: Designing Clear Roles, Skills, and Pathways

    Room B110

    Speaker: Neal Glatt, founder and CEO, Neal Glatt Sales & Strategy

    Employees don’t just want a job — they want a clear pathway for growth. A career advancement plan gives them a documented roadmap for developing skills, earning new responsibilities, and achieving meaningful progress in their careers. When implemented well, it creates consistency

  • Avoid Costly Delays: Spec-Correct Sourcing for Landscape and Municipal Projects

    Room B116

    Speaker: Cameron Korta, director of bulk sales, Swanson Bark & Wood, a Denali Company

    Project delays in landscape and municipal work often begin during the specification stage, long before construction starts. This session examines why material specifications fail in real projects, using practical examples that leads to change orders, rework, and schedule impacts.

  • Annual Worker Protection Standard (WPS) Training for Handlers: (Spanish session)

    Room B113

    Speaker: Vanessa Vassilaros, outreach specialist, Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) Note: This session will be presented entirely in Spanish. English translation will not be available. Attendants will receive their annual training on pesticide safety according to the Worker Protection Standard (WPS).

  • How to Upsell Existing Customers with Engaging Email

    Room B110

    Speaker: Katie Elzer-Peters, CEO, The Garden of Words LLC

    In this session, attendees will learn how to engage their existing customers to sell more services, higher tiers of service and raise average order value. During the session they’ll also learn and take home templates for batching their email campaigns

  • Plant Health and Efficiencies That Can Be Achieved Through Irrigation

    Room B119

    Speaker: Andrew Van Geest, sales, large projects, AdeptAg-Zwart Systems

    In this session Van Geest will discuss common issues that he sees around the country among nursery producers as well as the different types of irrigation tools and their proper application in the nursery. We will touch on automation of irrigation cycles, use of booms, sanitization,

  • There is No Such Thing as Dwarf: Compact Plants for the Landscape

    Room B116

    Speaker: Bryce Lane, distinguished professor alumnus, North Carolina State University

    Home landscapes are shrinking, the average residential property size is now less than a quarter of an acre. More and more people are living in the city and have less and less space for plants. This has resulted in an increasing demand for dwarf/compact, self-contained plants. In this talk

  • Plastics Recycling Roundtable

    Room A107

    State Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws for packaging and plastics are rapidly expanding across the United States and will increasingly affect agricultural sectors that rely heavily on plastic packaging and shipping materials, including nursery and greenhouse operators. These laws shift responsibility for managing packaging waste from municipalities and taxpayers to the companies that produce or introduce packaging into the marketplace. Several states—including Oregon, California, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, Maryland, and Washington—have adopted EPR frameworks, with Oregon among the first to implement reporting and fee obligations.

  • Deep Dive into Displays for the Retail Garden Center

    Room B110

    Speakers: David Williams and Erik Dietl-Friedli, partners, Garden Center Consultants LLC

    An inspiring and highly visual presentation showcasing innovative display strategies that drive customer engagement and increase sales.  Learn how to design intentional merchandising experiences that convert browsers into buyers.

  • Who You Gonna Call? Where to Find Reliable Information on IPM Tools

    Room B113

    Speaker: Kirsten Pearsons, IPM coordinator, T&L Nursery

    Growers and pest management professionals have access to more pest management tools than ever before, but how do we pick the best strategies for our operations? This session is designed to give an overview of the tools and resources that we can use to decide our best course of pest

  • From Awareness to Action: Preventing Pesticide Resistance in the Nursery Industry

    Room B113

    Speaker: Silvia Rondon, Ph.D., professor and director of the Oregon Integrated Pest Management Center, Oregon State University

    This presentation focuses on translating awareness of pesticide resistance into practical management strategies for the nursery industry. Participants will learn how resistance develops, how integrated pest management (IPM) practices can reduce selection pressure, and how

  • Future of Plastic and Bioplastic Horticulture Containers

    Room B110

    Speakers: Tom Marting, director of sustainable solutions, and Grace Hungerford, sustainability analyst, Growscape

    This session explores rising consumer demand for more sustainable packaging materials, with a particular focus on bioplastics. We will examine the current landscape of bioplastic technologies available in the market today, including their regulatory pressures, performance, benefits,

  • How to Recruit, Train and Retain Talent in the Post-Baby-Boomer Era

    Room B110

    Speaker: Erick Harris, nursery sales director, Breezy Hill Nursery

    Companies all over the world have to contend with the fact that Baby Boomers are about to sail off into the sunset. By 2030, all of the Boomers, the second biggest generation ever, will be 65 or older. Because our industry is such a special place to work, we probably have more

  • Breaking the Cycle: In-Season Sanitation for Liverwort, Moss, and Algae

    Room B113

    Speaker: Josey Heston, technical representative, BioSafe Systems

    Liverwort, moss, and algae thrive in the Pacific Northwest’s cool, wet climate, disrupting crop quality, irrigation efficiency, and production flow. This session explores how sanitation and irrigation practices drive infestations and outlines practical prevention

  • Factors Influencing Photosynthesis

    Room B119

    Speaker: Javier Salas, entrepreneur

    Compensation and saturation points. Water and nutrients. Biotic and abiotic factors. How it translates to photosynthesis and plant development through different growth stages.