SHOW DATES: AUGUST 20-22, 2025 SHOW HOURS: Wednesday: 10am – 5pm | Thursday: 10am – 5pm | Friday: 10am – 2pm Contact: 503-682-5089

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Undercover Boss: Clues to Create a Team of Superheroes, Improve Culture and Decrease Attrition

Room B113

Speaker: Anne Obarski, Founder and CEO, Merchandise Concepts
If you become a frontline employee in your business for a day, what might you discover? Do you think there are items that could be changed or improved? What could you do with that information to create happier employees and an improved culture? It takes a special leader to be willing to take risks to discover what will make each employee part of your team of superheroes.

Registration Required

20/23 Vision: A Look Ahead in the Retail Industry

Room B113

Speaker: Danny Summers, Managing Director, The Garden Center Group
Major shifts have occurred throughout industries, organizations, and the entire world over the past two and a half years. Garden Retailing is no exception. As we look forward to 2023, Danny Summers of The Garden Center Group will take a look back and share a collection of stats and observations to help you prepare for 2023 — and beyond. The Garden Center Group is North America’s resource for solutions for garden retailing — benchmarking, budgeting, inventory and margins, marketing, merchandising, brand building, property and site design, human resources, team building, succession, and more.

Registration Required

Be an A.C.E. Garden Center: Eight Steps for Delivering the Astonishing Customer Experience for Your Retail Customers

Room B113

Speaker: Anne Obarski, Founder and CEO, Merchandise Concepts
Through the pandemic, customers have grown accustomed to online ordering. However, today you are trying creative ways to get customers back in the store. This seminar will focus on eight critical areas in your store to deliver that “astonishing” experience at every single touchpoint you have with your customer. The A.C.E. grading scale includes marketing, exterior and interior, employees, merchandising, and three additional areas you probably have never thought of. This session will help you deliver an A+ astonishing experience for your customers at every turn.

Registration Required

H-2A: Tips and Tricks for Navigating Your Way Through

Solution Center (end of Aisle 10,000)

Speaker: Cheyenne Protz, H-2A Coordinator, Labor Consultants International
This FREE mini-session is included with your trade show pass!
At LCI, there is over 20 years of guest worker visa experience. Every day we help our clients expertly navigate the guest worker programs utilizing experience, intuition, and industry involvement. We have seen every situation, roadblock, and victory in this industry and are directly involved with every political, legislative, and industry discussion and forum for these visa programs. Let us share our knowledge with you to produce the best season possible with skilled, reliable labor.

FREE

Cash Incentives for Energy Efficiency: Greenhouses, Nurseries, Orchards and Farms

Room B113

Speaker: Jessica Arnold, Outreach Manager, Industry + Agriculture, Energy Trust of Oregon
Cash incentives are available through Energy Trust of Oregon for eligible projects that save natural gas or electricity. Participating utilities include Portland General Electric (PGE), Pacific Power, Northwest Natural, Cascade Natural Gas, and Avista. Examples include projects from greenhouse shell and heating systems upgrades to controlled environmental agriculture optimization of HVAC, dehumidification, irrigation, lighting and more. Attend this session to learn all about the different programs, and get your questions answered.

Registration Required

Improve Your Website With Data, Not Gut-feel

Room B113

Speaker: Timothy Howard, President/Founder, Clarity Connect, Inc.
With tools like A/B testing, screen recording, heat maps and Google Analytics, you can take the guesswork out of improving your website. The tools available are free, or very low cost, and give you the data you need to confidently improve your website.

Registration Required

Nowadays Tulipmania: Flower Bulb Extravaganza

Room B110

Speaker: Philipp Laagland, Country Manager USA, ADR Bulbs Inc.
Join internationally recognized flower bulb expert Philipp Laagland as he shares his knowledge about setting trends and current struggles within the industry. This session will examine the working flower bulb life circle from farmer to the homeowner in The United States and new landscape designs and retail concepts using flower bulbs.

Registration Required

Biopesticide art-of-use in IPM

Solution Center (end of Aisle 10,000)

Speaker: Maryna Serdani, Product Development and Technical Service Manager PNW, Marrone Bio Innovations
This FREE mini-session is included with your trade show pass!
The use of biopesticides can form a very valuable part of an Integrated Pest Management program. However, it is critical to understand how these products are best used to optimize their efficacy as well as those of other inputs, such as classical biological control agents and conventional pesticides. In this presentation, Maryna will cover the various types of biopesticides, their art-of-use, how they fit into an IPM program and introduce some of the biopesticides from Marrone Bio Innovations that are available to growers.

FREE

Solving Plant Problems Virtually

Room B110

Speaker: George Grant, GGSPro Technical Specialist, Griffin Greenhouse Supplies
Whether a grower is working internally with their cultivation team or externally with cooperative extension personnel, product vendor representatives or technical specialists often rely on some form of virtual communication (e.g., cellphones, emails, or video conferences). We are all familiar with the saying, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” but knowing what picture to take and what information to gather before reaching out for consultation is important in diagnosing an issue correctly and efficiently. The objective of this presentation will be to build a checklist growers can use for gathering valuable information once they have identified an issue in their production setting.

Registration Required

Take Advantage of the Boom: Leverage Extra Cash for Long-Term Gains

Room B113

Speaker: Timothy Howard, President/Founder, Clarity Connect, Inc.
In today’s market, most growers and garden centers, are selling virtually every plant they have. It is somewhat counter-intuitive to invest in your business when you don’t need to. However, now is the perfect time to leverage extra cash for long-term gains. This presentation will demonstrate multiple ways growers and garden centers can upgrade their websites, invest in employees, purchase new technology and tools, and increase marketing efforts, to help secure customers for the long haul while making it easier on their operations.

Registration Required

Current Market Demands New Approaches to Container Growing

Solution Center (end of Aisle 10,000)

Co-Presenters: Tom Springer, Chris Murphey, NurserySource
This FREE mini-session is included with your trade show pass!
NurserySource’s and RediRoot’s goal is to help nurseries and grow operations integrate new approaches to container production and gardening. Their markets span nursery, cannabis and home gardeners giving them a unique look into the ways all growers are learning from each other and improving their production. They see the pressure labor and regulatory costs have upon different operations and work to help clients mitigate those challenges. This seminar will briefly detail their observations and recommendations.

FREE

The Art and Science of Pricing Products

Room B110

Speaker: Bridget Behe, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Michigan State University

There is more to pricing than simply calculating costs and mark-up. Bridget will discuss some pricing strategies and share some research-based findings on how consumers react to pricing in communications. Price increases are always a concern. The presentation includes some ways for you to consider increasing prices that consumers will accept.

Registration Required

Grow Profits Using Job Costing to Identify and Eliminate Waste in Your Company

Room B116

Speaker: Rich Thiebaud, Director of Sales, Landscape Management Network (LMN)

With more than 25 years of experience, Rich will bring a wealth of knowledge to this seminar giving an overview of the importance of job costing and how to keep it as simple and automated as possible. Most importantly, Rich will give an overview of the nine wastes of landscaping, which are the biggest reasons landscape companies lose efficiency and profitability, and how to snuff those wastes out for good.

Registration Required

Transforming vs. Evolving: Turn Your Vision into Dramatic, Measurable Results Using Policy Deployment

Room B119

Speaker: Rick Peters, President, The Peters Company

Every leader faces the challenge of translating vision into results. Most have goals to achieve over the next 3–5 years; the difficulty is converting long-term goals into daily activities that can be measured. Oregon nurseries are using policy deployment ("Hoshin Kanri") to develop annual improvement targets that align and link with their long-term strategies. The process engages team members at every level. Each person understands how they can impact the organization's goals. Bring your leadership team for an introduction to this powerful tool. Learn how Robinson Nursery uses policy deployment to transform the business and achieve their mission of “growing people and plants to change the world.”

Registration Required

Keynote Address – Katie Tamony

C123-124

Speaker: Katie Tamony , Chief Marketing Officer, Monrovia Nursery Company and Former Editor-in-Chief of Sunset Magazine and Sunset Books FREE to all registered Farwest Participants. Many of us have spent years in our industry, and it’s easy to forget what it’s like not to know what we know. It’s also natural to fall into habits of seeing problems and patterns a certain way. But holding a “beginner’s mindset” can help us solve problems more effectively, adapt to change more easily, and actually create more original ideas. So how do we change our perspective and see things with fresh eyes? Looking at the familiar in an unfamiliar way can help us be better leaders and refresh our teams and our approach to our business. Using examples from throughout a career where she has been forced to be a “beginner” operating at a high level, she will share some techniques and ways of leading and innovating with fresh perspective.

FREE to all registered Farwest Participants.

Profiting With Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

Solution Center (end of Aisle 10,000)

Speaker: Mary Choate, Chief Operating Officer, Pest Wizard Brands LLC

Integrated Pest Management is good for the environment, but did you know it is also good for your bottom line? IPM is a great tool for improved profitability for Independent Garden Centers (IGCs) and for growers. Learn how to implement an effective IPM strategy in your greenhouse or nursery to reduce costs and decrease loss from pests. For IGC, we’ll discuss how IPM can be a key marketing strategy to improve sales through cross-marketing and upselling for your entire line, from irrigation to green goods.

FREE

Make Signs People Will Read

Solution Center (end of Aisle 10,000)

Speaker: Bridget Behe, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Michigan State University

Bridget will present research-based information about how consumers read or ignore signage in the retail store. Signage is essential to communicate many things about the plants (and other products) people can’t know without you telling them.

FREE

10 Effective Ways to Communicate the Value of Your Products

Room B110

Speaker: Katie Tamony , Chief Marketing Officer, Monrovia Nursery Company and Former Editor-in-Chief of Sunset Magazine and Sunset Books

In this seminar, Katie will present 10 effective ways to communicate the value of your products or services to a demanding consumer in today’s market. Using examples from Monrovia and other premium brands, Katie will share insights and success stories that will help you retain customers in the long term and grow your perceived value.

Registration Required

What it Takes To Build A Robust IPM Program & Resistance Management

Room B113

Speaker: Brock Martindale, National Nursery & Greenhouse Strategic Account Manger, Corteva

Broch will cover the importance of building a robust IMP program and how you can avoid building resistance in your facility. You are bound to find several things that you can take back to your facility to improve your process. Broch will cover the 7 steps to success and a deep dive into preventing resistance.

Registration Required

The Shoppers Journey

Room B110

Speaker: Bridget Behe, Professor Emeritus, Michigan State University

Recent studies with real consumers in both the lab and retail environment give great insight into how consumers shop in the store. This presentation is packed with helpful tips to create more shoppable displays and merchandising information to generate higher sales.

Registration Required

The UC Landscape Plants Irrigation Trials (Part One)

Room B116

Speaker: Lorence Oki, Ph.D., Specialist in Cooperative Extension, University of California, Davis

The University of California Landscape Plants Irrigation Trials project evaluates performance of plants exposed to three different irrigation treatments based on evapotranspiration (ETo). The data collected leads to recommendations for irrigating those plants that are used by landscape designers and architects to design landscapes that comply with California water conservation regulations. This project started in 2004 as a graduate student research project, was expanded periodically, and then duplicated at the UC South Coast Research and Extension Center in 2017. We will discuss plant lists, data collected, irrigation recommendations, and project background.

Registration Required

Trial Garden Report: Best in NEW Annuals and Perennials for Spring 2024

Room B119

Speaker: Allison Pennell, Sales Representative and Horticulturalist, McHutchison Horticultural Distributors

This session will report on new introductions from trial gardens across the country. Annuals and perennials from your favorite breeders will be the focus. Ali will share garden performance results from trial sites to help you decide what to add to your own production plans for 2024. This session’s focus is on spring and summer selling crops. Breeders covered will include: Dummen Orange, SelectaOne, Syngenta, Danziger, Ball, Pan American Seed, Westhoff, Terra Nova Nurseries, Sakata, Think Plants and more!

Registration Required

Prune Clematis Like a Pro! (Pruning Demo)

Solution Center (end of Aisle 10,000)

Speaker: Linda Beutler, Rogerson Clematis Garden

Forget everything you have ever heard about Clematis pruning. Linda, the curator of the Rogerson Clematis Garden, North America's only accredited collection of clematis through the Plant Collections Network, will share her wealth of knowledge is this fantastic pruning demo. Rather than learning the "rules", follow some common sense-based suggestions to open a world of beautiful possibilities for your garden and your clematis.

Indoor Gardening: The Hottest in Lawn & Garden Retail

Solution Center (end of Aisle 10,000)

Speaker: Joe Farinacci, Director New Market Development, BFG Supply Co.

Grow Your Own!! The hottest trend in Lawn & Garden Retail. Retailers have been selling seed starting products for decades. It's time to take Indoor Gardening to the next level. We will talk about what Indoor Gardening is today, what products and brands young and old gardeners are looking for, and how to get the consumer into your store.

FREE

Defining and Building Your Culture to Create a Thriving Team (SPANISH ONLY)

Room B119

Speaker: Elizabeth Peña, Value Stream Leader, Peoria Gardens Inc.

A culture is how you solve problems and how you behave toward others. You must strike a balance between knowledge and behaviors, between head and heart. If you want your team to thrive, you must first define your culture, then do the important work of building your culture into everything you do together. You are invited to learn how Peoria Gardens, a second-generation greenhouse in Albany, Oregon, defined their culture, then built that culture into a business that continues to be recognized as one of the best places to work in the horticulture industry.

Registration Required

Butterfly Bush: Sterility and Availability

Room B113

Co-Presenters:
Ryan Contreras, Ph.D., Associate Department Head and Professor, Oregon State University
Kara Mills, Lead Horticulturist, Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA)

OSU has conducted extensive research to evaluate nearly three dozen cultivars for their seedling production and attraction to pollinators. This work has identified the relative fecundity of all selections within the context of current regulation for Buddleja. The Oregon Department of Agriculture will describe how Butterfly Bush is currently regulated and forecast the future of these regulations in light of new data.

Registration Required

Soil Health – The Role of Water Demo

Solution Center (end of Aisle 10,000)

Speaker: Vance Almquist, Vice President of Oregon Society of Soil Scientists, Instructor at OSU

One of the primary characteristics of soil, which allows it to support such a wide variety of organisms, is its ability to store and release water. This talk will focus on unpacking the complex processes which affect soil water storage and what measures we can take to improve the water storage characteristics of soils, whether natural or man-made.

FREE

The Climate Ready Landscape Plants Project (Part TWO)

Room B116

Speaker: Lorence Oki, Ph.D., Specialist in Cooperative Extension, University of California, Davis

The University of California Landscape Plants Irrigation Trials project evaluates performance of plants exposed to three different irrigation treatments based on evapotranspiration (ETo). The data collected leads to recommendations for irrigating those plants that are used by landscape designers and architects to design landscapes that comply with California water conservation regulations. This project started in 2004 as a graduate student research project, was expanded periodically, and then duplicated at the UC South Coast Research and Extension Center in 2017. The project recently has expanded to the University of Washington, Oregon State University, Utah State University, and the University of Arizona that facilitates the comparison of plant performance in response to deficit irrigation treatments across the western region of the U.S. We will discuss plant lists, data collected, irrigation recommendations, and project background.

Registration Required

Values as a Business Model: The Story of Botanical Interests

Room B110

Speaker: Curtis Jones, Co-founder and Former Co-owner/President, Botanical Interests Inc.

The co-founder and former co-owner/President of Botanical Interests Inc., Curtis Jones, speaks out about how his and his business partner Judy Seaborn’s personal values influenced the success of Botanical Interests seeds in a stagnant seed packet market and changed the direction of packaging in horticulture. Curtis will describe the new and unique direction Botanical Interests has taken in order to further educate the gardener, increase brand loyalty, and support their retail stores. During the presentation, Curtis might sneak in a funny or harrowing story about the 28-year journey they experienced.

Registration Required

A Plantsman’s Notebook: New Plants and a Reminder of Some ‘Smokers’ We Often Forget About

Room B119

Speaker: Nicholas Staddon, Company Spokesman/Plantsman, Everde Growers

In this session, we will look at a number of new plants that have appeared on the marketplace in recent years. There will be something for everyone, trees, shrubs, perennials, and a few surprises! Staddon will also nudge our memories on a few of the great plants from the past. Nicholas will cover a few of the notable trends he believes hold water for us. As always, he is an avid reader and will share a few choice titles with the audience. With terrific pictures, supported by an informative and humorous narrative, this session is not to be missed if you are into plants.

Registration Required

Pollinators of the Rogerson Clematis Garden

Solution Center (end of Aisle 10,000)

Speaker: Linda Beutler, Rogerson Clematis Garden

Linda, the curator of the Rogerson Clematis Garden, North America's only accredited collection of clematis through the Plant Collections Network, will share the Clematis that attracts pollinators and which pollinators those are. Additionally, she will share her knowledge of the many native, native-vars, and non-native companion plants that enhance our clematis garden.

FREE

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:

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

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

Copyright® 2024 Farwest Show
The Farwest Show is produced by the Oregon Association of Nurseries
SHOW DATES: AUGUST 20-22, 2025 | SHOW HOURS: Wednesday: 10am – 5pm | Thursday: 10am – 5pm | Friday: 10am – 2pm
SHOW LOCATION: Oregon Convention Center, 777 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Portland, OR 97232
MAILING: 29751 SW Town Center Loop W., Wilsonville, OR 97070
Phone: 888-283-7219 | 503-682-5089 | farwest@oan.org
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