More than 100 greenhouse growers and retailers, florists, educators and others from around New York and the Northeast attended the annual Cornell Floriculture Field Day August 9.
The morning program at Stocking Hall featured presentations including (click links for video):
- Garden Retail is Changing: It’s Time to Adapt and Prosper – Carol Miller, Editor, Greenhouse Grower Retailing and American Farm Marketer
- Bees, Bugs, Blooms: Creating Pollinator Friendly Landscapes – Constance Schmotzer, Consumer Horiculture Educator, Penn State University
- Methods for Managing Deer Damage to Plants and Associated Impacts – Paul Curtis, Department of Natural Resources, Cornell University
- Plants Deer Do Not Eat – Mark Bridgen, Director, Long Island Horticultural Research and Extension Center
Attendees also applauded entomology professor John Sanderson who was awarded an Excellence in IPM award from the New York State Integrated Pest Management Program (NYS IPM). In his 25 years at Cornell, Sanderson has enthusiastically helped greenhouse growers identify pest problems, reduce pesticide use and increase profits.
The afternoon program at the Bluegrass Lane Turf and Landscape Research Facility featured tours of annual flower trials, mixed container plantings of vegetables, herbs and flowers, pollinator-friendly plants, alternatives to invasive plants and more. Attendees also applauded winners of the 13th annual Kathy Pufahl Container Competition, which since 2003 has raised more than $10,000 for IBD research at Mt. Sinai Hospital. View 2016 winners.
Attendees view annual flower trials.
Betsy Lamb (with clipboard), New York State Integrated Pest Management Program, leads pollinator-friendly plant walkabout.
Lamb (right) and attendees observe pollinators swarming on Veronicastrum virginicum (Culver’s root).
Sue and Mark Adams, of Mark Adams Greenhouses, Poughkeepsie, N.Y., who sponsored this pollinator plant bed, pose with research technician Kendra Hutchins, who manages the annual flower trials.
Bee visiting blooms in the pollinator bed.
Cheni Filios (MS ’14), Vegetable Product Line Manager, PanAmerican Seed Company at Ball Horticultural, explains strategies for mixing vegetables, herbs and flowers in containers.
Donald Horowitz ’77 (Floriculture and Ornamental Horticulture), Wittendale’s Florist & Greenhouses, East Hampton, N.Y. took first place in the Edibles Division in the 2016 Kathy Pufahl Memorial Container Design Competition. He fashioned the planter from a container used to ship pots to his business. View other winners.
Getting a closer look at the annual trials.