8:00 – 8:30          Continental Breakfast and Beverages

8:30 – 9:30         Opening Panel Session: Native Plants - An open discussion 

Mike Bone, Denver Botanic Gardens; Erik Blewitt, ELD Trees; Curtis Manning, Blooma Farms/MeadowPro

Session Summary: A higher-level discussion of the challenges plant growers/retailers/designers may encounter with the use of the term “Native plant.” What is native? Native to where? Ecoregions? Cultivars vs. true native vs. “nativar.”  Is it just right plant/right place? Should we even be using the term native? Contributor plants? We will discuss the difficulty of producing native plants and availability. Are we incorrectly naming natives?  Are we marketing or over marketing “native plants”? Cultivars can be “gateway” plants to true natives for the consumer. As industry experts, how do we untangle the confusion?

Nursery Track (Room C0770)                                       

9:40 – 10:25        Overwintering Tips and Tricks for Perennials                     

Kirby Thompson, CCNP, CGG, Britton Nursery               

Session Summary: This presentation will look at a variety of nursery overwintering practices. Emily will discuss what works best for Britton Nursery.                                                                        .

10:35 – 11:20     Top Pest Problems on Perennials in the Nursery

Ron Arpin, Little Valley Wholesale Nursery

Session Summary: This presentation will highlight several of the important insects/pests affecting perennial plants in the nursery. How to identify the issue, what to do about it and control methods will be discussed.

11:30 – 12:15     New vs. Old perennial varieties - Which is best?                                              

Panel: Samantha Altaffer, CSU; Matt Cunningham, Britton Nursery

Session Summary: With so many breeders coming out with lots of new varieties how do you choose?  Does the consumer really know if one echinacea is better than another? Learn what new perennial varieties did best at CSU trials and how growers choose what to grow.

Greenhouse Track (Room CO577)

9:40 – 10:25        Scheduling perennials

Gene Pielin, Gulley Greenhouse

Session Summary: When to bring in the starting materials, and how to time them to produce the best saleable crop when you want them to be ready.

10:35-11:20         What’s Better? Seed vs. Plugs vs. Bareroot

Curtis Manning, BloomaFarms/MeadowPro

Session Summary: How do you decide what is the best fit for your operation? How do you balance the economics of less expensive seed vs. time/overhead production vs. quicker turn of plugs? Does bareroot make sense for you?

11:30-12:15         Top Pest Problems on Perennials in the Greenhouse

Dan Gerace, Welby Gardens, Arvada

Session Summary: This presentation will highlight several of the important insects affecting perennial plants in the greenhouse. How to identify the issue, what to do about it and control methods will be discussed