Sep 21, 2021

Northeast Greenhouse Conference to Feature Perennial Production Education

The Northeast Greenhouse Conference and Expo is set to take place Nov. 3-4, 2021 at the Boxboro Regency Hotel in Boxborough, Massachusetts. The conference plans to feature education sessions on perennial production on Nov. 4. Session highlights include:

• Best Perennial Performers at the Penn State Flower Trials, Sinclair Adams, Penn State
• Plant Growth Regulators in Herbaceous Perennial Production, Joyce Latimer, Virginia Tech
• Tune in to Green Infrastructure through the Power of Plants, Steve Castorani, North Creek Nurseries
• Improving Irrigation Applications, Amanda Bayer, University of Massachusetts
• Diseases of Perennials and their Management, Sinclair Adams, Penn State

Meet the presenters:

Sinclair Adams has received a bachelor’s degree in Plant and Soil Science from the University of Wyoming 1983, and a master’s degree in Plant and Soil Science from the University of Vermont  1988. He is an Extension educator in Floriculture with Penn State Extension, and flower trial director since 2013.  Sinclair has over 30 years industry experience, and has been published in research on The Penn State Flower Trials, as well as on plant propagation, nitrogen nutrition of perennial plants, stock plant management and more.

Joyce Latimer is the Extension specialist for Greenhouse Crops for Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE). She assists local VCE agents in solving grower problems, provides direct support to commercial greenhouse operators, and develops educational programming for VCE agents and greenhouse operators. She also serves as an educational advisor to the Virginia Greenhouse Growers Association. Joyce conducts research on plant growth and development with over 30 years of experience with growth regulation of herbaceous perennials.

Steve Castorani is president, CFO and co-founder of North Creek Nurseries of Landenberg, Pennsylvania, a progressive nursery specializing in perennial, fern, vine, and ornamental grass plug production with an emphasis on Eastern regional native plants. In 2004, Steve co-created the American Beauties Native Plant brand, which distributes plants to independent garden centers throughout regions of the United States. Steve is past president of the International Plant Propagator’s Society and became a Society Fellow in 2005. In 2020, he was the recipient of the Paul Ecke Jr. Commercial award given by The American Horticultural Society in recognition of his contributions to commercial horticulture.

Mandy Bayer is an Extension assistant professor of Sustainable Landscape Horticulture at UMass Amherst. She has a bachelor’s degree in Landscape Contracting from Penn State, a master’s degree in Crop Sciences from the University of Illinois, and a Ph.D. in Horticulture from the University of Georgia. Her research and Extension outreach focuses on increasing the sustainability of built landscapes through improved landscape establishment and maintenance and improving ornamental plant production practices. She is particularly interested in improving irrigation and fertilizer use.

The biennial Northeast Greenhouse Conference & Expo is co-sponsored by New England Floriculture, Inc. — a group of grower representatives from the Northeast, augmented by University and Cooperative Extension staff in each state who specialize in greenhouse crops and management.

The full program is on the NEGC website.    Register online at https://cvent.me/L43loN