Introduction
Discovering the Synergy of Perennials, Annuals and Shrubs is the theme
of this year’s Greenhouse Canada Grower Day, being held June 18 at the
Delhi German Hall in Delhi, Ontario. |
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Registration
$40 each
$30 after the 3rd registrant
Buffet & door prizes included
Registration deadline: June 10
Click here to register
Call: 888.599.2228 ext 219
Email:
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Date & Location
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
9:45 am - 4:00 pm
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Delhi German Home
View map |
Schedule-at-a-Glance
8:00 am
9:00 am
9:45 am - 4 pm
12:00 pm
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Set up for exhibitors
Exhibitors open
Seminars & trade show
Buffet Lunch
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Speaker Topics
Garden Mums
A practical & efficient way of producing a top quality plant
– Bernard Chodyla, GroLink
Shrubs
How to use shrubs to enhance landscapes and mixed containers
– Laura Bitner, Terra Greenhouses
New Guinea Impatiens
Production for better sales timing
– Roger Kehoe, Ecke Ranch
Lantana and Angelonia
Capitalize on these two valued late-season crops
– Jerry Gorchels, Ball
Vegetative Plant Alternatives
Using seed to perform like vegetative varieties
– Jerry Gorchels, Ball
A sampling of the California Breeders Variety Showcase (pack trials)
Focus Greenhouse Management
– Laura Martindale, sales manager, Seacliff Greenhouses.
Duponchelia
Where do we stand and what do we do now?
– Graeme Murphy, OMAFRA
Mixed Containers
The art of creating profitable mixed planters
– Albert Grimm, head grower at Jeffery’s Greenhouses
Shrubs
Adding value to shrubs and bedding plants with perennials
– Jeff LaCourse, Perennials Specialist, Ball Horticultural Company
Speaker Bios
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MELHEM SAWAYA
Grower Day Moderator
Melhem Sawaya graduated from the American University of Beirut with a B.Sc. in horticulture, plus a supplemental degree in agricultural engineering. Then, through a student exchange program, he was able to further his education at the University of Guelph. In 1978, he joined Fernlea Flowers Ltd., eventually becoming production manager of Fernlea Gro-Pro, where he was responsible for the production and sale of grower products.
In 1990, Mel started his consulting company, Focus Greenhouse Management Inc., working with many progressive greenhouse growers in the areas of management and production to maximize potential.
Mel also writes monthly articles for Greenhouse Canada magazine, and frequently lectures at industry conventions. For the past seven years, Sawaya Gardens, a division of Focus Greenhouse Management, has conducted field trials on about 2,000 cultivars, representing most of the breeders in the industry.
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GRAEME MURPHY
Graeme Murphy graduated from the University of Melbourne in Australia with a masters degree in Ag. Science. Following graduation, he worked for the Victoria Department of Agriculture for eight years. In 1988, he accepted the position of IPM specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, working with the greenhouse floriculture industry helping growers develop and implement IPM programs that will improve the effectiveness of their pest management efforts. His work also includes organizing and running educational IPM workshops, preparing publications and factsheets, carrying out practical research and demonstration trials, and working with the industry to gain access to newer, more biocompatible pesticides through the Minor Use pesticide program.
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BERNARD CHODYLA
Bernard Chodyla offers Belgian mum support for Grolink in U.S. and Canada. He received his B.Sc. in agronomy in 1990, and his M.Sc. in agriculture in 1991, both from the University in Poznan in Poland. He served an internship at the University of Florida in 1991. He began his professional career as a spray technician with Esposito's Garden Center in Tallahassee, Florida, in 1992. He later served as production manager with the Quincy, Florida, facilities of Fernlea Flowers, before taking on the same responsibilities with Florida Plants Specialists. His special interests include new plant development and breeding, along with tissue culture production.
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JERRY GORCHELS
Jerry Gorchels started in the industry in 1972 as a greenhouse manager. Since then, he has worked and managed in many different aspects of the industry, including greenhouse production, retail, landscape and nursery. In 1987, he became the greenhouse manager for the PanAmerican Seed research and development station in northern Illinois. In 2002, he became a technical product representative for the Ball Horticultural Company. He now travels the Midwest and Great Lakes regions assisting growers and promoting PanAmerican Seed and Ball FloraPlant genetics for Ball.
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LAURA BITNER
of Terra Greenhouses
TERRA landscaping specialist Laura Bitner is an award-winning horticulturist who graduated from the Niagara College horticulture program and earned her post-graduate certificate in Ecosystem Restoration. After working at organizations such as the Royal Botanical Gardens and the Niagara Parks Commission, she participated in a stream restoration project in the mountains of Winthrop, Washington, where she helped rebuild and maintain degraded streams. Upon her return to Canada, Bitner was awarded the position as horticulturist for the Municipality of Kincardine, Ontario, where she helped to bring home two National Communities In Bloom awards. Currently the corporate Landscape Coach at TERRA Greenhouses, Bitner also makes time to be a regular guest on Room To Grow a talk format radio show operated by TERRA Greenhouses on AM900 CHML.
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ROGER KEHOE
of Paul Ecke Ranch
Roger Kehoe is a graduate of Rutgers University, majoring in floriculture. He owned a wholesale/retail greenhouse in New Jersey for many years, before selling the business and
joining Paul Ecke Ranch. He has worked with the company for 11 years. He has been head grower, general manager, production manager, and technical sales manager for the past three years. He is currently the key accounts sales manager. Current activities include writing articles for the trade press, presenting cultural and sales presentations to growers and brokers, and visiting customers throughout the U.S. and Canada. He is based in Encinitas, California.
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Albert Grimm
Head grower at Jeffery’s Greenhouses
Albert Grimm is a horticulturist by trade and passion, and believes that good education, excellent quality of plant material, and pride in good workmanship are keys to success in the business. He graduated from an apprenticeship in Germany, and has worked in most sectors of horticulture production for the last 27 years (ornamentals, vegetables and nursery). Since 1998, he has been head grower for Jeffery’s Greenhouses Inc., a major producer of bedding plants and cyclamen in St. Catharines, Ont.
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Jeffrey LaCourse
of Ball Horticultural Company
Jeffrey M. LaCourse brings over 29 years of experience in the nursery, greenhouse industry to his position of national accounts manager and perennial product specialist with the Ball Horticultural Company. His background includes expertise in propagation, stock production, production planning, growing, technical support, product development and sales and marketing.
Prior to working for Ball Seed Company, LaCourse worked in several different organizations from Texas to Oregon. A major responsibility during that time period was a focus on propagation and stock production of perennials, ornamental shrubs and vegetative annuals for over 1,800 different genera of plants. This included new varieties, development of new sales and marketing programs for young plants, and collecting and maintaining an extensive native program.
LaCourse was an active member of International Plant Propagators from 1989 to 1999, participating in the membership committee and site selection committee during that time. He has also actively worked with state and local nurserymen associations as an active member and providing presentations for these organizations.
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