NEW HAMPSHIRE NEWS 



Preparations Underway 



Preparations are weU underway for the 1998 New Hampshire 

 Plant Growers' Association Summer Meeting to be hosted here 

 at UNH. Keep August 5 open on your calendar, because this prom- 

 ises to be the biggest ornamental horticulture event ever staged 

 here at the university. 



Along with the chance to get together with friends and make 

 new Industry contacts, this year's meeting will offer a large num- 

 ber of educational displays. The central theme Is "Working To- 

 gether to keep New Hampshire Green{$):" I.e., strengthening part- 

 nerships between Industry and the university so that we can better 

 serve your business needs. We have a great team from Cooperative 

 Extension, the Thompson School, and the Department of Plant Biol- 

 ogy that are Involved In setting up the meeting. 



We will provide you with more Information closer to the date, 

 but 1 would like to mention several displays that will be pre- 

 sented. 



A group of Cooperative Extension personnel, facilitated by David 

 Seavey, has developed a way to evaluate the marketing strengths 

 and weaknesses of roadside stands and nursery retail outlets. An- 

 other display will show how new taxes and zoning laws are likely 

 to affect the green Industry. This kind of Information can be criti- 

 cal to the financial success of your company. 



Plant health management in the form of Integrated pest manage- 

 ment, plant disease diagnosis, and soil and tissue analysis are 

 some of the most direct and beneficial services that UNH provides 

 to growers. At the summer meeting, there will be displays to help 

 you identify and manage common diseases and pests and you will 

 also be able to bring along soil samples for analysis. 



I hope that many of you have taken advantage of the computer 

 workshops offered around the state by Cooperative Extension dur- 

 ing March. These workshops targeted computer applications for the 

 green industry and the use of the world wide web. In addition to 

 the web's potential for advertising and sales, the web also con- 

 tains a tremendous amount of technical information from land 

 grant universities throughout the U.S. targeted to ornamental pro- 

 ducers. 



This is lust a sample of the Information that will be on display 

 at the Summer Meeting. In the next issue, I will talk about some 

 exciting new research Information on the display there as well. 



Paul Fisher, Department of Plant Biology, Spaulding Hall G-44, UNH, 

 Durham, NH 03824 can be reached by phone at 603-862-4525, by fax at 

 603-862-4757, or by e-mail at prf@hopper.unh.edu. 



will need you to make phone calls 

 to your local senators or represen- 

 tatives. We have worked very hard 

 to get to this point and we don't 

 want to lose what we've gained 

 because of lack of interest from 

 our industry. 



As soon as we need your help, 

 we'll be faxing a strategy with 

 talking points to be used in your 

 discussion with legislators. Please 

 take the time to make a few 

 calls — probably less than five per 

 association member. Typically, 

 legislators see about 800 bills a 

 year and are very uninformed 

 about most. A phone call simply 

 explaining the bill and its impor- 

 tance to our industry could be all 

 that is needed to convince a 

 senator or representative to vote 

 in our favor. So keep your eyes 

 and ears open for this next — and 

 final — step, so that we can make 

 HB 170 a reality. 



For more information, you can 

 contact Bob Rimol, Rimol Green- 

 house Systems, at 603-629-9004. 



Homeowner 

 Horticulture 



UNH Cooperative Extension is of- 

 fering two "Homeowner Horticul- 

 tural Seminars." Each is held 

 twice: a landscaping seminar will 

 be held on April 18 at UNH 

 Manchester and again on May 2 at 

 the Howard Johnson Hotel in 

 Portsmouth; a lawn care seminar 

 will be held on April 25 at UNH 

 Manchester and on May 16 at the 

 Howard Johnson Hotel, Portsmouth. 



Times are 8;30am— Ipm. Cost is 

 $59 per person per seminar or $99 

 for both. Preregistration is re- 

 quired. Contact UNH Plant Biology 

 at 603-862-3200 or Paul Belhumeur 

 at 603-225-5505, extension 21. 



Meant for homeowners, you 

 may want to tell your customers 

 about these opportunities to learn 

 home-landscaping skills. 



THE PLANTSMAN 



