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URI Outreach Center

Behind the Scenes at a Local Nursery

Plant Pro

On a rainy April day we visited with Nursery Manager, Troy Pike of Schartner Farms in Exeter, RI for a behind the scenes look at how they provide their customers with quality trees and shrubs. Our tour started in the greenhouses where we learned where shrubs come from and how they are grown at Schartner's.

Many shrubs arrive at Schartner Farms as bare root plants. We looked at Buddleia davidii 'Pink Delight', more commonly known as the butterfly-bush. Schartners purchases the butterfly-bushes as bare root plants from a grower in Washington State. The plants were propagated from cuttings, a vegetative method that guarantees that the new offspring will be identical to the mother plant. At the nursery in Washington, the cuttings were grown under optimal conditions in greenhouses for six months so the plants would develop a strong root system. The grower harvested the plants late last fall, before the ground froze. The plants were kept in cold storage (bare root), until they were shipped to Schartner's in early March.

When Schartner's received their shipment of shrubs, they potted them in a rich potting mixture of vermiculite, perlite, peat moss, pine bark and micro-nutrients. They give each potted shrub a handful of slow-release fertilizer (Osmocote or similar product) and leave them in the warm, humid greenhouse for several months of development. When the plants have grown into full bushy shrubs, they are moved to the retail garden center for sale in June.

One of the shrubs being grown this year in the Schartner greenhouse is a new cultivar of Hydrangea macrophylla (bigleaf hydrangea) known as 'Endless Summer'. 'Endless Summer' is an exciting new cultivar that offers the promise of more reliable and continuous blooms because it blooms on new wood as well as old wood and is hardy to zone 4. If you have had trouble with reliable blooms on your hydrangea, look for 'Endless Summer' at your local garden center this year.

Thanks to Schartner Farms and Troy Pike for the behind the scenes tour. For more information, call the URI MG Gardening Hotline @ 1-800-448-1011.

Renewable Energy Siting Partnership Stakeholder Meeting #4

When: December 1, 2011, 6pm - 9pm
Where: Hazard Rooms @ URI Coastal Institute Bldg, Narragansett Bay Campus
Details: The focus of this meeting will be presentations on the acoustic impacts of wind turbines and project economics. Attendees must RSVP to Amber Neville at 401.874.6106 or amber@crc.uri.edu due to space limitations.
Directions

The meeting is open to the public, and all are welcome, as the goal is to have a diverse and well-rounded stakeholder process. A light dinner will be provided from 5:30-6pm.

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Holidays in the Park

When: December 10, 2011, 11am - 2pm
Where: Roger Williams Park Botanical Center, Providence RI
Details: Admission-free with donation of a nonperishable good to be donated to RI Food Bank

Escape from the cold outdoors and join us in celebrating the holidays! Activities will include demos on do-it- yourself decorations just in time for the holidays, exciting educational crafts for kids, live music, gifts for every gardener, a raffle and more surprises to come.

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Renewable Energy Siting Partnership (RESP) Wind Resource Assessment Lecture

When: January 24, 2012, 6pm - 7pm
Where: North Kingstown Free Library
Details: URI researchers will present their current work related to the wind resource assessment component of the Renewable Energy Siting Partnership.

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