November 15, 2007

**Wildfires in Southern California affect Horticultural Businesses – Two Reports:

--From NM Pro, November 13, 2007: “Southern Calif. nurserymen continue to comb through their fields to tally damages from last month's wildfires. "We're still assessing the damage from the fire," said Mark Collins, who owns Evergreen Nursery, San Diego's largest wholesale nursery, which specializes in growing large-scale landscape plants. "Some of the trees can be saved, but we'll have to go through and make that determination," he told Calif. Farm Bureau Federation. "When I look at this destruction, it makes me mad. I feel violated by the fire. Some of these trees take 10-15 years to reach the size needed in commercial landscaping. Obviously we'll keep going, but the fire has definitely set us back." Robert Falconer, exec. v.p. of Calif. Assoc. of Nurseries and Garden Centers, said ash accumulations are hurting plant quality. "There are a lot of things going on short of burning up that are really affecting operations and the grower's ability to care for and ship plants," Falconer said.”

 

--And from Greenhouse Grower Benchrunner, November 7, 2007: “The San Diego County Department of Agriculture has set the preliminary damage figures from all the fires the week of Oct. 22 to be in excess of $42 million for agriculture. Of that total, about $15 million is specific to ornamental horticulture.

These totals are specific to crops and do not include irrigation systems, equipment or buildings. In ornamentals dollar wise, trees and shrubs sustained the most damage - $7,258,290.8 on 185 acres. Cut flowers sustained the most damage acreage wise, encompassing nearly 230 acres and more than $5.2 million worth of damage. Indoor flowering potted and foliage plants represented $2,149,890.4 in damage on just 5 acres.

SOURCE: Dawn Nielsen Deputy Agricultural Commissioner/Sealer
of Weights and Measures

Visitors to farms in the damage areas last week included Gov. Schwarzenegger, CDFA Secretary A.G. Kawamura, and Calif. Farm Bureau President Doug Mosebar. It still remains unclear what aid will be available to farmers beyond the state and federal loan programs for those who cannot obtain traditional financing. We are getting word that there is a lot of talk in Washington DC about an aid package for farmers, but have nothing concrete to report. Advice to all growers who were damaged is to keep exacting records of any recovery expenses. The latest resource information can always be found at www.sdfarmbureau.org.”

**UW High Tunnel Update:

It has been so windy the last few days, we were starting to see some damage from the end walls flapping in the breeze. The three zippers on each end wall kept unzipping themselves and required constant re-zipping. Sixty pound tubes of sand (six per end) didn’t help keep the ends in place. Finally yesterday the end walls were both rolled up, effectively producing a wind tunnel. So far it is holding up fairly well, but we’ll keep an eye on it all winter. We still haven’t had any major snowfall, but when it does arrive, we’re hoping it just slides off the cover.

**In the Panter Back Yard:

The place is a mess. The roof is in the process of being re-shingled. We had them remove all the old stuff, down to the structure, and then start all over again. The tear-off is the worst part as the old pieces get tossed and dropped from wherever to wherever. Since we have gardens all around the house, this created a bit of a problem! Fortunately, it is November and most of the herbaceous stuff has been cut back anyway. We did lose a big limb on the lilac on the west side of the house, and a few other things got smushed. The window well cover on one of the basement windows got broken and one of the big stone slabs around a planter in front was completely dislodged from the mortar and the rest of the planter.
 

We’re just glad we didn’t do this in July when all the plants are at their best. But the end is in sight, as the new shingles are already up on about 2/3 of the roof.
 

Next: new gutters!
 

Nuthatches and chickadees have discovered the sunflower chips in one of the feeders in back. They, along with pine siskins, finches, sparrows, and various miscellaneous avians, clean out the feeders every couple of days.

**Upcoming Events:

--Rocky Mountain Regional Turfgrass Conference and Trade Show, December 4-6, 2007, Holiday Inn-DIA, Denver, Colorado. Contact RMRTA: 303-770-2220 or www.rmrta.org.
 

--ProGreen Expo, January 21-25, 2008, Colorado Convention Center, Denver, Colorado. Contact: 303-758-1079 or www.progreenexpo.com.

--Wyoming Groundskeepers and Growers Association Annual Conference and Trade Show, January 30-February 1, 2008, Parkway Plaza Hotel and Conference Center, Casper, Wyoming. Contact: www.wgga.org.

--Turfgrass Producers International Midwinter Conference, February 4-8, 2008, Caribe Royale Orlando, Orlando, Florida. Contact: 800-705-8873 or www.TurfGrassSod.org.

--Tree Care Industry Association Winter Management Conference, February 10-14, 2008, Westin Aruba Resort & Spa, Aruba. Contact: TCIA at www.tcia.org.

--Mississippi Greenhouse Tomato Short Course, March 4-6, 2008, Eagle Ridge Conference Center, Raymond, Mississippi. Contact: http://greenhousetomatosc.com.

--Wyoming State Master Gardener Conference, April 25-27, 2008, Holiday Inn, Cody, Wyoming. Contact: http://outreach.uwyo.edu/conferences/mastergardener/index.asp.

Karen L. Panter, Ph.D., C.P.H.

Extension Horticulture Specialist

University of Wyoming

Plant Sciences - Department 3354

1000 East University Avenue

Laramie, WY 82071

307-766-5117 office

307-766-5549 fax