A peony attracts a busy bee at the Georgeson Botanical Garden.
Experts in floriculture, specialty cut flowers, high tunnels, nutrition, soils, plant diseases, breeding, and post-harvest care will arrive from universities across the nation. Private industry will be represented by Red Kennicott of Kennicott Brothers Ltd. and Don Hollingsworth of Hollingsworth Nursery.
On the first day the participants will tour the GBG, Polar Peonies, Basically Basil, Spinach Creek Farm and Lilyvale Farm.
The second day is dedicated to a symposium at the Elvey Auditorium on the UAF Campus. Topics will include an overview of specialty cut flowers, the peony cut flower industry perspective, research needs, marketing, field production, pest management, DNA fingerprinting, and breeding. There is a $50 fee to attend either the Wednesday tour or the Thursday sessions, or a $75 fee to attend both. Call 474-5651 for details and to register.
“This is Flowers 101,” said Patricia Holloway, a horticulture professor at UAF and director of the GBG. “This will give people a good background into peonies.”
Holloway considers the big beautiful blossoms the most economically valuable plant in Alaska. “It’s the first agricultural export with a huge potential,” she said. “I am getting calls from London for peonies.”
There are currently forty-one producers growing peonies in the state, from Fairbanks to Homer, and more are joining the ranks each year. Of those, thirteen have 500 or more peony plants. “It’s an emerging industry,” Holloway said. “This is big time; this is outsiders investing in agriculture in Alaska.”
To conclude the activities, the experts and growers will form a “think tank” to prepare a proposal for a USDA specialty crop research grant. The goal is to discover exactly what is necessary to market peonies, extend the seasons, and explore cut flower opportunities. The conference was funded by UAF Center for Research Services.
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