Horticulture conferences set for Anchorage

Back-to-back conferences in Anchorage Jan. 26-28 will provide education and support for the Alaska horticultural industry.

The UAF Cooperative Extension Service will host the Alaska Greenhouse and Nursery Conference Jan. 26–27 and the Alaska Peony Growers Conference Jan. 27–28. Both events will take place at the Hilton Anchorage. SNRAS Professor Pat Holloway will present several times at the peony conference.

The 30th annual Greenhouse and Nursery Conference is geared to commercial operations, but home gardeners are welcomed. Sessions will cover heating greenhouses with a solar panel hot water system, berry production, greenhouse research, agricultural agency updates, a comparison of mowers and information about a potential new crop in Alaska, a medicinal herb called Rhodiola rosea.

Keynote speaker at the Greenhouse and Nursery Conference is Harvey Lang, the director of technical support for Syngenta Flowers, one of the largest wholesale breeders of hybrid flower seed in the world. Stephen Brown, Extension agriculture and horticulture agent for the Mat-Su/Copper River District, said Lang’s sessions on greenhouse production of hanging baskets and new flower varieties will be of particular interest to producers.

The fifth annual Peony Growers Conference will bring together information on research trials and varieties, and tips from growers. Julie Riley, Extension horticulture agent for the Anchorage District, said peonies continue to be a new crop of great interest among Alaska growers because the flowers bloom here at a time when they are not available to florists elsewhere in the world. More than two-dozen Alaska producers have planted tens of thousands of peonies in the past five years.

Riley said the conference will be relevant both to those who are considering peony production as well as seasoned producers.

“It will be a chance to rub shoulders with those who have planted peonies already and those who have recently cleared land,” she said.

Featured speaker Roy Klehm, of Klehm’s Song Sparrow Farm and Nursery in Wisconsin, will talk about growing tips and strategies and variety selections. Klehm, who is recognized as one of the world’s leading peony authorities, has selected, hybridized and introduced many peony varieties. Find the schedule and registration information here.