CLARKSON—Bluebird Nursery, Inc. received an award from the Nebraska Statewide

Arboretum at a reception December 6 in Lincoln. The President’s Citation recognizes

outstanding contributions toward horticulture and impact both regionally and nationally.

I want to take this time to thank everyone that was able to make it

to this year’s conference. We had a very good turnout and I enjoyed

networking with old friends and meeting new ones too. If anyone

has any ideas on subject matter for next year’s conference, I would

gladly welcome you to send your ideas to the main office. We look

at and evaluate all suggestions to strive to make a better conference

for everyone. We had a very good line up of speakers this year and

I do hope to see everyone there next year. All of us on the board

values everyone’s busy work schedules so next year, we are looking

at moving the conference back a couple weeks to the first part of

December.

On November 7th over 100 attendees gathered for the 2019 NNLA Winter

Conference. The event took place at the DC Centre in Omaha, Nebraska.

The conference featured four sessions with

two concurrent sessions running during each

timeframe. One track highlighted a business

topic and the other a more industry-specific

topic. Business sessions included: generational

differences, automowers, culture change, and

building your brand. The other track included

sessions on: climate change, invasive plant issues

and prevention, and year-round tree identification.

A networking reception was held at the end of the

day to cap off the conference.

Lee Olson

Lee has been in the landscape and nursery industry for over 23 years and has served on the Nebraska Certified Nurseryman

Committee for over 12 years. He received the Nurseryman of the Year award in 2010 and has been an active member of

NNLA since the mid 90’s.

Horticulturist Lucinda Mays will present the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum’s Young Lecture Nov.

8 in Lincoln.

Mays has a long history of caring for landscapes. From hosting the Victory Garden television series

in the 1990s to facing High Plains challenges like fire, snowstorms and drought at Chadron State

College, her talk will focus on our reliance on plants for survival, beauty and connection.

Many weeds love bare ground, and new plantings offer this in bounty. Here are

some tips to help you prevent undesirable plants from getting a foothold in years

one and two.

● Start a routine. The growing season gets busy, and it can be tempting to leave

weeds for “next week.”

If having control of your landscape is a thing you want (or have—is that possible?), this article

probably isn’t for you. But if, like many of us, you’ve given up on control and simply enjoy

whatever blossoms come your way, here’s a few plants that offer serendipity through the

seasons.

Most gardeners like spending time outdoors and prefer garden chores to indoor ones.

But even the most hardcore gardeners have yard chores they’d prefer not to do. What

are the worst chores, and which ones are the most enjoyable? An informal survey

revealed quite a bit of consensus. Maybe, with a little forethought, we can spend more

time doing the things we enjoy and less on the chores we dislike.

Fall is the perfect time to scout for Spotted Lanternfly (SLF). This exotic

invasive insect has not been found in Nebraska. But the Nebraska

Department of Agriculture encourages everyone to keep an eye out

for this pest.

Earlier this spring, the Downtown Lincoln Association and Brian Munk

donated three white oak trees to the Taylor Arboretum in Taylor,

Nebraska. Brian Munk was on hand to plant the trees.

Free noon brownbags related to plants and landscapes are held every first Thursday

at the Jayne Snyder Trail Center, 228 N 21st Street in Lincoln. The fall 2019 topics are:

This “all things green” series of brownbags is sponsored by the Nebraska Statewide

Arboretum, UNL Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Lincoln Parks &

Recreation and the Lincoln Downtown Association.

In bloom, this prairie native attracts a myriad of native bees and other beneficial insects. It’s a

tall perennial topped with bright yellow, daisy-like flowers from late summer into fall. The unique

flowers have fan-shaped petals that end in three teeth and a big, ball-like center packed with tiny

flowers. It grows easily in medium to wet soils in full sun, but also tolerates dry conditions once

established. Its tall stems can become floppy with the weight of fall flowerheads, so cutting it back

in late spring will reduce height and encourage more branching and flowering. Another common

name is sneezeweed, not for the effects of its pollen (which is not wind borne and does not cause

hayfever) but for its use in pioneer days as a snuff that promoted sneezing. This dependable native

is avoided by deer and rabbits, another plus

Blue or anise hyssop is one of the most ornamental of native mints. The common name anise reveals

the flavor and fragrance of its edible flowers and foliage. Butterflies and hummingbirds love this plant

with its long 3-4 inch spikes of small blue flowers from June into late summer. It is in the mint family

so deer and rabbits avoid it. Though it self-seeds, it is not an aggressive spreader. Once established, it

can handle drought and dry soil. It tends to remain upright and rarely needs staking. (Many cultivars

have been developed, and the cultivar ‘Blue Fortune’ was found to be just as attractive to pollinators

as the straight species.)

Good day all! As we transition from summer into the busy fall

planting season, I hope we’ve all had an opportunity to take a deep

breath or two. Fall has always been my favorite season. As the

summer temperatures begin to reside, the fall planting season ramps

up again. We plant in the fall with great expectations for the future.

The bulbs we plant this fall are for a great show in the spring and we

envision the tree we plant this fall as the one that shades the house

in the future.

The Nebraska Nursery and

Landscape Association held the

2019 Eastern Summer Field Day

on August 2. The “Kick the Dirt!”

event took place at the Kaspar

Tree Farms in Mead. There

were over 120 attendees and

exhibitor representatives who

took advantage of the learning

and networking opportunities

There’s no doubt about it, there are some difficult ornamental plants out

there. Usually we’re referring to plants that are hard to get established,

too tall, short-lived or difficult to control. Sometimes the difficulty is the

site itself, which may have poor soil or other problems. Thankfully, some

of the most difficult plants have characteristics that make them perfect in

just the right—or most difficult—spot.

National Wildflower Week is celebrated the first full week of May, which makes

sense for Texas where the event was first promoted by the Lady Bird Johnson

Wildflower Center in Austin. However, in Nebraska May is often laced with cold

and snow and few wildflowers are yet blooming, thus wildflower week is not

celebrated here until the first full week in June. This year we’re wondering if June

might even be a bit early, as the state has remained unusually cool. But with a

warming trend even our western prairies seem to be finally awakening from a long

winter slumber. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “The earth laughs in flowers” and

Nebraska’s prairies are starting to chuckle. It’s been a moist spring across much of

the state, and we’re hoping this chuckle will grow into a delightful belly laugh in

the coming weeks.