At the 2020 NNLA Annual Meeting it

was announced the Nebraska Certified

Nurseryman (NCN) program would have an

updated name and logo starting January 1, 2021. In an effort to better reflect the work and expertise of individuals, the certification

program will be updated to the Nebraska Certified Nursery and Landscape Professional (NCNLP).

Jason Kuehl received the Nebraska Certified Nurseryman Distinguished Professional Award. His nomination included the following – Jason Kuehl plays a vital role in the horticulture industry, not only in the Omaha Metro area, but across the Midwest states. Jason begam his passion for the industry at a young age but made it official upon completion of his degree in Agronomy with an emphasis in Crop Production at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln in 1992. One of his first hobs outside of college included serving as an Agriculture Inspection Specialist for the Nebraska Department of Agriculture. Jason then moved on to become a successful Field and Operations Manager at Mulhall’s Nursery. With over seventeen years in operations management and administration, Jason has a proven track record of leading successful tams in nursery production. According to Dan Mulhall, since joining the Mulhall’s team in 1996, Jason had been pivotal to the success of the tree operation. “His work as our tree grower and buyer guided us through demanding times.” Ann Wickenhauser, current landscape designer with Mulhall’s and colleague of Jason’s for several years said, “I have always call Jason ‘The Tree God’. His (tree) knowledge is second to none. He has grown, bought, and sold trees and has experience that few will ever possess. His true gifts, however, are his people skills – he makes you feel like family the instant you meet him. He answers even the most mundane questions with sincerity.

Sitting in the office has definitely been a warmer option than being outside lately. With near record cold and a decent spell of it, we look forward to getting back to spring soon. Time to think about plants, greenhouses, gardening and taking care of customers. It won’t come soon enough.

Hopefully everyone had a very good season in 2020. We had our doubts in March as we came to grips with the pandemic and what it could do to our businesses. Cancel or push back deliveries? Will we even have customers?

Coralberry is a dense, multi-stemmed shrub that can be planted as a groundcover, border shrub or

under-story plant. Although it performs well in full sun, it is important to place this plant in a location

where it won’t bake during the summer. It does best in part shade or shade. This sprawling shrub is

useful for erosion control and will attract valuable wildlife to the garden, especially pollinating insects.

In the summer tiny white flowers with pink accents bloom in clusters over a long period on the outer

tips of the plant. Though they’re small, they attract a myriad of bees, flies and especially the common

thread-waisted wasps, like the black and yellow mud dauber. Caterpillars of the clearwing moths feed

on its foliage and the dense growth habit provides great winter cover for birds and other small animals.

Brett Schroer

General Manager at Urban Roots Nursery was elected Vice President.

Brett studied Horticulture/Landscape Design at the University of Nebraska Lincoln and has worked in the nursery

industry for over 25 years. Throughout his career he has worked in different regions of the United States and in

many areas of horticulture including retail, production, design, and installation. Brett is very passionate about our

local industry and the challenges we face as we move into the future.

He believes the NNLA is entering a period of evolution as we embrace the challenges and opportunities of an

ecommerce/post COVID world. Brett would like to offer his help in stewarding the association through these

challenging times so that it remains relevant for the future.

During the holidays, fresh cut greenery and artificial greens and florals are widely used to

decorate homes and businesses across the state. While very beautiful, both live and artificial

plant material can be a pathway by which plant pests can be spread.

In recent years, a number of incidents involving holiday decorations harboring plant pests

have occurred nationwide

The Nebraska Statewide Arboretum awarded 19 landscape grants in 2020 through the Greener Towns program. The projects resulted in the planting

of 6,000+ native flowers and grasses by more than 300 volunteers in community landscapes across the state.

The plants were selected, delivered and laid out to match the light, moisture and soil characteristics specific to each site. Each of the plantings contains

a variety of spring-to-fall blooms and dense coverage to minimize weeds. Plant grant recipients include:

“One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.” William Shakespeare

It is clear that the world is a crazy place right now, and it often feels like every day brings

another level of folly beyond our control. Although keeping up with the news is important,

it’s also important to give ourselves time to step away to find things more within our

control, things that calm our frayed nerves and bring us perspective, joy and gratitude. My

suggestion? Step outside.

Outside we can find nature reliably going about its business, whether in the deep

wilderness or our own backyards. It doesn’t give a darn about the news, but instead just

keeps moving forward in its wonderfully complex way, always offering us beauty, wonder

and peace

Bitternut hickory is native to eastern Nebraska and commonly

found in oak woodland bluffs along the Missouri River,

extending west to Lancaster County and north to Thurston, CO.

It is commonly found in low, wet areas, but can also grow in

dry upland sites. It is a durable, long-lived shade tree, with an

oval to rounded crown. The compound

This showy aster blooms in a cloud of thousands of tiny, star-shaped, pale pink flowers, concentrated

mainly on one side of the spreading branches. With a profusion of nectar-rich flowers, this aster is king

as a top notch native for pollinating insects. Each little flower has a ring of pale pink petals, surrounding

a central cluster of tiny tubular flowers. It gets its common name from these multi-colored, rosy-red

central disks. T

This viburnum native to the Midwest has large, flat-topped white flower clusters in spring; dark berry-like fruits

that can persist into winter; and the leaves turn a beautiful red or purple in fall. The berries can be eaten fresh

or made into jams and attract birds and wildlife as well. It’s very adaptable to different soils, can take full sun or

quite a bit of shade and can create a dense shrubby thicket or be pruned into a small tree. Viburnums are one

of the best shrubs for hardiness and full-year interest, both for humans and the wild creatures that rely on our

landscapes for food and shelter.

Hello everyone, it sure seems like this summer has flown by.

This has certainly been a year for changes and adjustments,

yet despite everything, it seems to have been a great year

in the nursery and landscape industry. As we move into

the holiday season, I certainly hope we can begin making

positive changes and adjustments for all of our industry,

small businesses and citizens across the state and country.