President’s Message

What another wild spring!

Across Virginia, nurseries were busy shipping, potting and digging plant material. Landscapers were hard at work designing, planting and doing spring clean ups. Garden Centers were busy helping customers with their plant purchases. Most members with whom I spoke indicated that weather was a big factor this year with multiple rainy weekends throughout the midAtlantic. While reports of spring sales have been a mixed bag, everyone is happy to see summer and a muchneeded reprieve.

Now that we are in the middle of summer, it is a great time to reflect on this year’s busy season to evaluate your successes as well as areas which you can improve upon for next spring. I have often found that collaborating with industry peers is a great way to come up with new ideas. Exchanging ideas is typically a great activity at industry events such as the upcoming VNLA Field Day.

Our VNLA Field Day is a great opportunity to network and as well as collaborate with representatives from across the industry throughout Virginia. This year’s Field Day will be held on Thursday, July 25th and Friday, July 26th at the Hampton Roads Agricultural Research and Extension Center (AREC) in Virginia Beach. On Thursday, we will meet at the HR-AREC and start the day with tours of the research plots and demonstration gardens. Participants will hear educational talks from Neal Beasley (Timmons Group), Wes Bray (Lawn & Garden Plus) as well as AREC members, on topics including native plants, invasive species and business sustainability. Upon the conclusion of the first day, we will have a Networking Social from 5-8 pm at Elation Brewery in Norfolk. On Friday we will have tours of the Brock Environmental Center and the Norfolk Botanical Gardens! The Brock Environmental Center is an innovative example of environmentally sensitive and smart building; it has achieved one of the toughest building standards in the world—a Living Building Challenge™ certification. Join us for a tram tour of the Norfolk Botanical Gardens; afterwards staff will provide tours for VNLA participants. Round out the day Friday with a picnic lunch or visit to the food truck at the gardens! Find out more about Field Day and the tours, sponsorship opportunities, and register today by visiting our website, www.vnla.org

Finally, VNLA has been monitoring legislation and regulations on your behalf. Read the legislative update to keep abreast of proposed regulations governing the installation of invasive plant species by tradespersons and how this may impact you and your operation.

As usual, if you have any questions, please contact me, our Executive Director Katie Hellebush, or any of our board members. I hope you have a great summer and look forward to seeing you for Field Day!

Jason Stern

VNLA President