*The producers (greenhouses, nurseries, and similar), the services of the green industry (landscaping, tree care, floral design and similar), and the retail establishments built upon this industry in Vermont (garden stores, florist shops, and similar), together comprise one of the top Vermont agricultural sectors in terms of production, employment, contribution to Vermont's economy directly, and to it's economy indirectly through its impact on Vermont's working landscape. This broad industry has diverse needs for education, with education a key priority currently of it's professional association. Education, in order to keep this industry, so key to the vitality of agriculture in Vermont, viable and sustainable is knowledge and service our Ornamental Horticulture program here seeks to provide and assist the industry with.

*The industry in Vermont is small compared to many larger states-- states with the funding, expertise, and so research often for their larger growers-- and so has a need for more local and appropriate research and demonstration trials for our northern conditions, smaller scale, and market conditions. This is the setting forming the basis of our research programs in ornamentals at UVM.

*With gardening the primary leisure pursuit in recent years, this vast audience of 65-75% of Vermont households, increasingly has needs for accurate and reliable information, and answers to questions. In addition to support of the Master Gardener program which deals with these needs, this program continues active outreach through presentations, mass media outlets such as television and press releases, and increasingly through the internet. Increasingly this latter audience includes teachers and students.

*Needs of the industry in research and education are continually assessed through surveys at meetings, discussions with the state and regional professional grower associations, and requests and projects funded by said organizations-- placing their vote for appropriate research with their funds.

The Green Industry in Vermont provides economic, environmental and aesthetic benefits. The scope of this industry which our programs support and seek to maintain, and even grow, include:

*a 1993 value of $104 million to Vermont's economy, including all sectors of the industry

*industry income derived 19% from wholesale, 35% from service and 46% from retail

*a 1996 production value of $31 million, making it the third largest cash-generating sector of agriculture in the state

*sales in 1993 from goods and services sold outside Vermont were $17.2 million

*over 1.2 million square feet under protected cultivation (greenhouses) in 1992, with an increasing trend since

*88% of the income in 1993 from the green industry in Vermont was from the 34% of industry firms earning $100,000 of more

*the industry generally enjoys an increase in income annually, with 4.7% increase over 1996 the largest of the decade nationally

*many segments of this industry show a 10 to 20% increase yearly, with this increase reflected in the 1997 increase in bedding plant sales of almost 10%

*bedding plant generally show nationally, as well as in Vermont, the highest percent of sales and income

*poinsettias remain the top flowering potted crop, representing 25% of unit sold and 33% of income from this market segment

*perennials continue nationally, and in Vermont, to show some of the greatest increases in growth and future potential for retail sales

*over 4,000 persons derive at least half their income from this industry, translating to about 2,500 full-time equivalents

*gardening as a consumer pursuit continues to remain the top one, with increases in dollars spent most years

*the greatest challenge in this industry is finding sufficient skilled labor, followed by the need to find and develop niche markets to effectively compete with increasing pressure from mass market chain stores

*The Ornamental Horticulture program consists of a specialist, supported by the pest management team, master gardener program (both of which see separately), and in close collaboration with other subject matter specialists in New England and with the Vermont Department of Agriculture, Food and Markets.

*Research and demonstration trials are conducted at the Horticulture Research Center in South Burlington, the UVM Greenhouse on campus, and at other public, private and grower sites as appropriate.

*The Green Mountain Grower newsletter is mailed quarterly, consists of an average 20 pages, and is mailed to over 100 grower subscribers ($18 yearly) and about 40 complimentary educators often in exchange for their newsletters.

*Extensive time and effort is spent on one of several internet sites on perennials, hops, the Vermont Flower Show, and the New England Greenhouse Conference. Purposes of the sites vary from merely providing meeting and conference schedules and registration information, to providing exhaustive resources and learning activities for all ages. The perennial site alone receives almost 100 visits per day, with questions daily, from mainly the U.S. but other countries as well. It's goal of being of the main repositories for perennial information will continue, and is being met according to many favorable ratings and responses provided by visitors.

*The specialist handles about 25 email requests daily, and about 10 more through phone and mail daily, and is available for consultation by these means and periodic grower visitations.

*This program receives $10,000 to $20,000 yearly, primarily from industry sources, for special research and projects, and extension and research in general.

A high quality program, interdisciplinary with the input of other specialists in educational programming, addresses Extension mission objectives by:

*Teaching leadership and management skills and the use of effective tools for comprehensive decision-making. This is done through means cited above including the newsletter, web pages, presentations, and all forms of consultations electronic and otherwise. For consumers this is done primarily through mass media products, presentations, and publications. For both audiences, tours are offered annually to learn by seeing how others garden, produce, design or otherwise practice this field.

*Teaching production and marketing practices that promote the wise use of natural resources upon which agriculture depends. This is done through means cited above, as well as research and research demonstrations reported through various means and media, on sustainable floriculture production. Floriculture is the focus, as it is the main segment of Vermont's production industry. Projects include but are not limited to organic controls for mildew disease on perennials, genetically resistant cultivars of perennials for diseases, and least input practices for perennial production.

As mentioned already, this program enjoys close collaboration with the UVM pest management team, master gardener program (both of which see separately), other subject matter specialists in New England and with the Vermont Department of Agriculture, Food and Markets. Projects exhibiting this collaboration include but are not limited to:

*New England Greenhouse Conference-- a conference hosted by New England Floriculture, Inc. and run primarily by subject matter Extension specialists in New England, every 2 years in October with over 2000 attendees, over 200 trade booths, over 70 speakers in 4 concurrent sessions over 3 days. This is THE premier meeting for Vermont growers to locally and inexpensively hear the top floriculture talent in the world.

*New England Grows--an annual educational conference (with help planning and hosting by Extension in New England) and trade show over 2.5 days, the second largest of its kind in the country, with over 10,000 attendees at the Hynes Center in Boston.

*Vermont Flower Show--the largest horticultural event in Vermont, with over 10,000 persons over 3 days visiting the Sheraton, Burlington to see floral exhibits, trade vendors, non-profits, floral displays, and attend over 40 presentations with two tracks concurrently over each day. The educational component is organized by this Extension program.

*Vermont Association of Professional Horticulturists' meetings and workshops--these include an annual meeting, summer meeting, and workshops such as on computers and training for garden store employees on answering questions and customer service. They are planned in collaboration with the education committee of the industry association (VAPH).

Other collaborative efforts include:

*working with other state's specialists in planning, and speaking at meetings

*writing for, and using material from, other state newsletters including a regular column in the Vermont industry newsletter

*presentations to the Master Gardener program, and working with individuals in this program on projects such as the Vermont Flower Show

*working with students on special topics, and with graduate students both on committees and as primary advisor to graduate students

*working with the industry and Vermont Dept. of Agriculture marketing group on projects such as the Perennial Display Gardens brochure

*writing publications in cooperation with other state specialists, such as the North Country Garden Calendar

*This program is solely responsible for providing education and information as outlined above to the vast and diverse industry in Vermont, as there are no other field agents or professionals in Vermont solely dedicated to this task.

*With unique size, cultural, environmental, and market conditions from many other states, the Vermont green industry has specific needs for education and research as outlined above.

*Given the strongest market production and sales segments in Vermont of floriculture, and in this general area the more specific strengths of bedding plants (annuals) and perennials; and given the wealth of information on the former and relatively lack of information on the latter, this program has sought and continues to develop an excellence in herbaceous perennials-- an excellence which not only provides for a large need of the Vermont industry but through publications electronic and otherwise, and presentations, transcends Vermont's borders. This includes consultations, publications, presentations nationwide, and a perennial web site second to none reaching a worldwide audience.

*Every other year a course is taught in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences on herbaceous plants-- Garden Flowers and Indoor Plants. The extensive 600 approximate pages of reference notes are on the internet for this course, and currently serve a worldwide audience as well, receiving as many inquiries as the web site dedicated to perennials.

*Through the web sites, a diverse audience is reached of all educational and other backgrounds. This is not only in the USA, but other countries as well. The most diverse audience is reached through the hops web site, maintained in large part by my current grad student, with visits and comments from countries such as Japan, Australia, the Philippines, Malaysia, India, Mumbai, Holland and eastern European countries.

*A diverse audience of growers and home gardeners, with diverse educational and other backgrounds, is reached in Vermont through the internet, mass media outlets outlined above, and traditional contacts such as presentations and consultations.