About the Show
The Yard, Garden & Patio Show was founded in 1988 by the Oregon Association of Nurseries Inc. as a way for the OAN to highlight the significant accomplishments of its retail and landscape members. It also provided a forum for the gardening public to experience what's new in the bright, beautiful world of ornamental plant material, as well as to learn new skills and techniques from gardening experts worldwide.
The largest consumer gardening event of its kind
The show spent its first four years at the Memorial Coliseum, before moving into its current home at the Oregon Convention Center in 1991. It has grown into the largest consumer gardening exposition of its kind in the United States that is produced by a state association using member volunteers. Most large gardening and flower shows are produced by professional organizations with staffs devoted exclusively to organizing those events.
The unofficial launch of spring
The show, typically held in late February, has long been recognized as the unofficial launch of spring in the Portland area. It features the latest ideas in plant material, landscaping and related outdoor accessories from more than 300 exhibiting companies and organizations. A series of display gardens adds colorful pizzazz to the show floor and provides visitors with a wealth of ideas on how they can enhance their own personal landscapes.
Educational opportunities
The show also provides unparalleled educational opportunities for the public. The Oregon State University Master Gardeners head a list of more than a dozen non-profit exhibitors whose mission is to educate the public about various aspects of horticulture and the nursery industry's environmental benefits. On top of that is a program of over 60 hours of public seminars featuring local, national and sometimes even international experts and celebrities in gardening and landscaping.
Oregon's Nursery Industry
The growth of the Yard, Garden & Patio show is a reflection of both gardening's burgeoning popularity as well as the growth of Oregon's nursery industry in general. Although the show is a consumer-oriented gardening show that primarily showcases the offerings of retail nurseries, Oregon is one of the largest nursery growing states in the country, ranking third in total wholesale sales behind only California and Florida.
The nursery industry is the largest agriculture sector in Oregon, employing more than 21,000 people with an annual payroll that exceeds $275 million. Oregon's wholesale nursery industry recorded $844 million in gross sales of nursery and greenhouse products in 2004, up from $779 million in 2003.
Oregon Grown
Roughly three-fourths of the nursery stock grown in Oregon is exported to other states or countries, making Oregon the nation's largest exporter of nursery stock. And the state's nurseries, as well as all Oregonians, can take great pride in knowing that Oregon is No. 1 in the United States in the production of shade trees, Japanese maples and most other kinds of maples, arborvitae, rhododendron and coniferous evergreens. Oregon also is a leader, ranking second or third nationally, in the production of deciduous flowering trees, azaleas and other broadleaf evergreens.
Contact OAN
For more information about the Oregon Association of Nurseries or the Yard, Garden & Patio Show, please contact us at (503) 682-5089 in the Portland metro area or (800) 342-6401 nationwide. Our address is 29751 SW Town Center Loop W Wilsonville, OR 97070. You can e-mail us at info@oan.org.
