He is a Michigan certified nurseryman and has been a speaker at various trade shows, workshops and IPPS annual meetings, and has published articles in industry magazines and journals. Send an e-mail to David Morgan . The issue of plant patents stirs debate in the nursery industry. In this interview, Dale Deppe discusses Spring Meadow Nursery's novel means of distributing patented plants. A. People who breed, select or discover new plants want their discoveries protected just like those people who make product innovations in other industries.
Nurseries invest a lot of time and resources in developing a new plant.
There's a fair number of nurseries investing large sums of money into facilities and staff to develop new plants. Most large-scale breeding efforts have been in roses and floral crops. Traditionally, most woody plants are developed by smaller nurserymen or hobbyists. No matter how it's done, it takes time and effort to develop a superior plant. If it were easy, we'd all be doing it.