2022 Hall of Fame awardee Verl Holden. Verl Holden is an icon of Oregon agriculture. He has been a horticulturalist since he was a teen working at a nursery, eventually graduating from Oregon State University in 1953 with a degree in Floriculture. In addition to his service to Oregon agriculture, Verl served in both Korea and Japan in the US Air Force and following his military career joined the Oregon Association of Nurseries in 1958.
Verl Holden has helped to write the history of Oregon Horticulture and his life story is inextricably intertwined with the arc of the nursery industry. His stunning work at the Oregon Garden is a legacy gift for generations of Oregonians.
Verl founded Holden Wholesale Growers in 1964 and still operates it today at 90 years young along with his son, Paul. One of his earliest and most significant accomplishments was the widespread adoption of the blue spruce as a landscape ornamental. He later adopted the “hot callus”grafting technique developed at Oregon State to improve graft “take” on multiple kinds of ornamentals, and he has helped to promote this technique broadly. Today, it remains an essential tool for propagators.
A true innovator and gifted horticulturalist, Verl has selflessly given back to the industry and to his community, supporting research and outreach at Oregon State University as well as investing time and talent at Oregon Correctional Institute, teaching landscaping and horticulture. For all of these reasons, we are pleased to honor Verl Holden as a recipient of the 2022 College of Agricultural Sciences Hall of Fame Award.
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