Nurseries Industry Profile

The US nursery, greenhouse, and floriculture crop production industry includes about 55,000 farms with combined annual revenue of about $16 billion. Large companies include Hines Horticulture, Monrovia Nursery, and Color Spot Nurseries. The industry is highly fragmented: the 50 largest farms generate less than 25 percent of revenue.

Retailers of nursery products are covered in the industry profiles for Garden Centers and Farm Supply Stores and Home Centers and Hardware Stores. Florists are covered in a separate industry profile.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Demand is driven by consumer income and commercial real estate construction. The profitability of individual companies depends on anticipating demand for various types of plants, and an efficient distribution system. Large operators have economies of scale in distribution. Small operators can compete successfully by raising specialty plants or serving a local market.

PRODUCTS, OPERATIONS & TECHNOLOGY

Products include flowers and flowering plants, shrubs, food plants like tomatoes, Christmas trees, sod, and seeds. Large commercial growers concentrate on producing container-grown ornamental plants for indoor and outdoor use, including bedding plants (usually grown in flats and transplanted into beds by the end-user); shrubs; and flowering potted plants. Products include annuals like marigolds and petunias; perennials like daylilies and clematis; evergreens like azalea, box wood, pines, spruce, and juniper; tropical flowering plants like Bougainvillea and hibiscus; "holiday" or "seasonal" plants like Easter lily and poinsettia; and specialty plants like bonsais, ferns, and trellises. Cut flowers are a smaller segment. ...