Zylstra & Riverbend Join Hort Couture
October 17, 2007 Zylstra Greenhouses in Kalamazoo, Mich., and Riverbend Nursery in Virginia and Georgia have joined the Hort Couture grower network.
Hort Couture is a new line of branded plants founded by Jim and Jennifer Monroe of Greenbrier Nurseries, a leading grower-retailer in Virginia and West Virgina. Inspired by the fashion industry, Hort Couture is focused on an upscale look packaged with premium plants. Product lines so far include Avant Garde Annuals, Pret a Porter Perennials, Runway Ready Grass, Tres Chic Tropicals and Sunny Succulents. Future product lines include Four Seasons ColorCrops and Lifestyle plants for the mind, body and spirit.
The company is licensing about 100 growers in the United States and Canada to produce the Hort Couture line. The national campaign will begin in 2009 and growers will have cobranding opportunities.
Zylstra Greenhouses is owned and operated by Steve and Joy Zylstra with three locations in Kalamazoo. In addition to shipping finished material to independnet garden centers and landscapers throughout the Midwest, Zylstra produces plugs and liners and is the largest rooting station for Selecta First Class in the United States. Zylstra will be offering liners of Hort Couture varieties to the grower network.
“We are excited to be a part of Hort Couture,” says Steve Zylstra. “We have built our business on producing high quality plants for independent garden centers. Hort Couture is combining high quality genetics with great packaging and marketing support.”
With 45 acres of production in Riner, Va., and a satellite location in Cumming, Ga., Riverbend Nursery produces 5 million containers for a customer base that stretches from New Jersey to Texas. Key product lines include Big Tag Select Perennials, Gilbertie’s Herbs, Stepables, American Beauties and LIveRoof systems. Hort Couture will be its seasonal color program.
Owner Jim Snyder says he is excited to align with a program that offers an upscale identity versus a commodity- based program. “The new items that Hort Couture brings to Riverbend will differentiate our product mix from other companies in our market,” he says.
For more information, visit www.hortcoutureplants.com.
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