Colorama, Northwest Horticulture Grow Larger
August 13, 2008 
Colorama Wholesale Nursery in Azusa, Calif., has acquired La Verne Nursery in Piru, Calif., which grows a line of grafted ornamental liners, containerized fruit trees and subtropicals. Northwest Horticulture, meanwhile, has installed 12 additional acres of greenhouse at its Mt. Vernon, Wash., facility.
Sales representatives at Colorama (pictured) have sold La Verne Nursery products for the past 12 years, says Colorama owner Richard Wilson, and Colorama and La Verne have the same core attributes and values.
La Verne Nursery will be run as a standalone company, and it will draw upon Colorama’s management experience and purchasing power. Daniel Nelson and Omar Carrera will remain with La Verne as general manager and distribution manager, respectively. Dieter Lodder, previous owner of La Verne, will be retained for a short period of time to help with the transition.
At Northwest Hort, the 12-acre expansion made sense because of the operation’s success with the 24-cell perennial, rose and grass programs. “The expanded facility gives us the capacity to give our customers the highest level of service, while allowing us to continue to grow,” says Richard Gigot, director of sales and grower products at Northwest Hort.
Colorama, which specializes in flowering potted plants, ranks 34th on Greenhouse Grower’s Top 100 Growers List this year. Northwest Horticulture, a large perennial, groundcover and landscape rose grower, ranks 39th.
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