Member Spotlight: Walters Gardens

Walters Gardens

Zeeland, MI

The Walters Gardens story began in 1942 when Dennis Walters and his new bride, Harriet, took over the family perennial business.

Today, the company is run by the second and third generations of Walters aided by numerous other family members and dedicated employees including plant health experts, skilled horticulturists, capable customer care and marketing staff, and a pool of sales representatives and brokers nationwide.

Walters Gardens is well-known in the horticulture industry for their innovation, high-quality plants, and their perennial expertise. They currently sit at over 250 employees, 1,500 acres of land, and 500,000 square feet of greenhouse space. Over 19 million perennial liners are shipped annually to independent garden centers, wholesale growers, landscapers, and municipalities across the US and Canada. Each year, approximately 100 new items are added to their catalog of over 1,000 bare root and plug perennial liners. To help their customers be successful, Walters Gardens has partnered with Proven Winners® to bring you their top perennial genetics in the Proven Package. Using the best perennial genetics and the powerful consumer marketing machine that is Proven Winners, they are very proud of their ability to help their customers get top notch plants into the hands of today’s consumers. Walters Gardens currently has over 80 active hybridization projects and, in addition to their internal hybridizing efforts, their New Plant Development crew also evaluates cultivars and species submitted by outside sources for consideration. From these projects, Walters Gardens will make and evaluate more than 35,000 unique crosses each year and, while many seedlings are quickly eliminated at the onset, thousands make their way to Walters’ impressive landscape trials.

Plants in selection first undergo landscape trials where they are evaluated against similar new plant selections and industry standards. Varieties that excel in this category are then moved to container trials for further evaluation and then on to production trials. At each stage Walters Gardens is looking for plants that distinguish themselves and will benefit their customers and end consumers.

Walters Gardens, Inc. has also made great progress in modernizing growing technologies, testing for viruses to ensure clean product, hybridizing new varieties, and expanding their marketing program. In addition, over the past decade, Walters Gardens has made great strides towards sustainable perennial production. Their facilities use energy saving curtains in the greenhouse, their liners are grown in biodegradable Elle Plugs, and they recycle a quarter million pounds of paper, plastic, and metal annually. Want to see Walters Gardens for yourself? Well, you’re in luck. Walters Gardens will be one of four world-class stops on the

Finished Plant Conference Greenhouse

Tour on October 11, 2021. Attendees will get a first-hand look at their growing facilities and be able to ask questions on Walters Garden’s best practices. Seats on the bus are limited, so be sure to register today. On October 11, Walters Gardens will also be hosting the Perennial Plant Workshop at their facility. Workshop presenters include: Hans Hansen, Director of New Plant Development at Walters Gardens; Laura Robles, Regional Product Manager at Walters Gardens; Broch Martindale, Greenhouse & Nursery Tech Specialist at Corteva Agriscience; and Paul Pilon, Technical Manager at OHP.

Finished Plant

OCTOBER 11–13, 2021 | GRAND RAPIDS, MI

Learn more and register today at AmericanHort.org/Finished Plant.