Visiting Bonnie Plants (Opelika, Alabama)
Whether you are a newbie or seasoned gardener, no doubt you are familiar with Bonnie Plants. Being the largest grower of vegetable and herb plants for the home gardener in North America, they are ubiquitous on garden centre shelves throughout the country.
I was thrilled that one of the stops during the recent National Garden Bureau Summit was the new Bonnie Plants headquarters in Opelika, Alabama.
Their new headquarters is an amazing space that includes both indoor and outdoor workspaces as well as a trial garden.
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One of the outdoor workspaces |
And this is the view - wow! |
It’s hard to believe that a company with such an expansive reach was started when Bonnie and Livingston Paulk purchased a couple of pounds of cabbage seed, sowed it in their backyard, and then lugged the fully grown heads to town in a buggy.
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Sign from the original barn in Union Springs |
Starting from those modest roots in Union Springs, Alabama, Bonnie Plants now operates 86 greenhouses across four states.
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This 10' living wall at their new headquarters is large enough to filter the air in the entire office at least once per day 😲 |
The care they took when designing their new offices, especially when it came to enhancing employee's work environment, was impressive.
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The Livingston Room, with it's wall of windows, is open to all as a workspace or meeting room |
The company mission is to enhance lives through the power of plants. To fulfill this mission, they aim to offer high-quality vegetable and herb plants at a reasonable price. Recently, they have broadened their objectives to encompass education, and their website (www.bonnieplants.com) is full of gardening tips, advice, and inspiration.
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Exploring the Trial Gardens |
Bonnie Plants focus is on small spaces such as patios, balconies & container gardening and this was reflected in their trial gardens, with it's abundance of compact herb and veggie varieties.
I was immediately drawn to this hanging basket with....cucumbers? Even though I'm not lacking in space, I REALLY want to try this.
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Patio Perfect Cucumber |
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Lots of babies in there! |
Then there were all of the tiny tomatoes....and I'm talking about the plants here, not necessarily the fruits. Tiny Temptations, an ultra sweet cherry tomato, barely hit 12" tall (although it can get up to a "whopping" 16 inches 🙃):
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Tiny Temptations - Big flavour on a tiny plant |
But let's say you want a big tomato on an indeterminate plant that doesn't become unruly & take over. Tidy Rose - a beefsteak variety that produces 5-7 oz pink fruits and only gets 3-5' tall - may be just what you are looking for:
And if you grow tomatoes, it usually follows that you also want a nice stand of basil. Basil tops the chart when it comes to favourite herbs in North America, so it's not surprising that Bonnie Plants diverse basil lineup is one of their best sellers.
Purple Ball basil, with it's compact, densely branched habit & gorgeous deep purple leaves, was a standout.
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Purple Ball Basil |
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Purple Ball basil at the teenage stage |
Most of us have heard of Everleaf Emerald Towers basil - it's an amazing variety that is tall, densely branched and late flowering. I grew this one in my own garden last year and can attest to it's amazing productivity and compact habit.
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Everleaf Emerald Towers Basil If you can only have one basil in your garden, this is the one to grow |
The 'Everleaf' in the name refers to it's late flowering aspect while 'Towers' refers to the columnar growth habit.
'Everleaf' Basil (sans 'Towers') has the same late flowering characteristic as Everleaf Emerald Towers, but is noticeably less compact:
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Everleaf Basil |
There were a variety of interesting container displays including this one of petunias backed by a gorgeous Angelonia. The container was angled to maximize impact - ingenious!
When I asked one of the employees what their favourite plant in the garden was, they pointed to a little bunch of ferny green foliage which I couldn't quite place. I was surprised to find out it was a marigold.
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Dropshot Marigold The innocuous ferny foliage holds a sweet surprise |
The foliage was very pretty - I was quite taken by the chartreuse colour & beautiful texture - but I didn't see the 'wow' factor that turned this into a garden favourite out of the dozens of other plants in the trial garden. Perhaps it was the blooms that had yet to emerge? Or maybe it was especially good at deterring pests?
Then I was told to pick a few leaves & give them a taste. First you are hit with a distinct anise flavour - and then...POW! The incredible finish blew me away. It was SO sweet - as if the leaves had been sprinkled with sugar - I'm not kidding!
Everyone that tasted it chewed for a few seconds before their eyes lit up with amazement. I decided there and then that this one was going on my list. What do the flowers look like? I have no idea, lol. I'm thinking they are fairly innocuous as I couldn't find any images of this variety blooming, even after a bit of googling.
It was a true pleasure visiting Bonnie Plants and, as always, a learning experience. While I do have a larger garden and don't *need* smaller plants, I'm nonetheless eager to try out some of the diminutive tomato varieties as well as the Patio Perfect cucumbers in containers. Imagine going out to the deck and picking a cucumber or tomato for a salad without even having to put my shoes on. Sounds pretty awesome if you ask me.
Happy Gardening!
Thanks for sharing highlights of your travels and visits, Margaret. There's always something new to learn and discover. :)
ReplyDeleteYou've certainly covered your fair share of garden tours this year, Margaret. I'm glad to have finally met you in person!
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