Cultivate Education

Chris and Nancy Baker founded Baker’s Acre Greenhouse in 1982. It has grown from a single backyard greenhouse into a thriving family-owned garden center. Now run by their son and daughter-in-law, the business offers high-quality annuals, perennials, tropicals, and houseplants, with a focus on unique, in-house bred coleus and anthuriums. 

Baker’s Acres stands out for its exceptional plant quality, creative environment, and exclusive varieties. Retail sales are their primary focus, but they also engage in fall season wholesale, special orders, and a growing online presence launched in 2024. 

Customer engagement is driven through social media, seasonal events, and a loyalty program. The business uses innovative technology, including a custom production database, to streamline operations and enhance customers’ experience. 

Future goals include integrating a liquor license into events, expanding online shipping, and further automating production. Baker’s Acres continues to thrive despite industry challenges, offering a welcoming space for both plant enthusiasts and casual gardeners. 

Groovy Plants Ranch is a family-owned greenhouse located just north of Columbus, Ohio. With a huge passion for plants, Groovy Plants Ranch strives to provide its customers with the most unique and intriguing botanical oddities from around the world.  

The business grows thousands of plants on premise every year, and welcomes visitors and friendly, leashed dogs. 

Besides botanical offerings, Groovy Plants Ranch also offers its customers a variety of classes, special events, and other garden-related products. 

This stop will provide tour attendees with inspirational ideas on product merchandising and how special events can lead to a broader customer base. 

A cornerstone of the community, the Dublin Garden Center at Oakland Nursery offers a vibrant blend of traditional garden retail with a modern twist.  

From rare and unique houseplants in its lush greenhouse to an eclectic gift shop filled with fashion, gourmet foods, and spa kits, this location is more than just a nursery, it's an experience. Visitors can explore a diverse range of products, including garden tools, seeds, fertilizers, and even birdfeeders and wind chimes.  

Seasonal events like the National Pumpkin Weigh-off and Love Your Bird celebration highlight the organization’s community engagement. Plus, its strong partnerships with local businesses, churches, and schools underline its commitment to fostering local connections.  

This stop offers attendees valuable insight into a dynamic retail environment that successfully combines diverse product offerings with strong community ties and innovative merchandising strategies. 

Carl and Helen Wilson launched the small family-owned farm market in 1958, where they grew and sold vegetables such as tomatoes, melons and sweet corn to the public and local businesses.  

Over the past 60 years, this once small market has transformed into a garden center that provides an array of flowers and plants to the central Ohio region. Wilson’s Garden Center also offers a variety of products: bird seed, gift items, statuary, pottery, and more. 

During this stop, attendees will have the opportunity to learn more about the services Wilson’s Garden Center provides, ranging from a creation station to curbside pickup, delivery, and even planting services.  

Since 1988, Foertmeyer & Sons Greenhouse has dedicated its efforts on providing high-quality plants for school fundraising programs. Now led by the second generation, it continues to focus exclusively on this mission.  

The company supplies schools across Ohio and surrounding states with sustainable, chemical-conscious plant material. Over 90% of its business supports schools through its curated plant offerings: bedding flats, hanging baskets, and planters in the spring; mums in the fall; and poinsettias and alternative Christmas plants in the winter. 

Attendees will tour the newest Foertmeyer & Sons facility, which is a state-of-the-art, 4-acre greenhouse that was completed in January 2025. This cutting-edge space is located just two miles from its headquarters in Delaware, OH. 

The greenhouse features Roll-Air greenhouse technology, an ErfGoed sub-irrigation system, and high-efficiency boilers—all designed to maximize efficiency while reducing environmental impact. 

During your visit, take note of the precision watering systems, automated transplanting equipment, and innovative climate control features in the greenhouse. All the features contribute to Foertmeyer & Sons Greenhouse’s success in delivering top-quality plants with minimal energy and chemical input. 

Established in 2021, Green Legacy has quickly built a reputation for producing high-quality annuals with a strong focus on customer service and tailored growing practices. It operates as a wholesale and contract grower and serves independent garden centers and landscapers within a 200-mile radius of central Ohio. 

The business grows in 150,000 square feet of double-layer poly greenhouses and an additional 300,000 square feet of outdoor production. Green Legacy utilizes advanced growing technology, including Argus environmental controls, drip and boom irrigation, and on-site soil mixing. Its commitment to efficiency is evident in their use of conveyor belts and flat fillers, streamlining production while ensuring plant quality. 

A key highlight of the tour will be Green Legacy’s trial gardens, developed in partnership with a landscape customer. The trial gardens highlight the company’s dedication to innovation and collaboration. Additionally, attendees will learn about Green Legacy’s strategic business growth, which includes expanding greenhouse infrastructure, enhancing order processing systems, and continuing its customer-centric approach. 

The tour stop at Green Legacy will demonstrate how a young and ambitious greenhouse operation is navigating the industry with integrity, innovation, and a passion for plants that stand the test of time. 

Acorn Farms is a leading wholesale nursery stock and tree farm grower located in the Alum Creek Valley of Central Ohio.  

It was founded in 1976, and offers high-quality shade and ornamental trees, woody and herbaceous plants, and hard-to-find ornamentals. Customers include a combination of landscape companies, retail garden centers, and municipalities. 

Container stock including shrubs, perennials, annuals are grown on more than 80 acres at the main location. Succulents, poinsettias, mums, bulbs, and seasonal plants are grown in its greenhouse facilities.  

The nursery uses well, pond and creek water for irrigation, and is equipped with irrigation systems that range from simple drip systems to enormous oscillating sprinklers with more than 90% of water being reclaimed.  

Acorn Farms’ sales are generated by both on and off-site staff with truck delivery to the East Coast and Midwest regions. It also supplies plants to the four Oakland Nursery locations, one of the largest garden retail operations in Central Ohio.  

Customer-centric offerings include the ability for clients to access plant availability, plant specifications, weekly special offers, growing tips, special offers, and more on its website.  

During the tour, attendees will meet the Acorn Farm production team and learn how recent changes in field and greenhouse orientation have improved operating efficiencies, reduction in chemical use, and its commitment to quality. 

Decker’s Nursery has been serving customers for over 100 years and is in its third generation of family ownership. It is now in the process of transitioning to a staff ownership model. 

The nursery operates on 132 acres in southwest Columbus, OH, and prides itself on being at the forefront of technology and continually improving its production efficiencies. 

Decker’s Nursery is a wholesale nursery specializing in large material containers, commodity and licensed plants. It sells liner material and finished stock in 1-, 3-, 7, 15-, and 25-gallon sizes, shipping across the U.S. and to two Canadian provinces. It propagates more than 1.5 million cuttings and 250,000 grafts a year.  

Decker’s Nursery partners with a variety of plant breeders and is one of the largest boxwood propagators of the newest NextGen® boxwood varieties. Decker’s is a founding participant in LEAP (Labor, Efficiency, Automation in Production) program.  

During the tour, attendees will see how the Decker Nursery team puts innovative thinking to work. Enjoy a look at its propagation sticking and grafting operations, and learn about its mechanized trimming, reuse of sanitized pots and trays, and the latest Westbrook Greenhouse expansion efforts.  

Please note, tour participants will be required to follow Decker’s sanitation protocols and will walk through a sanitation shoe/boot bath and will be misted with an alcohol spray. These measures are required to prevent the spread of Boxwood Blight. Learn more about the history of Decker’s Nursery. 

Millcreek Gardens, a traditional perennial grower, was established in 1978. It is committed to being a quality source for perennials, herbs, annuals, shrubs, and other garden plants, and sells more than 1.2 million plants each year.

Located on over 20 acres with 96 greenhouses—five for propagation, and the rest for finished production—there is over 249,000 square feet of protected growing area plus 41,000 square feet of outdoor growing space.

Most perennial crops are grown outdoors in the summer and overwintered in minimum heat greenhouses for sale the following spring. This growing method contributes to high quality plants with well-established crowns and root systems that will be naturally vernalized, so they flower in the year of sale for the end consumer.

Millcreek Gardens leverages technology for optimal efficiencies. SBI nursery software is utilized for online ordering, order management, inventory tracking, availability, and set-up of plant recipes, and production plans. A custom-built electronic shipping software organizes truckloads and tracks the status of all orders. The RIO Batch pulling system from Flow Vision is used to process orders during the shipping season.

This fun and educational tour will enable attendees to learn from the dedicated Millcreek Gardens team about how its mission, “Growing High Quality Plants, People, and Relationships,” is carried out.