Bonnie Plant Farm was established in 1918 by Livingston and Bonnie Paulk in Bullock County, Alabama.
The following history was written by Stan Cope, the grandson of the late Livingston and Bonnie Paulk.
The plant business has changed in many ways since 1940. When I started working at Bonnie Plant Farm in 1967, our product was almost exclusively field-grown vegetable plants. The product mix began to change in the early 70s as customer demand for greenhouse potted plants grew. To meet this shift in demand from bare-root to container plants, we began to construct greenhouses.
Alabama Farmers Cooperative bought Bonnie Plant Farm in 1975. The family members stayed on to continue operating the company. Business grew rapidly through the 80s as we added trucks and greenhouses to service an expanding market area. In 1983, we delivered plants into 13 states. As mass-market retailers began to expand into the home garden trade by opening garden centers, we suddenly saw an opportunity to increase sales at an even greater pace. To prepare for this new market, we increased our distribution stations in other states. We hired more salesmen, constructed more greenhouses, and generally geared our operation for what was to be tremendous growth in the 1990s.
In the year 2000, our business had grown to 24 growing stations and a sales force of 175. Seven years later, in 2007, we have greenhouse production locations in 33 states. 400 sales reps service over 10,000 accounts with quality vegetable, herb, and flower plants throughout the United States.
Revised 9-17-07