Imperial Nurseries Cultivates Millions Of The Nation's Plants

Driving north on Salmon Brook Street one may only notice the sea of white canopies to the east for a moment, but Imperial Nurseries occupies approximately 350 acres of land in Granby.

"We had a similar outfit in Florida on the panhandle," said Mark Hixson of Imperial Nurseries.  "We've since moved off that farm and we now lease it and we're strictly working on the Connecticut farm."

Originally a tobacco grower, the nursery has been a major Granby grower for over 50 years.  The nursery eventually switched to cultivating bald and burlap trees and eventually potted plants.  Today the nursery ships over 1 million plants across the eastern United States and Canada every year.

The plants are cultivated in 92 miles of white plastic-lined hoop houses.  On a normal day the nursery will consume 6.5 million gallons of water from the Salmon Brook to feed roughly 3 million plants.

"We reclaim over 75 percent of the water that we use," said Mark Hixson.

The nursery ships the majority of its plants during spring months and spends late summer and fall months preparing for the winter.  During peak months Imperial Nurseries employs 300 workers, and will ship about 26,000 plants each day.

If you happen to see the "CT Grown label on a potted plant at your local garden center, chances are, it's from Granby.  

For more information on locally grown goods visit BuyCTGrown.