Eason Horticultural Resources

What Eason Horticultural Resources does

Eason Horticultural Resources, Inc. (EHR) is a North American horticultural broker and sales agent founded in 1993 by Jim Eason and Sonney Mosley, both former sales representatives at Vaughan's Seed Company. Headquartered in Fort Wright, Kentucky, EHR curates a network of more than 400 greenhouse and nursery-stock suppliers, providing retail garden centers, wholesale greenhouse growers, nurseries, and landscape contractors with consolidated access to young plant inputs (tissue culture, unrooted cuttings, plugs, liners, bulbs, bare-root), finished plants (annuals, tropicals, foliage, shrubs, trees), and horticultural supplies (structures, plastic, soil, pots, tags). The company arranges orders to ship directly from suppliers to customers rather than taking physical inventory.

The company operates a sales-led model with 35+ territory-based sales representatives across the continental United States plus Ontario, supplemented by a proprietary Direct Access 24/7 online ordering platform and a Plant Locator feature that aggregates availability and pricing across the full supplier network. EHR pioneered an integrated mobile order entry system in its industry and publishes annual reference reports (EHR 101 New Varieties, Hot New Perennials, Thrive) and co-hosts an annual Breeder Showcase & Trials event with the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Gardens. Pricing is quote-based and undisclosed publicly; the company operates standard trade credit with a 2% early pay discount for ACH payments.

Following a 2026 transition to 100% employee ownership through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), EHR is led by President-COO Mike Pezzillo, Senior VP and CFO Tim Iott, and Senior VP of Operations and Plant Products Manager Melanie Byrne, with founder Jim Eason remaining as principal owner. Revenue is generated through brokerage commissions and margins on facilitated transactions rather than inventory carry, and no external venture capital, private equity, or parent company involvement is reported.

Name

Eason Horticultural Resources

Legal name

Eason Horticultural Resources, Inc.

Website

https://ehrnet.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Eason Horticultural Resources is a 100% employee-owned North American horticultural broker founded in 1993 that connects retail garden centers, wholesale greenhouse growers, nurseries, and landscape contractors to a network of 400-plus plant and supply suppliers through a territory sales force and a 24/7 Direct Access online ordering platform.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Ft Mitchell

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Horticultural Brokerage / Distribution Commissions: EHR operates as a full-service horticultural broker and distributor, earning revenue by facilitating transactions between growers/suppliers and buyers (garden centers, greenhouse growers, nurseries, landscapers). The company arranges for orders to ship directly from suppliers to customers. Revenue is generated through commissions or margins on the products sold across its network of 400+ suppliers, covering plant material (young plants, nursery stock, foliage, tropicals, perennials, trees) and horticultural supplies (structures, plastic, soil, pots, tags).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Eason Horticultural Resources (EHR) is a full-service horticultural broker and sales agent that connects retail garden centers, wholesale greenhouse growers, nurseries, and landscape contractors with more than 400 vetted plant and supply suppliers. The company earns commissions by facilitating orders for young plant inputs (URCs, plugs, liners, tissue culture, bulbs, bare-root), finished plants (annuals, tropicals, foliage, shrubs, trees), and horticultural supplies (structures, pots, soil, plastic, tags), arranging for direct shipment from suppliers to customers across the continental U.S.

Product overview

Eason Horticultural Resources (EHR) is a full-service horticultural broker serving retail garden centers, wholesale greenhouse growers, nurseries, and landscape contractors. EHR operates primarily through its Direct Access online ordering platform, which provides 24/7 access to a network of over 400 growers across five product categories: Plants, Plugs, Perennials, Nursery, and Foliage, plus Hard Goods supplies. The company offers young plant inputs (tissue culture, unrooted cuttings, plugs, liners, bulbs, bare-root), finished plants (annuals, tropicals, foliage, shrubs, trees), and horticultural supplies (structures, plastic, soils, pots, tags). EHR complements its product portfolio with proprietary publications including the EHR 101 New Varieties Report, Hot New Perennials Report, and Thrive Report, along with its annual Breeder Showcase & Trials event hosted with the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Gardens. A national sales team of 35+ professionals supports customer relationships and supplier introductions across the continental U.S.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Direct Access Online Ordering Platform
• Sales Representation Services
• Young Plant Inputs
• Finished Plants
• Horticultural Supplies

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical GardenscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 August 2026EHR and the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Gardens co-host the annual Breeder Showcase & Trials event (third annual in 2026). The event combines plant trials in the zoo's botanical gardens with an industry tradeshow, featuring new plant varieties and interactions with breeders and industry experts. The event is unique in making plant trials accessible to both horticulture professionals and end-consumers. 2026 partners for the event include All-America Selections, Agri-Starts, Aris, Ball Horticulture, Beekenkamp, Bob's Market, Bull Plant Genetics, Classic Caladiums, Cincinnati Parks, Danziger, Darwin Perennials, DGI, Dümmen Orange, Emerald Coast Growers, Garden Choice, Green Fuse, HC Companies, Hilverdaflorist, Kientzler, Krueger Maddux, Lucas Greenhouses, Mast Young Plants, Millcreek, Natorp, Natural Beauty, PanAm Kieft, Plant Marvel, Plantpeddler, Pacific Plug and Liner, Proven Winners Four Star, Proven Winners PVG, Raker-Roberta's, Sakata, Selecta One, Stockslagers, Suntory Flowers, Sunfire, Syngenta Flowers, Terra Nova Nurseries, Vivero International, Walters Gardens, and Westhoff.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Henry F. Michell Company (Michell's): Michell's is a horticultural distributor serving greenhouse growers, nurseries, and garden centers with a broad product portfolio across plants and hard goods. It is a direct competitor to EHR in the U.S. horticultural distribution channel with overlapping supplier and customer bases.
• BFG Supply Company: BFG Supply is a U.S. horticultural distributor serving greenhouse growers and nurseries with both plant material and hard goods supplies. Directly comparable to EHR in distribution model and customer base, with significant overlap in hard goods categories.
• Griffin Greenhouse Supplies: Griffin is a major U.S. horticultural distributor offering greenhouse and nursery supplies, hard goods, and selected plant categories. It competes with EHR for greenhouse grower spend, particularly on the hard goods side of the business.
• Gloeckner & Company: Gloeckner & Company is a long-standing U.S. horticultural broker and distributor serving greenhouse growers and nurseries with young plant inputs, seed, and supplies from a global supplier base. Operates a comparable sales-agent/brokerage model to EHR across similar customer segments.
• McHutchison (Dümmen Orange North America): McHutchison was the closest historical direct competitor to EHR as a U.S. horticultural broker representing breeders and suppliers to growers, before being acquired by Dümmen Orange. Today it operates as Dümmen Orange's North American brokerage/distribution arm and competes with EHR across many of the same plant categories and customer segments.

Broad incumbents

• Syngenta Flowers: Syngenta Flowers is a global ornamental plant breeder selling seed and cuttings through a network of brokers including EHR. Competes with EHR only indirectly, but its direct-to-grower digital channels and large breeder portfolio are a structural threat to brokerage economics.
• Dümmen Orange: Dümmen Orange is a leading global ornamental plant breeder that owns the McHutchison brokerage and competes with EHR by offering direct breeder-to-grower fulfillment. Many Dümmen Orange varieties are sold through EHR, making the relationship both cooperative and competitive.
• Sakata Ornamentals: Sakata is a major international plant breeder whose varieties are distributed in North America partly through EHR. A direct competitor only on the breeder side, but its distribution strategy and direct relationships with growers shape the broker channel dynamics.
• Ball Seed (Ball Horticultural Company): Ball Seed is one of North America's largest horticultural seed and young plant distributors, serving greenhouse growers with a deep proprietary catalog and breeder relationships. Overlaps with EHR on the input side of the greenhouse grower customer base, but is also one of EHR's represented suppliers.

Emerging players

• Proven Winners: Proven Winners is a leading branded ornamental plant marketer that has built strong direct relationships with growers and retail garden centers. Increasingly serves customers with direct fulfillment options that partially overlap with EHR's value proposition for branded genetics.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks1 record

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/ehrplants
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/eason-horticultural-resources
• Instagraminstagram.com/ehrplants

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Eason Horticultural Resources