Telly's Greenhouse and Garden Center

What Telly's Greenhouse and Garden Center does

Telly's Greenhouse and Garden Center, operating as Telly's Greenhouse Inc., is a privately held retail nursery founded in 1985 and headquartered in Troy, Michigan. The company grows its own annuals, perennials, herbs, vegetables, bonsai, and roses seasonally on-site, then sells them alongside complementary categories to home gardeners across two storefronts in Troy and Shelby Township. Product breadth spans orchids, roses, succulents, cacti, hanging baskets, hibiscus, tropicals, houseplants, pottery, and garden care products. A 2018 'Best of Hour Detroit' recognition and a 40+ year operating history in southeastern Michigan anchor its brand positioning.

Underlying capability is centered on in-house horticultural production and specialist staff, most notably resident bonsai master Lamont Jackson (past president, Four Seasons Bonsai Club of Michigan; Midwest Bonsai Society board member), who anchors a structured Bonsai Workshop offering. The technology footprint is conventional retail: a website with plant care guides, workshop registration, gift card e-commerce, a mailing list, and accounts for Facebook and Instagram. No proprietary technology stack, API, mobile app, or AI/ML system is described in the source material.

The business model is omnichannel-light: the vast majority of revenue is one-time in-store plant and accessory sales to individual consumers, supplemented by workshop fees (Bonsai Workshop at $50 per participant, pre-registration required) and gift cards (denominations $25-$500, sold online and in-store, no expiration). Pricing is unstructured across the plant assortment; gift cards and workshops carry defined published price points. The go-to-market relies on two physical storefronts, social media (Facebook, Instagram), an email newsletter with coupons and event notices, parking lot/seasonal in-store promotions, and community partnerships with at least nine regional garden and bonsai clubs. Customer segments are residential home gardeners in southeastern Michigan; no enterprise, B2B, or wholesale revenue streams are described.

Name

Telly's Greenhouse and Garden Center

Legal name

Telly's Greenhouse Inc.

Website

https://tellys.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1985

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Telly's Greenhouse and Garden Center is a privately held, Troy, Michigan-based retail nursery that grows and sells live plants, conducts educational bonsai workshops, and serves residential home gardeners across two southeastern Michigan storefronts.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Retail Garden Center

NAICS

Nursery, Garden Center, and Farm Supply Retailers (444240), Nursery, Garden Center, and Farm Supply Retailers (44424), Greenhouse, Nursery, and Floriculture Production (1114), Nursery and Floriculture Production (11142)

SIC

Retail-Building Materials, Hardware, Garden Supply (5200), Agricultural Production-Crops (100)

akta.pro primary industry

Plants, Seeds & Nursery Retail (Garden Centers) (CRAIAIAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Nursery Production (Woody Ornamentals: Trees, Shrubs, Roses) (AFAGAHAF), Potted Flowering Plants & Bedding Plants Production (Annuals, Perennials, Plugs) (AFAGAHAE), Greenhouse Herb & Microgreens Production (Culinary Herbs, Microgreens) (AFAGAHAC)

Keywords

• Retail garden center
• Greenhouse plants
• Gardening supplies
• Bonsai workshops
• Houseplant retail

Headquarters

HQ city

Troy

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Retail Plant Sales: In-store sales of annuals, perennials, herbs, vegetables, bonsai, roses, tropicals, houseplants, pottery, and garden care products
2. Workshop Fees: In-person workshop fees such as Bonsai workshops at $50 per participant
3. Gift Cards: Digital and physical gift cards sold online and in-store ranging from $25 to $500

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Telly's Greenhouse and Garden Center operates a traditional retail nursery that grows and sells annuals, perennials, herbs, vegetables, bonsai, roses, orchids, tropicals, houseplants, succulents, and cacti across two physical garden center locations in Troy and Shelby Township, Michigan. The company supplements plant sales with pottery, garden care products, paid hands-on workshops such as the Bonsai Workshop, and gift cards available online and in-store.

Product overview

Telly's Greenhouse and Garden Center is a traditional retail nursery offering a diverse selection of live plants and garden products. The core offerings include annuals, perennials, fruits and vegetables, bonsai trees, orchids, roses, succulents, cacti, tropicals, and houseplants—all grown on-site in their own greenhouses. The business complements its plant sales with pottery, garden care products, and hands-on educational workshops such as the Bonsai Workshop taught by resident bonsai master Lamont Jackson. Additional services include Telly's Gift Cards (available online or in-store) and free plant care guides in PDF format. The company operates two retail locations in Troy and Shelby Township, Michigan, with over 40 years of experience growing their own seasonal inventory.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Annuals Seasonal flowering plants replaced each year, grown on-site at Telly's greenhouse and sold to home gardeners in southeastern Michigan.
• Perennials Plants that return year after year, offered as starter plants to residential gardeners.
• Fruits & Vegetables Edible plants including vegetables and fruit-bearing plants grown seasonally for home gardeners.
• Bonsai Artistic miniature trees including Ficus, Juniper, and Migo Pine varieties, sold to hobbyist collectors with optional workshop instruction.
• Orchids Flowering orchids including Phalaenopsis, Cymbidiums, Cattleyas, Oncidiums, and Paphiopedilums, with care sheets provided.
• Roses Rose plants grown on-site, accompanied by a downloadable care guide for home gardeners.
• Succulents & Cacti Low-maintenance, drought-tolerant succulent and cactus plants sold in various varieties.
• Hanging Baskets 12-inch fiber hanging baskets for sun or shade, using earth-friendly baskets with nearly twice the soil volume of 10-inch containers.
• Hibiscus Summer-blooming tropical plants known for large colorful flowers.
• Tropicals Tropical plant varieties arriving seasonally at the garden center.
• Houseplants Indoor plants sold for home environments.
• Pottery Decorative and functional planters and containers sold alongside plants.
• Garden Care Products Products for garden maintenance and plant care sold at Telly's retail locations.
• Bonsai Workshop Make-and-take workshop at $50 per person where participants create their own bonsai tree with instruction from Telly's bonsai artists, covering plant and pot selection, root combing, root pruning, potting, basic styling techniques, and aftercare.
• Telly's Gift Cards Gift cards available in denominations from $25 to $500 (tiers of $25, $50, $75, $100, $250, and $500), sold online and in-store; never expire and can be used multiple times until balance is spent.
• Plant Care Guides Free downloadable PDF plant care guides including Rose Care Guide, Poinsettia Care Guide, Growing Herbs Indoors, Venus Fly Trap Care Guide, Growing Plants from Seeds, and Mum Care Guide, available to website visitors.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Southeastern Michigan Dahlia SocietyminorOthersLocal gardening club listed on Telly's community page for networking and mutual promotion to gardening enthusiasts in southeastern Michigan
• Cranbrook House & Gardens AuxiliaryminorOthersGarden organization partnership listed on Telly's community page for networking with gardening enthusiasts
• Troy Garden ClubminorOthersLocal Troy-based garden club featured on Telly's community page
• Four Seasons Bonsai Club of MichiganminorOthersBonsai club with past president Lamont Jackson serving as Telly's resident bonsai master and instructor; serves on the board of the Midwest Bonsai Society
• Women's National Farm & Garden AssociationminorOthersNational garden organization with local chapter presence on Telly's community page
• Iris Club of Southeastern MichiganminorOthersLocal iris gardening club listed on Telly's community page
• Meadow Brook Hall Garden ClubminorOthersGarden club associated with Meadow Brook Hall listed on Telly's community page
• Country Garden Club of NorthvilleminorOthersLocal garden club from Northville featured on Telly's community page
• The Milford Garden ClubminorOthersLocal garden club from Milford listed on Telly's community page

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Wedel's Garden Center: Wedel's is a family-owned independent garden center and nursery with a similar product mix of plants, garden supplies, and gift-oriented merchandise. Comparable in scale and operating philosophy (independent, multi-generational, locally grown emphasis) to Telly's.
• English Gardens: English Gardens is a family-owned Michigan-based garden center chain operating multiple retail locations across metro Detroit, selling plants, nursery stock, pottery, and seasonal décor. It is the most direct comparable to Telly's in terms of geography, customer base (southeastern Michigan homeowners), and product breadth, including in-house growing of annuals and perennials.
• Bordine's: Bordine's is a long-established Michigan garden center and nursery chain serving the greater Detroit region with plants, landscaping services, and garden supplies. It competes head-to-head with Telly's for the same home-gardener demographic and overlapping geographic footprint in southeastern Michigan.

Broad incumbents

• Lowe's: Lowe's is a national home-improvement retailer with extensive garden centers at each location selling plants, soil, and outdoor supplies. It overlaps meaningfully with Telly's plant retail offering while operating as a broad-line home-improvement incumbent.
• Meijer: Meijer is a Michigan-headquartered big-box retailer that operates garden centers at most of its stores selling plants, pottery, and seasonal merchandise. It competes with Telly's within the same Michigan geography for impulse garden purchases.
• Home Depot: Home Depot is a national home-improvement retailer that devotes substantial floor and outdoor space to live plants, garden supplies, and pottery, including seasonal nurseries. It competes with Telly's for casual gardener purchases but as part of a vastly broader home-improvement portfolio.

Others

• Costa Farms: Costa Farms is one of the largest U.S. ornamental plant growers supplying houseplants, annuals, and tropicals to mass-market retailers including big-box garden centers. Relevant as an upstream supplier/ecosystem participant whose products compete on retail shelves against Telly's in-house grown inventory.
• Proven Winners: Proven Winners is a leading branded plant genetics and marketing cooperative supplying proprietary annuals, perennials, and shrubs to independent garden centers like Telly's. Relevant as a brand partner/ecosystem enabler that helps differentiate independent retailers versus big-box commodity plants.

Regional players

• Pike Nurseries: Pike Nurseries is a multi-location independent garden center serving the Atlanta metro area with plants, landscape services, and garden supplies. Comparable in scale and customer profile (suburban homeowners) to Telly's though operating in the Southeast.
• Armstrong Garden Centers: Armstrong is a California-based independent garden center chain with similar product breadth (annuals, perennials, houseplants, pottery) and emphasis on expertise and workshops. Comparable in operating model though serving a West Coast market rather than Michigan.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/tellysghs
• Instagraminstagram.com/tellysgreenhousetroy
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/tellys-greenhouse-and-garden-center

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Telly's Greenhouse and Garden Center