blue water horticulture

What blue water horticulture does

Blue Water Horticulture is a wholesale nursery stock brokerage founded in 2017 and based in Pinckney, Michigan, by Tim and Cindy Parker. The company acts as an intermediary that connects buyers of ornamental and landscape nursery stock with approximately 20 premium growers across the Midwest, West Coast, East Coast, Tennessee, and Canada, with Tim Parker contributing roughly 40 years of green-industry experience (since 1982) as the primary relationship asset.

The buyer base spans independent garden centers, landscape distribution centers, landscape contractors, and municipalities, suggesting a diversified but SMB-skewed downstream mix rather than large enterprise anchors. Blue Water Horticulture does not operate a technology platform; transactions are coordinated manually via relationships rather than through a digital marketplace, and there is no disclosed proprietary IP, data asset, or software product.

Revenue is generated on a commission basis, with Blue Water Horticulture earning a transaction fee on the volume it brokers between growers and buyers. The firm is privately held, bootstrapped (no disclosed funding rounds), and operates with a small team of approximately two to three people, limiting throughput but keeping the cost base minimal relative to a transaction-fee model.

Name

blue water horticulture

Legal name

Blue Water Horticulture

Website

https://bluewaterhort.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Blue Water Horticulture is a wholesale nursery stock brokerage based in Pinckney, Michigan, connecting independent garden centers, landscapers, distributors, and municipalities with roughly 20 premium growers across multiple U.S. regions and Canada via a commission-based intermediary model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Pinckney

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Brokerage/Commission on Nursery Stock Sales: The company acts as a broker or sales representative for nursery stock growers, earning revenue through commissions on sales of plants to independent garden centers, landscape distribution centers, landscape contractors, and municipalities.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Blue Water Horticulture operates as a wholesale broker and sales representative for premium nursery stock growers. The company connects independent garden centers, landscape distribution centers, landscape contractors, and municipalities with a network of 20+ partnered growers across the West Coast, Midwest, Tennessee, and East Coast. Services include facilitating plant orders, coordinating freight logistics, and providing post-delivery customer follow-up.

Product overview

Blue Water Horticulture is a wholesale nursery stock brokerage company, not a technology company. It operates as a single unified service offering — representing multiple premium nursery growers across the Midwest, West Coast, East Coast, and Tennessee regions. The company connects independent garden centers, landscape distribution centers, landscape contractors, and municipalities with a network of nearly 20 partnered growers. Services include facilitating orders, logistics coordination, and customer follow-up. The company does not offer a digital product, platform, or software.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Nursery Stock Brokerage Services Wholesale brokerage and sales representation service that connects independent garden centers, landscape distribution centers, landscape contractors, and municipalities with a network of 20+ premium nursery stock growers across the West Coast, Midwest, Tennessee, and East Coast. The service includes order facilitation, freight logistics coordination, and post-delivery customer follow-up.

Quantifiable outcome

• High customer retention and long-term relationships - multiple customers report working with BlueWater for 6+ years

Named customers9 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

Partnerships

20 partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Blue HeroncoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorWest Coast wholesale grower located in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, growing over 850 varieties of container trees, shrubs, bare root trees, and balled/burlapped trees. Part of Blue Water's premium grower network.
• BotanicocoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorTennessee-based wholesale nursery operating approximately 500 acres across 5 locations, growing shade/ornamental trees and shrubs in containers and field-grown B&B.
• Bountiful FarmscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSpecializes in field and container nursery stock from common to unique varieties including arborvitae, boxwood, hydrangea trees, laurels, Japanese maples, spruce, pine, and specialty topiaries.
• ChesapeakecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorEast Coast grower with over 50,000 sq ft of heated space including an acre Cravo retractable roof greenhouse. Produces over 800,000 plants per year with specialty in 150 varieties of azaleas, barberry, boxwood, hydrangea, ilex, nandina, and ornamental grasses.
• Elmiger OrnamentalscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorFamily-owned wholesale tree farm with over 80 acres in production serving Michigan and Midwest landscape industry. Grows top-quality trees of requested varieties, northern grown and fully hardy.
• EshraghicoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSpecializes in over 100 varieties of Japanese maples, grafted conifers, container and B&B juniper, spruce, pine, azaleas, rhododendrons, and perennials. Focus on finished size materials.
• Fisher FarmscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorWholesale nursery specializing in woody shrubs with emphasis on plant hardiness and performance. Grows high quality plants for local and national markets across 7+ brand lines.
• GardenScape NurserycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorWest Coast wholesale nursery in Gervais, Oregon specializing in rhododendrons, azaleas, and conifer trees.
• JC BakkercoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCanadian grower producing quality trees, top branded shrubs, hardy roses, evergreens. Produces over 200 varieties of roses, 200 shade/ornamental/fruit trees, 120 flowering shrubs, 90 conifers, plus grasses and edibles.
• Johnston's Evergreen NurserycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMidwest grower with over 400 acres field production, 4800 potted trees in 5 acres pot-in-pot, 175 cold frame polyhouses with 250,000 sq ft container production. Offers over 500 species of plants.
• KG FarmscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSpecializes in B&B and container arborvitae, boxwood, Japanese maples, laurels, hydrangea trees, cercis. Added pot-in-pot G10 production and shrub growing.
• Lake ForestcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSpecializes in arborvitae, juniper, hemlock, spruce, pine, ornamental shade trees, plus premium shrubs, perennials, and landscape materials.
• Oregon PridecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorWest Coast grower specializing in container-grown evergreens. Plants grown in field for 4 years, harvested with small root ball, transplanted into container with pine bark mix. Offers full line of conifers, boxwood, spruce, and flowering shrubs including hydrangea, lilac, weigela.
• PattersoncoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPacific Northwest grower and hands-on brokerage of finest conifers and Japanese maples. Strictly wholesale, providing bulk quantities at dependable quality.
• Ray Wiegand'scoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMidwest grower with 700-acre facility in Lenox Township, Michigan. Over 500 varieties of trees/shrubs and 600+ varieties of perennials. Over 150 years of growing quality nursery stock with just-in-time delivery available.
• Russell'scoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorWest Coast grower specializing in generous grade high quality nursery stock including arborvitae, boxwood, Japanese maples, laurels, juniper, spruce, pine, chamaecyparis, and unusual conifers. Offers B&B potting at dock and star basket options.
• Richey NurserycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorWholesale nursery offering variety of nursery stock including arborvitae, spruce, hydrangea, and azaleas.
• Spada FarmscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSpecializes in arborvitae, Baby Blue spruce, boxwoods, juniper, lilacs, burning bush, peonies. Value price provider with red pot Christmas program.
• TSW NurserycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorGrowing nursery with over 45 acres working with wholesalers, growers, retailers, architects, designers and landscape companies. Specializes in larger, harder to find items.
• WoodburncoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorWest Coast grower specializing in container-grown rhododendron, holly, pieris, azaleas, Japanese maples, globe spruce, and perennials.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• ForemostCo: ForemostCo is a wholesale broker and distributor of young plants and liners, connecting growers with finishers, garden centers, and landscape professionals. Directly comparable to Blue Water Horticulture as a plant brokerage intermediary serving nursery industry supply.
• Liner Source Inc: Liner Source is a wholesale broker of nursery liners representing multiple growers across the U.S. Very similar business model to Blue Water - serving garden centers, landscape contractors, and nurseries via a multi-grower brokerage model.

Emerging players

• Bower & Branch: Bower & Branch is a network of growers selling premium containerized trees and shrubs online, with a focus on landscape-sized material. Comparable to Blue Water as a multi-grower plant sourcing/aggregation platform, though more consumer-facing and digitally enabled.

Broad incumbents

• Bailey Nurseries: Bailey Nurseries is a large wholesale grower and plant brand developer (Endless Summer hydrangeas, First Editions) with direct sales to garden centers and landscape professionals. Comparable as a major nursery stock supplier but operates its own growing operations rather than brokerage.
• Monrovia Nursery Company: Monrovia is one of the largest U.S. wholesale growers with branded premium nursery stock sold through garden centers and landscapers. Comparable industry overlap with Blue Water's grower partners but vertically integrated as a grower rather than a broker.
• Spring Meadow Nursery: Spring Meadow Nursery is a wholesale shrub liner producer and developer of Proven Winners ColorChoice flowering shrubs. Comparable to Blue Water's represented growers as a major wholesale nursery supplying garden centers with premium branded plant material.
• J. Frank Schmidt & Son Co: J. Frank Schmidt is a major wholesale shade and flowering tree grower serving landscape contractors and re-wholesale yards across North America. Comparable as a large-scale wholesale nursery stock supplier targeting the same landscape professional customer base as Blue Water.
• Carlton Plants: Carlton Plants is a wholesale grower of nursery stock, bare root plants, and rootstock serving commercial growers and garden centers in the U.S. Comparable as a wholesale nursery stock supplier within the same horticulture supply chain.
• McKay Nursery Company: McKay Nursery is a Midwest wholesale grower with 100+ years of history producing trees, shrubs, and perennials for landscape contractors and garden centers. Comparable to Blue Water's represented growers (Ray Wiegand's, Johnston's) in regional wholesale nursery stock supply.
• Greenleaf Nursery Company: Greenleaf Nursery is a large wholesale container grower producing woody ornamentals and shrubs for garden centers and landscape professionals. Comparable as a wholesale nursery supplier serving the same independent garden center and landscape contractor segments.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 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 blue water horticulture