Cole Nurseries

What Cole Nurseries does

Cole Nurseries is a family-owned wholesale nursery founded in 1937 by Norman Cole, Sr. in Springville, Virginia, and relocated to West Virginia in 1957. The company operates two farm sites — Pipestem and Barger Springs — totaling over 100 farmed acres of balled-and-burlapped (B&B) woody landscape material grown at 3,200 feet elevation, which yields consistent Zone 5 cold hardiness across all varieties. Three generations of the Cole family have run the business: Norman Cole, Sr. (founder), Norman Cole, Jr. (Ohio State Ornamental Horticulture, 1954; joined 1956), and Norman Cole III (Virginia Tech Horticulture, 1990), with the third generation currently leading cultivar development.

The product portfolio centers on boxwood (Buxus) cultivars and Thuja conifers, anchored by four patented proprietary varieties developed through a long-running partnership with Star Roses and Plants: Ilex crenata 'Highlander' PP #2272 (1959), Buxus microphylla 'Highlander' (2011), Buxus microphylla 'Little Missy' (2013), and Buxus microphylla 'Little Mister' (2024). Plants are harvested per order by hand or machine, wrapped in burlap, and shipped directly to customers. The company maintains a strict Box Blight sanitation protocol that prevents on-site visits or tours, supporting stock health across the farm. Current inventory spans 18+ named varieties including Buxus microphylla, Buxus sempervirens, hybrid boxwoods, and Thuja hybrids.

Cole Nurseries operates a direct wholesale go-to-market model, selling B&B plant material one-time to landscape trade customers — primarily landscaping companies and garden centers — across the East Coast within a shipping radius reachable in a few hours. Transactions occur through phone, email, and the company website (colenurseries.com); pricing is held privately and made available via a non-public pricelist page. The company is a private West Virginia corporation (Cole Nurseries, Inc.) with no external investment, no parent company, no subsidiaries, and no disclosed headcount.

Name

Cole Nurseries

Legal name

Cole Nurseries, Inc.

Website

https://colenurseries.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1937

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Cole Nurseries is a family-owned wholesale nursery founded in 1937, growing balled-and-burlapped woody landscape plants at 3,200 feet elevation for landscape trade customers across the East Coast from over 100 farmed acres in West Virginia.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Wholesale Nursery and Ornamental Horticulture

NAICS

Nursery and Tree Production (111421), Greenhouse, Nursery, and Floriculture Production (1114)

SIC

Agricultural Production-Crops (100)

akta.pro primary industry

Tree Nursery Stock Production (Seedlings, Saplings, Clonal Material) (AFAMACAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Nursery Stock & Propagule Production (Cuttings, Rootstocks, Grafts) (AFAGAIAO), Vegetative Propagation (Cuttings, Clonal Forestry, Tissue Culture) (AFAMADAE)

Keywords

• Wholesale nursery stock
• Balled and burlapped plants
• Boxwood cultivars
• Ornamental landscape trees
• Field-grown shrubs

Headquarters

HQ city

Pipestem

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Wholesale B&B Plant Material Sales: One-time sales of field-grown ball and burlap (B&B) woody landscape material including boxwood, hollies, conifers, and shade trees sold to wholesale trade customers.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Cole Nurseries grows and supplies field-grown balled-and-burlapped (B&B) woody landscape material—primarily boxwood, hollies, conifers, and shade trees—to wholesale trade customers across the East Coast. Plants are propagated from cuttings, raised in greenhouses, field-grown at 3,200 feet elevation for Zone 5 hardiness, then harvested per order by hand or machine, wrapped in burlap, and shipped directly to buyers.

Product overview

Cole Nurseries is a wholesale nursery specializing in field-grown B&B (Ball and Burlap) woody landscape material. Founded in 1937, the company operates from 3,200 feet elevation in Pipestem, WV, yielding Zone 5 hardiness across all varieties. The product portfolio centers on patented boxwood cultivars including Buxus microphylla 'Little Missy' (2013), Buxus microphylla 'Little Mister' (2024), and Buxus microphylla 'Highlander' (2011), alongside diverse Buxus sempervirens varieties (Gold Rush, Dee Runk, Graham Blandy, Handsworthiensis, Highlander, Rotundifolia, Vardar Valley), Buxus microphylla varieties (Coles Select, John Baldwin, Tide Hill), hybrid boxwoods (Green Mound, Green Mountain, Green Velvet), and Thuja conifers (Virescens, Green Giant, Steeplechase). Plants are harvested per order by hand or machine, wrapped in burlap, and shipped directly to customers on the East Coast.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Ilex crenata 'Highlander' (Highlander Holly)
• Buxus microphylla 'Highlander' (Highlander Boxwood)
• Buxus microphylla 'Little Missy'
• Buxus microphylla 'Little Mister'
• Buxus sempervirens (Common Boxwood) and Buxus sempervirens cultivars
• Buxus microphylla varieties (Coles Select, John Baldwin, Tide Hill)
• Buxus X hybrid boxwoods (Green Mound, Green Mountain, Green Velvet)
• Thuja conifers (plicata 'Virescens', X 'Green Giant', X 'Steeplechase')

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Star Roses and PlantscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2011Partnership with Star Roses and Plants for development and release of patented boxwood cultivars including Buxus microphylla 'Highlander' (2011), 'Little Missy' (2013), and 'Little Mister' (2024). Star Roses and Plants handles propagation and commercialization while Cole Nurseries provides the proprietary plant genetics.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Overdevest Nurseries: New Jersey-based wholesale nursery specializing in B&B and container-grown landscape plant material sold to garden centers and landscape professionals — same B&B wholesale motion, overlapping East Coast/Mid-Atlantic customer base, and similar focus on disease-clean production.
• J. Frank Schmidt & Son Co. Oregon-based wholesale field-grown nursery specializing in shade, flowering, and ornamental trees — same field-grown B&B production model for landscape trade customers, though concentrated in tree genus vs. Cole's shrub/boxwood focus.
• Spring Meadow Nursery: Michigan wholesale shrub liner producer and the marketing/distribution arm behind the Proven Winners ColorChoice line of patented shrub genetics — comparable on patented cultivar development and wholesale ornamental shrub production to landscape trade channels.
• Star Roses and Plants: Pennsylvania-based wholesale grower/introducer of branded roses, woody shrubs, and perennials; partner of Cole Nurseries for commercializing its boxwood genetics and so directly comparable on patented cultivar breeding and wholesale landscape trade GTM.
• Conard-Pyle / Star Roses: Long-running wholesale nursery and plant introducer focused on branded landscape genetics (Knock Out roses, Drift roses); comparable to Cole on patented cultivar IP development and wholesale channel to garden centers and landscape professionals.
• Willoway Nurseries: Ohio-based wholesale nursery producing container and field-grown landscape plant material for garden centers and landscapers across the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic — directly comparable wholesale motion and trade customer base.

Broad incumbents

• Bailey Nurseries: Large Midwest wholesale nursery producing woody ornamentals and shrubs for independent garden centers and landscape contractors across North America; broader catalog and national reach than Cole, but directly comparable on B&B/container wholesale of landscape shrubs and patented genetics (e.g., Endless Summer).
• Monrovia: Large U.S. wholesale grower of containerized shrubs, perennials, and trees, primarily via garden centers and landscape professionals — broader product line and national brand presence, but overlapping customer base and patented/ proprietary ornamental genetics.
• Greenleaf Nursery Co. Oklahoma-based wholesale nursery producing deciduous shrubs, conifers, and ornamental trees for the landscape trade across multiple regions — broader catalog and reach than Cole, but a comparable wholesale grower of landscape woody ornamentals.

Emerging players

• Bower & Branch: Online direct-to-consumer plant retailer that partners with regional wholesale growers to ship larger landscape trees and shrubs; a downstream channel partner rather than a grower peer, but a comparable buyer/source of B&B plant material in the landscape trade.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 Cole Nurseries