Today I was reviewing our core values and I was reminded of a few that are at the heart of our company. The first one that comes to mind is “Embrace Change” - this can be a challenge for a lot of us. This year, we made the decision to close our B&B nursery in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Our Kenosha nursery has been serving the landscape market for over 30 years, and we are proud of the legacy that we have left behind. Mariani Plants had the pleasure of providing trees for some of the best landscape projects in the Midwest. The quality that came out of that ground was never in question; the team in Kenosha always operated with extremely high standards and aspired to grow trees that would thrive for years to come. I was always impressed with the consistency the team was able to produce year after year. I viewed them as artists.

Although the decision was extremely difficult to make, we must look forward to the future to where we think this industry is headed, and that is an exciting opportunity for us. We believe in our Accelerator tree program, and we have seen the success of the program continue to grow. The balance between our container shrubs and perennials complements the Accelerator tree program nicely. Another benefit of focusing on one nursery is labor. We’ve had success with finding labor in Garden Prairie and, as you all know, that is extremely important. This reminds me of another one of our core values: “Thrive Together”. We want to ensure that each of our team members has an opportunity to grow and develop in their career, and we believe that we can offer that opportunity here at Mariani Plants. Over the years, we have watched our labor force grow, and we have now been able to promote associates from general laborers to experienced growers. We want our team at Mariani Plants to know that they can have a long-term career and opportunities within the company.