Beaver Bark Gift & Garden Center in Richland, Wash., was named 2010 Garden Center of the Year and The Espoma Company in Milville, N.J., was announced as the Supplier of the Year during the Garden Centers of America Summer Tour's opening reception in Orlando, Fla., Sunday night.
Owners Todd and Renae Bobbett received the award for Beaver Bark, which has become a destination spot in the southeastern part of the state, despite having to overcome major adversity earlier in the decade. As noted in a spotlight article in the August 2009 issue of Garden Center magazine, the business had to relocate in 2004 after the state purchased the land where the original site was located to build a four-lane highway. Undaunted, the Bobbetts created a new state-of-the art retail and growing operation and in fact expanded this year, despite the tough economy. In February, Beaver Bark Gift & Garden Center opened a 10,000-square-feet greenhouse on site, which allows the company to grow its own nursery plants and starts, rather than having to ship them in from Portland or Seattle.
The Espoma Company began production in 1929 with its first product called Espoma Organic. The product was a proprietary blend of natural materials available near the company's Millville headquarters. In the late 1940s company founder H.G. Sanders created the company's number one selling product, Holly-tone.
Today, Holly-tone is considered by professional and amateur gardeners to be one of the premier plant foods for acid- loving plants. In addition to this brand leader, Espoma now manufactures over 34 products that cover virtually every plant nutritional need.
This year's GCA Summer Tour will officially launch Monday with visits to garden centers and significant plant locales in the Orlando area, including Disney's Animal Kingdom. Garden Center magazine will offer daily reports on highlights of the tour that independent garden centers can adapt at their own stores to boost business.