Increasing Profits: Find out why Encore Azaleas are a top seller for Baucom’s Nursery

Baucom’s Nursery is a wholesale nursery in Charlotte, N.C. Founded in 1947, the nursery specializes in shrubs, annuals and roses.  

Its primary customers are home improvement centers, particularly Home Depot, with a small amount of retail garden centers, landscape distribution centers and landscape contractors. Baucom’s Nursery has 320 acres in production over two farms, one in Charlotte, N.C., and another in Concord, North Carolina. 

Company president Eric Baucom says the nursery grows a wide range of shrubs from Plant Development Services, Inc., including a deep mix of Encore Azaleas. Baucom’s Nursery focuses on Zone 6 and Zone 7 plants that are appropriate for their region.  

Eric says the Encore Azaleas are a staple item for his nursery. He grows a broad variety of Encores because he says they compare favorably to other azaleas on the market. Also, they’re one of the few types of plants that remain on the top seller list no matter the season. 

“We’ve grown them for years and years,” he says. “It’s a rare item that has seasonal color in the spring and the fall, which creates a year-round item. There are very few items that bloom in the fall.” 

Baucom’s stocks the Encore line from February through November 1 at garden centers that the nursery services, including its largest customer, Home Depot.  

“A lot of items are in high demand in the spring or in the summer or in high demand in the fall, but Encore Azaleas are one of the few items that are in high demand throughout the year,” he says. “That’s what creates the unit movement overall.” 

Consumer awareness 

Eric says he has a strong long-term business relationship with Plant Development Services, Inc. It’s a partnership that is mutually beneficial for both parties. He appreciates how easy the team is to work with and the detailed information they provide to growers. 

“We trust the plants they bring to the market,” he says. “We have to make sure they match our growing region; however, if they bring a plant to market, we trust that it’s going to be a successful plant, and that has translated time after time, all the way through the process. We’re able to grow the plant in a successful way, which tells us that the consumer is going to be able to grow it in a successful way. That typically translates to high turns at retail.” 

Baucom’s Nursery is vertically integrated. Eric’s team propagates in-house, moves liners to production, finishes them and then ships them to its retail garden center customers. The brand saturation of Encore Azaleas helps drive the demand, Eric says. 

“Even though it’s been around for many years, it’s still at the top of consumer minds,” he says. “It’s a normal thing to be in a garden center and a customer asks you for Encore Azaleas.” 

Between the broad color palette and the different mature heights of the plants to meet different consumer needs, from dwarf types to more upright varieties, there are plenty of reasons to grow a wide selection of Encores. 

Of course, Baucom’s doesn’t just grow Encore Azaleas. Eric says the nursery grows a deep mix of shrubs from the Southern Living Plant Collection. 

“The Southern Living brand recognition brings a tremendous amount of value and credibility to the table,” he says.