Company Background
Proven Winners is the leading plant brand worldwide
The Proven Winners brand is comprised of leading plant propagators around the world. In North America, the brand is owned by two leading U.S. plant propagators - Four Star Greenhouse in Carleton, MI and Pleasant View Gardens in Loudon, NH. These companies founded Proven Winners North America in 1992, and, together with two licensees in Canada (Nordic Nurseries and Sobkowich Greenhouses), produce superior annual plant liners under the Proven Winners name. Liners are then sold to wholesale growers to "finish" and sell to retail garden centers across North America.
Proven Winners® has also partnerships with industry leading companies such as Spring Meadow Nursery (which provides Proven Winners® ColorChoice flowering shrubs), Walters Gardens (Proven Winners® Perennials), Classic Caladiums (Proven Winners® Heart to Heart™ Caladiums) and The Plant Company (leafjoy® houseplants) to include a vast array of flowering shrubs, perennials, tropicals and houseplants for home gardeners and professionals to enjoy. Proven Winners® is a global brand and can be found in many countries throughout the world.
The Proven Winners North American group also sells a complementary brand, Proven Selections®, which consists of regional favorite varieties that complement Proven Winners.
On a retail sales level, Proven Winners and Proven Selections sales are greater than a billion dollars annually. The plants are available from just about every garden center in North America. Additionally, with partner companies in Europe, South Africa, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan and Australia, Proven Winners® is now a global brand and can be found in many countries throughout the world.
The goals of Proven Winners are to introduce the best, most unique, high performing plants, to produce them under the highest quality standards, and to market the plants innovatively. Proven Winners plants are unsurpassed in terms of flowering, growth habit, disease resistance, and garden performance.
No other plant line goes through the same rigorous plant selection process, which takes 2-3 years for annuals (7-10 years on perennials and shrubs) and occurs at facilities in the U.S. and Canada, as well as at trial stations in Europe, South Africa, and Japan. Every Proven Winners variety is protected by U.S. and Canadian patents. What also separates Proven Winners is its viral control process, which is second to none.
Besides producing better flowering plants, Proven Winners is also credited with creating the "container gardening" craze and making new plant genera known. Most consumers had never heard of Bacopa (Sutera), Nemesia, Verbena, etc. until Proven Winners introduced these varieties.
In terms of innovative marketing, Proven Winners has created a consumer plant brand that means value to home gardeners. Some groundbreaking marketing programs from Proven Winners include the industry's only Certification training program for garden centers across North America, and Connect+ an exclusive marketing program for independant garden centers; the industry's first on-line photo library and introduction of Proven Winners branded premium soils, plant foods, Twist n' Plant™ augers, AquaPots™ and WaterWise™ kits for home gardeners.
