Bailey Rebrands and Expands Breeding Division

Chris Beytes

Two pieces of news from Bailey Nurseries, the St. Paul, Minnesota-based woody plant specialist best known for Endless Summer Hydrangeas, Easy Elegance Roses and First Editions plants:
 
First, they've rebranded their Georgia-based Plant Introductions, Inc. (PII) division to “Bailey Innovations.” Bailey acquired Plant Innovations in 2015. Said company president Terri McEnaney, “By renaming our product development arm, it puts a greater focus on one of our primary objectives: bringing the best woody ornamentals to market. We’ve worked very hard since purchasing PII to strengthen our offering of new shrubs through vigorous testing, creative breeding and tireless research to determine consumer demand.”
 
Second, they’re expanding the space that Bailey Innovations has to do its breeding and development work. They’ve purchased the Winterville, Georgia, location of Transplant Nursery, which will serve as the new home of their breeding and trialing operations. Terri said that the facility is larger than they currently need; in fact, they’ll probably lease some space back to Transplant Nursery. However, they’ll be able to use the extra space to do production, to aid in the ever-increasing demand for their young plants.
 
“This is a very exciting time for the Bailey Nurseries plant breeding team,” says David Roberts, Breeder and General Manager of Bailey Innovations. “The acquisition of a permanent facility will not only allow us to expand upon our trialing program, but also grant us the opportunity to implement display gardens and increase the number of plant genera that we work with at Bailey Innovations.” GT