HISTORY
The Mobile area has developed the largest ornamental nursery production in the South, with dew areas in the nation rivaling it in selection, quantity and quality of crops.The history of the ornamental industry can be traced to the 1920's with the planting of citrus and pecan orchards along the Alabama Gulf Coast. A number of wholesale fruit and nut tree nurseries developed and gradually expanded into production of flowering shrubs and other woody ornamentals. A series of freezes in the mid-1930's brought the citrus industry to an end and fostered increased interest among nurseries to shift production from orchard trees to field-grown woody ornamentals.
Among the early nurseries were Abbots, Blackwell, Davis Gardens, Dodd, Flowerwood, Howell, Kiyono's, Malbis, Mobala, Overlook, Rubel, Southland and Welch. While these nurseries were spread throughout Mobile County, several were located in the Semmes area and formed a focal point which resulted in the largest concentration of nurseries in the county. During the early years greatest emphasis was placed on growing camellias. This continued into the early 1950's when severe freezes triggered a declining interest in growing camellias; however, the production of azaleas and other ornamentals such as hollies, magnolias and photinias prospered.
During the late 1950's and early 1960's growers in South Alabama followed the lead of West Coast nurseries and turned to container production of nursery stock. Severe freezes in the early 1960's resulted in damage to container-grown crops, but induced the development of winter protection techniques and strategies.
The size and number of nurseries has continued to grow with the majority of production now focused on container-grown azaleas and a general line of ornamentals. Currently there are 150 registered nurseries in the area producing a wide assortment of crops. The size and diversity of the industry have served everyone's purpose: growers are confident of their place in the market based on their reputation for producing high quality ornamentals; buyers can select from a variety of quality-grown plants without extensive travel; and the Mobile community is well served since the ornamental nursery industry is by far the largest agricultural employer in the area with sales estimated at over 30 million dollars annually.
Mobile area nurserymen have always cooperated with one another in their production and sales. Much of the growth of the industry has resulted form this cooperative spirit. This tradition continues today through promotion of the area as a whole with a collective effort to identify the products and the locations where they can be found. The development of the nursery business appears to be assured as more nursery stock buyers are attracted to the area by the quality of the crops available and the cooperative efforts of the local producers.
© Southern Alabama Nurserymen's
Association 1999
A Member of the Growit
Network
growit.com