Proven Winners - Four Star Greenhouse

GROWING BETTER TOGETHER®

About Us

The Four Star Greenhouse Retail Team is here to assist retailers in receiving products, selling products, and helping their own customers achieve success.

Four Star Greenhouse produces young plants and finished crops for garden retailers, among others. As the top supplier of Proven Winners® plants and products worldwide, our retail team has the expertise and knowledge to help you increase sales and answer questions your customers may have about plant growth.

Over 40 Years of
Plant Growing Experience

Four Star Greenhouse has been working with growers, retailers, garden retailers, and professional landscapers to provide high-quality young plants and finished crops for over 40 years. As a founding member of the Proven Winners® brand, Four Star Greenhouse invests heavily in research and development and has bred many outstanding Proven Winners® and Proven Selections® brand plants.

The Proven Winners® premium grower and retail programs offered by Four Star Greenhouse include:

These programs are designed to deliver more profit per square foot for operations and give customers gardening success.

Wholesale and Retail
Grower Programs

At Four Star, our programs are tailored to maximize grower and retailer profits. Our Supernova® liners shorten grow times and provide consistent flowering, helping growers save money and increase profit margins. Our team of grower experts is available to offer customized programs to fit our customers’ needs throughout the year. Four Star provides young plants nationwide and has developed an extensive shipping and delivery program with options to save time and money. Finished plants are shipped regionally, and customers can visit the how to order page for more information.

Planting the Initial Seed for
Four Star Greenhouse – 1977

Four Star Greenhouse began as Smith’s Greenhouse in 1977 when Tom Smith started growing plants in Carleton, Michigan, and focused mostly on finished crops of bedding plants from seed sold at markets. In 1982, Smith started producing starter plants or “plugs” to sell to growers. Four Star’s growing operations grew from the initial 60,000 square feet to approximately 140,000 square feet (now the Indian Trail Road facility), with Tom and Sharon Smith becoming the founders and respective president and vice president of the new company, Four Star Greenhouse Inc.

The Movement Which Led to
Vegetatively Propagated Annuals

In the late 1980s, Four Star began a relationship with Germany’s Kientzler when it began producing New Guinea Impatiens bred by Ludwig Kientzler. In his work with Kientzler, Tom Smith traveled throughout Europe, meeting and listening to other breeders working on new and unique vegetative annuals. His experience abroad eventually led to the creation of Proven Winners® in the United States in 1992.

The Proven Winners® brand placed a new emphasis on garden performance and plant brand in the horticulture industry, as growers began to adjust their business and operating practices to grow vegetatively. As more and more growers became Proven Winners® licensees, many retailers adopted the premium brand strategy as the brand gained name recognition with consumers. The Proven Winners® partnership continues to market this brand heavily to consumers and the industry, adding Spring Meadow’s shrub line in 2004 as ColorChoice® shrubs, and perennials from Walters Gardens Inc. in 2011.

Growing New Varieties Through
Research and Development

Each year, thousands of varieties undergo Four Star Greenhouse’s extensive Proven Winners® trialing process in hopes of one day becoming a Proven Winner. Each year, a select few are chosen.
Every Proven Winners® plant begins its life in a laboratory, free of viral contaminants and diseases. Varieties eligible to become Proven Winners® undergo a rigorous series of tests over a two-to three-year trial process, during which the team measures each variety’s performance in numerous greenhouse and landscape environments. Tests are conducted at multiple trial locations across the country, and if all propagators unanimously agree that a variety has exhibited exceptional garden performance, then it can begin production as a Proven Winners® variety.

At Four Star, we are proud to have a year-round team of experts dedicated to research and development. With many years of combined experience and access to state-of-the-art facilities, they provide the proper care and environment for all the varieties in trial. By focusing exclusively on trialing, our team is confident and knowledgeable when they recommend a variety for Proven Winners® introduction.

The Continuation of
Four Star’s Growth

Today, Four Star Greenhouse has over 20 acres of indoor growing area and four additional acres of outdoor growing space at the Carleton, Michigan headquarters. Three recent greenhouse growing areas have been added for expanded production of annuals, perennials, and shrubs. The award-winning display gardens are open to the public and industry professionals in summer months.
Our retail team is here to help you whenever you’re ready. Please visit our Retail Team page to contact your respective representative by region.

To learn more, or contact us, please visit our contact us page.

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