Plan to attend the 2025 IPPS Southern Region Annual Meeting in Orlando, FL 

October 19-23, 2025

Registration will be available in July!

TOUR DAY 1 (October 19)

Southern Hill Farms

Southern Hill Farms is a 120-acre family-owned and operated agritourism farm growing u-pick blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, peaches, seasonal vegetables, sunflowers and zinnias in their respective seasons, along with commercially harvested blueberries and strawberries. Originally, their blueberries were solely commercially harvested until 2014 when they opened the farm for their community to enjoy. Today, Southern Hill Farms is a beloved destination within Clermont and the Greater Orlando area, welcoming guests for their winter and spring u-pick seasons as well as their annual fall festival, a family tradition to remember. Southern Hill Farms offers the community a chance to know their local farm and love their local farmer.

Flowerwood Nursery

Flowerwood Nursery began as the backyard hobby of Harry H. Smith during the last years of

the Great Depression. Today, under third-generation owner, Greg Smith, Jr.’s leadership and

vision, family-owned Flowerwood Nursery has growing facilities in Alabama, Florida, and

Georgia, selling only to the trade.

Flowerwood provides broadleaf evergreens, conifers, deciduous shrubs, grasses,

groundcovers, trees, perennials, and seasonal color throughout the Southern and Mid-Atlantic

states. With over 1,000 acres in active nursery production and the ability to expand to an

additional 400 acres, Flowerwood Nursery is strengthened by a team of 600 year-round

employees.

Flowerwood Nursery specializes in improved products, including the many varieties of Encore®

Azalea and the Southern Living Plant Collection. Selections like Encore Azaleas, the Southern

Living® Plant Collection, Endless Summer® Hydrangeas, the Knock Out® Family of

Roses (along with other known industry favorites) help create a product mix designed to satisfy

the needs of retail garden centers and professional landscapers. 

Flowerwood is unique due to its longevity and the ability to utilize multiple growing zones in the

Southeast United States, and its focus on innovation, excellent production facilities, and must-

stock flagship brands.

Southeast soils

After several decades of experience working for other potting media and soils manufacturing companies, our team of experts took their experience and moved into the growing wave of pioneers creating unique, premium quality potting media. Now, we supply big and small nurseries from Homestead to Jacksonville out of our main 20-acre facility in Okahumpka. Located on CR 470 just off the turnpike, we are strategically situated in Central Florida for efficient shipping throughout the state and close access to our quality peat bogs. Our focus is providing our customers with premium quality materials with the highest level of service at affordable prices. From custom media for indoor foliage liners to 100-gallon tree containers to rooftop gardens to topdressing for sports fields, if there is a job requiring substrates for growing-we do it. There are a lot of variables to growing plants and our experienced and knowledgeable sales team works with growers to provide the right media for the right situation. Southeast Soils is here to help you grow well.

Cherrylake

Cherrylake is a family-owned horticulture and landscape company with over 40 years of farming in Central Florida. As one of the largest vertically integrated growers in the Southeast, we grow ornamental trees, palms, and shrubs across 1,600 acres while providing commercial landscape construction and maintenance services throughout the region. Fueled by our why words—sustainable, beauty, vision, life, and community—we are dedicated to protecting Florida’s natural landscapes through innovation, regenerative agriculture, and biodiversity. More than growers, we are entrepreneurs, constantly pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in agriculture and beyond. Our deep-rooted love for the land drives us to innovate, improve, and shape a future where people and nature thrive together.

Tour Day 2 (October 21)

Knox Nursery Inc.

An established second-generation family-run business started in 1962, Knox Nursery produces a full line of young plants for the greenhouse industry as well as 4-inch finished plants for landscapes and local theme parks. Producing over 150 million plugs and liners from over 700,000 square feet of high-tech greenhouses, Knox Nursery takes advantage of the Central Florida sun to provide customers with a nutrient-packed plant for quicker turns. Unique to Knox is their EZ-pot brand for Ellepots manufactured on-site in different media and sizes. This system not only reduces plastic consumption but improves rooting and transplant efficiency resulting in premium plant quality (https://www.knoxhort.com/the-ellepot-store/). With over 5000 varieties of plants, from Alyssum to Zinnia, Knox Nursery has remained Florida’s leading bedding plant specialist for over 60 years.

Amerigo Farms, Inc.

Bringing with them generations of experience, Amerigo Farms expanded from Canada to Central Florida in 2006. Their dynamic and ever-expanding 27-acre location in Mount Dora features greenhouses with highly-automated environmental controls. Together with its sister-company, Homestead Growers, in Canada, Amerigo Farms is North America’s largest, premium potted Calla Lily grower, also producing lush Tropical Foliage and seasonal crops like Clematis, Pot Mums and Poinsettia.

UF/IFAS Mid-Florida Research and Education Center

Located in the heart of Florida’s greenhouse and nursery industry, the University of Florida Institution of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Mid-Florida Research and Education Center (MREC) opened in 1999 after combining three existing research centers into one. As one of 12 UF/IFAS research and education centers, MREC specializes in foliage and ornamental plant production. Researchers at MREC focus on key areas of horticulture production and management, including plant physiology, breeding and genetics, integrated pest management, consumer economics, and water management. The center also houses an Extension-run plant clinic, offering science-based guidance to industry professionals and homeowners. To learn more, visit https://mrec.ifas.ufl.edu/

Agri-Starts, Inc Agri-Starts, Inc is a family owned bio-tech company founded by Randy Strode in 1984 in Apopka, FL.  Agri-Starts, Inc. is a leading wholesale plant nursery and tissue culture lab, dedicated to producing high-quality starter plants for commercial growers and farms across North America. Operating on two production locations, including over 210,000 square feet of greenhouse space and a 30,000-square-foot tissue culture lab, Agri-Starts has the capacity to produce up to 20 million plants annually. Specializing in tissue culture cloning, the company offers a diverse portfolio of pathogen-free and juvenile-vigorous plants, including tropical foliage, small fruits, Florida natives, aquatic varieties and more. With grow times ranging from 6 to 21 weeks, their advanced propagation techniques allow for faster production, superior plant structure, and year-round availability. Powered by a team of skilled technicians and supported by modern greenhouse technology, Agri-Starts continues to innovate and expand as a trusted partner to the horticulture industry.