Our Story

---

The First Company

Plant Introductions, Inc. (PII), was the first iteration of our breeding companies. Started in 2006-07 by Jeff Beasley, Mark Griffith, and Mike Dirr, with the goal to breed new and improved plants offering Promised Performance™ to growers and gardeners. No genus was off limits and, since inception, PII probed/mined ~125 genera and species of woody and herbaceous plants for unique genetics. In the process, growing hundreds of thousands of seedlings to discover the ONE that rises above the rest. We use the phrase, an equal opportunity plant breeding company, to describe our philosophy.  PII bred the Endless Summer® hydrangea series except for the original. Bailey Nursery, Minnesota, purchased the company in 2015. At that time, PII amassed over 60 plant patents and unique genetics for future breeding. Bailey orchestrated an incredible marketing campaign for the remontant /reblooming hydrangeas (Endless Summer® Blooms web address) and other genetics (First Editions® web address). Without exceptional marketing, the best new plants flounder.  We agreed to a five-year noncompete and put ourselves on the shelf until 2020.

The Second Company

Mark, Jeff and Mike debated the idea of a second iteration during the noncompete period. By 2020, 120 years of combined experience in breeding, propagation, and production were amassed. Breeders live in the future, never knowing the outcome, but eternally hopeful. We could not let go and sowed the first seeds on January 1, 2020. The new company, now incorporated as Premier Introductions, Inc., (still PII), was up and breeding. Now six growing seasons forward (2025), seventeen patents have been granted or are in process with additional plants under evaluation for eventual release.

PII works with brands and nurseries to grow and market the introductions. Partners include Greenleaf Nursery (greenleafnursery.com), Monrovia Nursery (Monrovia.com), Flowerwood Nursery (flowerwood.com) and PDSI (plantdevelopment.com), McCorkle Nurseries (mccorklenurseriesinc.com), synRG Group (Overdevest (overdevest-nurseries.com), Willoway (willowaynurseries.com), Prides Corner (pridescorner.com), Sheridan (sheridanurseries.com), and Saunders Brothers (saundersbrothers.com)]. In the company’s infancy, Stokley (stokleynursery.com), Tom Dodd (tomdoddnurseries.com) and Windmill Nurseries (windmillnurseryllc.com) discussed developing a new brand that housed great garden plants without the costly containers, tags and marketing fees. These discussions morphed into the Garden District Collection (gardendistrictplants.com), featuring PII plants. (here need photo of GD logo).  The three nurseries are growing the PII plants and bringing them to retail.