Watkins History

Watkins Nurseries of Midlothian, Virginia, a landscape design firm and wholesaler of large field-grown plants, prides itself on over 125 years of continuous successful family ownership.

Founded in 1876 by John Benjamin Watkins and his brother in Chesterfield County, Virginia, south of Richmond, the firm, then called "J.B. Watkins & Brother," originally specialized in the mail order supply of fruit trees.  The nursery's fruit trees helped replant the South after the ravages of the War Between the States.

Success permitted the expansion of the nursery's product line to include a wide variety of deciduous trees, shrubs and exotic ornamental plants.  J.B. Watkins & Brother became a leading importer and propagator of European ornamental plants, many of which, introduced into this country by the nursery, since have become widely used in American landscape design.

Responding to industry trends, in 1998 Watkins Nurseries closed a retail garden store it had operated for a number of years and moved its offices and headquarters to a new building a mile or so west.  It now specializes in three areas of the nursery industry; the propagation and wholesale supply of large field-grown trees and plants; commercial and residential landscape design; and contract landscape installations. 

Watkins Nurseries is still a family owned business, managed by the fourth generation descendants of J.B. Watkins.  The current president of the concern is John C. Watkins, who in addition to his management responsibilities, serves as a Senator in the Virginia General Assembly, continuing a family tradition of public service begun by his great-grandfather J.B., who served in the Virginia Senate himself.

Other family members in management positions include Christopher O. Watkins, Michael B. Watkins and T.D. Watkins III, Vice Presidents; Susan Watkins Ferebee, Secretary-Treasurer; and Robert S. Watkins, Field Manager and the first of the fifth generation of Watkins.  Watkins Nurseries currently employs 75-100 people depending on seasonal needs.  For several generations, the firm has been a source of employment and training for its neighbors, some of whom have gone on to start their own nursery businesses.

Watkins Nurseries grows its quality landscape stock on more than 850 acres of farmland located in Chesterfield, Powhatan and Amelia Counties, south and west of Richmond, Virginia.

Professional Affiliations

	Virginia Society of Landscape Designers
	Southern Nursery Association
	Maryland Nurseryman's Association
	North Carolina Nurseryman's Association
	American Nursery and Landscape Association
	Virginia Nursery and Landscape Association
	Central Virginia Nursery and Landscape Association
	International Plant Propagator Society