Nov. 18, 2005

By JUDY SHERARD, Hays Daily News

PLAINVILLE — The greenhouses in the Plainville Industrial Park will be filled with blooms again.

Bonnie Plant Farm, Union Springs, Ala., has purchased the complex and will begin seeding early next year. A refueling stop at the Hays Municipal Airport led company executives to the greenhouses that have been sitting idle for a couple of years, said Lee Mahaffey, the station manager. As they waited for their plane, a member of the group asked someone at the airport if there were any greenhouses in the area that might be for sale. The person knew about the Plainville greenhouses and said yes.

They practically bought the greenhouses on the spot when they saw them, said Mahaffey, who's been with the company for seven years. He and his wife, Cristy, who will help with the work in the greenhouses, moved to the area in September. Trash and even old tomato plants had to be cleaned out of some of the greenhouses in addition to making the necessary repairs.

Four new greenhouses also are being constructed for a total of 17 greenhouses and 70,000 square feet of growing space. Subject to the weather, Mahaffey expects seeding to begin in mid-February, and delivery of the plants in March.

The facility will produce starter plants mostly of vegetables and herbs, but a few flowers will be grown. The plants will be trucked to a territory including the area of Kansas west of Topeka, and a portion of Nebraska and the Oklahoma panhandle.

Besides managing the station, Mahaffey said he will drive one of the four routes originating from the Plainville facility. About 20 employees will be needed for the seasonal work.

Bonnie Plant Farm was founded by Bonnie and Livingston Paulk in 1918 in Union Springs, Ala., a small town of about 2,000. The company headquarters and largest greenhouse complex still is located there. "I grew up around them, and I'm still amazed at how many there are," Mahaffey said of the acres and acres of greenhouses in Union Springs.

The world's largest vegetable plant producer, Bonnie Plant Farms has greenhouses in a number of states, including Colorado, Oklahoma and Missouri, but this is the first one in Kansas, he said. The plants are sold wholesale to nurseries. More than 400 trucks crisscross the country delivering them to every state but Alaska and Hawaii.

Reporter Judy Sherard can be reached at (785) 628-1081, ext. 138, or by e-mail at jsherard@dailynews.net.

For information on other new businesses in Rooks County, click here.