Most of you call him Gordie. We call him the 2000 NMPRO Nursery Grower of the Year.

Born June 18, 1935, Gordon Bailey Jr. grew up at Bailey Nurseries, which is headquartered in St. Paul, Minn. In his lifetime he has seen the company grow and evolve, but not lose its focus on producing quality plants. Gordon now serves as chairman of the board of the nursery with 4,500 acres in production at facilities in Minnesota, Oregon and Washington.

He insists that the nursery has thrived not because of him, but because of the company's employees. Many of them throw the praise back at him and to the rest of the Baileys.

"What's it like working for the Baileys? It's like working for family," said Vern Black, production manager. "They're good nurserymen, but they also believe that people come first. They hire good employees and allow us to run our programs the way we see best. It's a wonderful relationship." Gordon graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1957 with a bachelor's degree in business administration. After six months in the Army National Guard, he returned to the company.

A horticultural trek

Always an outdoorsman, it was his love of nature that led to the now well-known Tour de Hort. Beginning in June last year, Bailey rode his bicycle 2,157 miles from Fort Clatsop, Ore., to Newport, Minn., raising $265,000 for the Horticultural Research Institute, the research arm of the American Nursery & Landscape Association.

"The idea stemmed from my love of bike riding," Bailey said. "I didn't say, 'I want to raise some money, how do I do it?' It was something I wanted to do and I thought I could raise some money while I was at it. I did it for selfish reasons."

He'd originally planned the trip with friend Jerry Draeger, president of McKay Nursery in Waterloo, Wis. However, because of demands on Jerry's time he could not make the trip with Gordon.

The biggest challenge, Gordon said, was not the trek itself, but preparing for it. "I had the hardest time finding time to train," he said. "Leading up to the trip I had to find time to ride two or three days a week. That was difficult with all my other responsibilities."

Gordon began taking 35-mile trips and worked his way up to riding 80 miles a day in preparation for the journey. "Once I was on the road, I didn't have a lot of other things to worry about. That was what I did."

An enjoyable ride

On the trip he was accompanied by his wife Jo, who drove a van along with him. She provided inspiration and support throughout the entire trip from the planning to the celebration at the end. Other friends, family and customers rode along with Gordon during different legs of the journey. On the final day about 20 cyclists rode with him to the finish line, where he was greeted by more than 100 people who had planned a celebratory party. Some of his favorite legs of the trip were through the Columbia River Gorge on the Oregon/Washington border, northern Idaho and Glacier National Park in Montana.

"The scenery at those places was incredible, but I thought it was good everywhere I went," Gordon said. "Even places most people don't consider scenic, like parts of North Dakota, I think have their own unique beauty."

A new generation

Gordon's younger brother Rodney also graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in horticulture. Together, they began the next generation of family business. Using their father Gordon Sr. and uncle Vincent as examples, Gordon leans toward the administrative side of the company while Rodney, now president, takes care of the production end.

"We both worked in production for some time and we gradually started to take responsibility for more things, typical of many family businesses," Gordon said.

Gordon Sr., who died in 1995, was a strong influence on Gordon Jr. and Rodney and is still an influence on how the brothers run the business.

"Our father showed us dedication. His focus throughout his life to the very end was his work," Rodney said. "I remember during the busy shipping seasons he'd work 18 to 19 hours a day. I don't condone that or have ever done that myself, but there are times in this industry that you're required to work six or seven days a week.

"He was demanding, but at the same time let us do our own things. He was not a tyrant -- in fact just the opposite. But he set the tone for the company and he wanted everyone to understand his ideals. He was respected enough that people did that and wanted to emulate him."

The transitional period

A major transitional period for Bailey Nurseries was in the late '70s and early '80s. During that time, the company expanded into the Pacific Northwest and the company now has growing facilities in Yamhill and on Sauvie Island, in Ore., and in Sunnyside, Wash.

Don Pond, vice president, West Coast divisions, said the Northwest's climate gives the company the ability to produce a broader range of plants.

"If something doesn't grow well or can't be grown cost-effectively in Minnesota, then we grow it here. We also split up production of some varieties 50/50 in both locations so there is some protection against disaster," Pond said.

Diversity of product has also occurred in the last 15 years. In the early 1980s, Bailey Nurseries still had a strong influence on bare-root production. Now about 40 percent of the company's products are grown in containers.

Bedding plants were also added to the company's product mix of trees, shrubs and evergreens.

"Everything we knew from the nursery industry helped us get into the bedding plant industry," Black said. "Now what we know from the bedding plant industry is helping us in the nursery industry."

While many nurseries are trying to specialize and grow fewer products, diversity has helped Bailey Nurseries thrive, Rodney said.

"During the early 1990s there was a glut of nursery stock, but we were OK because of our diversity. In the '80s we started growing annuals and perennials and they were still selling well in the 1990s when trees were a dead issue."

Propagating success

One of the keys to Bailey Nurseries' success has been its propagation skills, Rodney said.

"I've looked at all the major propagation facilities in the country and seen their systems and the way they do things," Rodney said. "We have some of the best propagators and propagation facilities of any nursery I've seen. That's the backbone of our production and it's a necessity because we deal with a lot of numbers. It's enabled us to be the major field-growing nursery in the country, numberswise."

Rodney worked in propagation for 15 years and learned the tricks of the trade from Clarence Seefert, the company's propagator during the 1940s and 1950s.

"We produce some of the strongest, best-rooted liners in the industry. We can take those bare-root liners and field plant them or pot them into their finished containers with a high rate of success -- 95 percent," Rodney said. "Most other companies have to take rooted cuttings and move them into cell packs or pots. That's costly because it requires more materials and more labor."

Gordon said his favorite aspects of the nursery industry are still the people and the plants.

"The cooperation in the industry, among both customers and competitors, is really incredible. It's not a dog-eat-dog business and I like that aspect," Gordon said. "I also like working with plants, finding and selecting new varieties and working with the soil. We're still very much farmers."

-- By Todd Davis
NMPRO Editor