To purchase wholesale you will need a tax ID number and most-likely a nursery license. Wholesale is for those "in-the-business".

Unfortunately, everyday gardeners cannot buy wholesale. If everyday gardeners could purchase wholesale, why would anyone purchase at retail?

Wholesale is buying large quantities of an individual item. You could check with your local garden center if you are looking to purchase 75 of each type of bulb. On a special order, I would guess that the nursery would cut you a deal.
Good luck,
Mike

Thanks Mike for your reply. I am getting "in the business"-opening next spring. Because of my rural area where I live, it is a bit harder to find suppliers for some of these items. I thought maybe someone else "in the business" could share a favorite source with me. I wasn't really sure where to post this question. Anyone have any wholesale sources to offer?

Thanks Mike, for your intro into business.

Anyway I like to order from Van Bloem Bulbs. They ship UPS, and the fact that they do ship in smaller quantities is one of the reasons I like them. If I run out of popular variety a fresh batch is only a few days away.

Most importantly their quality is beyond reproach.

Thanks plantman314. That is the type of information I was looking for!

there are many wholesale sources for both these items.

Iris can be found from Schreiners (yes, they have wholesale, as well as retail), Walters Gardens in Michigan, and most of the major bulb suppliers such as Van Bloem, Gardenworld ( in Minneapolis), Stuifbergen, etc.

Lily bulbs can be bought again, from all the big bulb suppliers (such as those mentioned above) and also I'd try Gloeckner - very large supplier of lilies.

Since you are getting into business, you may want to consider joining the South Dakota Nurserymans Association, or the Minnesota Nursery and Landscape Association - at the MNLA winter convention - called the Green Expo - there will be a trade show where many of these bulb suppliers will have exhibits - come on, what else is there to do in January??????? good luck to you!

Since you are in a rural area (like me) & you're starting a business, you may want to check out www.hpsseed.com. They are mostly bulk seeds & no iris or lily, but there may be something that interests you. They also have pots, peat pellets, & other things nurseries use. I'm not in the nursery business & I've bought from them with no problems. They have a print catalog that I also use as a reference when I want to know what something looks like.

i toured walters warehouses last spring, very impressive. though they're selection of iris' seems to be siberian and very few of those. lots of daylilies, grasses and asst perenials.

Cody: I consider Walters to be the 'premiere' grower of bareroot perennials in the U.S. They do have bearded iris in autumn, although they do not grow everything they sell, and I believe their bearded iris come from Schreiners or another specialty grower. Their fields are beautiful, clean and weed free, and the size of their divisions is excellent, especially when compared to some Dutch product. They are also always on the cutting edge of new varieties and marketing. Check out their new website geared towards gardeners, called www.perennialresource.com.

The photos are just great and lots of good plant info.

They would be a good source of perennials for sdak, who started this thread, although they would not have lily bulbs, they would have the bearded iris, as well as many other perennials, and in quantities that a small grower could work with. I highly recommend them!

Happy New year! PP