In Our Community
2023 Scholarship Winner Announcement
September 2023
We are excited to announce the winner of the 2023 annual Perfect Plants Scholarship award. Caleb Olmstead from the Tarleton State University's agricultural program has accepted the nomination for winning. After putting in hard work at school, volunteering at farms & greenhouses in Texas, and starting his own lawn care business, Caleb outshined other entrees (we had some great entrees this year!!). He has recently transferred to the Tarleton ag program and looks forward to his future classes and plant propagation classes. He is committed to a debt free degree and we are honored to help him attain that goal. 2022 Scholarship Winner Announcement
September 2022
Guardian ad Litem's Christmas in July Event Benefits Children in Need
We were honored when Guardian ad Litem asked us to sponsor their annual Christmas in July fundraising event for children who have been abused or neglected in our state. Florida State University Awards Perfect Plants With Spot #2 on the Seminole 100 List of Fastest Growing Companies
We were humbled to be featured as the runner up winner to the 2022 Seminole 100 List of fastest growing companies in the United States that are FSU alumni. Both Alex and Natalie Kantor (siblings and co-owners) are alumni to the university and both celebrated being recognized by their alma mater at the annual awards ceremony.Perfect Plants Ranked #150 On Prestigious Inc 500 List of Top Companies in the USA
September 2021
With an outstanding revenue growth over the last 3 years, Perfect Plants Nursery is honored to rank 150 out of 5000 of the fastest growing companies nationwide.
Our team has worked tirelessly to provide high quality plants and planting accessories like soils and fertilizers to our community and to growers across the United States.
Alongside 4 other local Tallahassee companies, Perfect Plants outshined all the rest at a top position on the list. It's something our team will remember and be recognized about for many years to come.
Read more about the Inc 5000 journey here.
2021 Perfect Plants Scholarship Award
September 2021
The recipient of the Perfect Plants 2021 scholarship is Alyssa Steele. Alyssa is currently enrolled at the University of Maryland in the Landscape Architecture program. Since a young age, Alyssa has been fascinated by the natural world around her. Her interest has lead her to many experiences like “working in a farm production field” where she became familiar with agritourism and agricultural marketing.
Alyssa has also assisted with research at the campus research greenhouse at the University of Maryland and in the Amazon rainforest. During her time abroad, she focused her efforts “into designing a sustainable community garden that provided easy access for the community to edible plants with a variety of essential nutrients”. Alyssa plans on using the funds towards her tuition, as she hopes to graduate soon and continue her career in horticulture.
Horticulture for Homeless Veterans
March 2021
Perfect Plants partnered with Uplift, Inc out of Atlanta, GA to donate large shrubs & trees for their community center. The organization is a non-profit dedicated to ‘uplifting’ and helping homeless veterans get back on their feet. Uplift offers social activities such as arts & crafts, gardening, daily exercise, and mental stimulation to enrich daily life. We are proud to help Mr. and Mrs. Terrell beautify the grounds where many lives are improved. Keep on growing!!
Perfect Plants Teams Up with Holidays for Heroes to Donate Christmas Trees
December 2020
Over 100 fresh Noble Fir Christmas trees were donated to families in need and local veterans in our community this holiday season. We teamed up with Holidays for Heroes to help support the Vietnam Veterans of America Big Bend Chapter in our area. Families from all over came to pick up their trees and we were happy to help light up their homes with Christmas cheer. Now more than ever, we want to spread the message of thanks and giving. Thank you to all who came out to help and our dedicated team who loaded up the trees and made this possible.
We truly felt holiday joy being spread around the farm! You can check out a video from WCTV here. Have a Merry Christmas!!
National Make A Difference Day – Second Harvest Food Bank
October 2020
To give back to our community this holiday season we decided to make a difference in leu of National Make a Difference Day.
Our Perfect Plants’ team came together and collected canned goods and boxed foods for families in need. Collectively we donated over 150 cans and boxes to the Second Harvest Food Bank and can’t wait to continue giving back to our community.
2020 Perfect Plants Scholarship Award
September 2020
We would like to congratulate Kelby Biswell from the University of Arkansas for our 2020 South East Regional Scholarship award. Kelby is enrolled and studying in the fields of Horticulture and Agricultural Education with graduation plans of May 2021. As she said herself, horticulture is in her blood!
Kelby plans to use the money to help pay for her tuition and study abroad! She loved learning about different plant and animal species with characteristics of how to distinguish them. Her favorite class was welding! She said “It was so hands-on and I felt by being a female in there I was making a case for gender equality in agriculture.”
Congratulations, Kelby!
2019 South East Regional Scholarship Winner
September 2019
The winner of our annual scholarship goes to the incredible Estella Zellmer. She plans to pay for tuition and books to further her education in the field of horticulture and sustainable crop production at Oklahoma State University.
Estella plans to have a career in helping sustainable agriculture in food deserts and impoverished countries. Her main goal is to make difficult-to-grow locations turn into productive land. Wow! Thank you for your hard work and dedication to this field!
Good luck, Estella!
2018 Perfect Plants Scholarship Award
September 2018
Perfect Plants is happy to congratulate our 2018 scholarship winner, Madison Hawkins, from Texas A&M University.
Madison plans to further her education in agriculture economics after discovering her passion for horticulture by working on her families cotton and peanut farm since she was a young girl. Her dream is to open her own vineyard one day and we are happy to help support her goals. We know how important it is to keep this enthusiasm alive in the agricultural field and appreciate your hard work.
Congratulations Madison!!
2017 Perfect Plants Scholarship Award
March 2017
As second-generation growers, we are proud of our industry and know how important it is to cultivate further interest and education in horticulture. Therefore, in 2016, we started Perfect Plants’ South East Regional Scholarship Program. As a result, students in the South East Region (incoming freshman, sophomore, junior or senior), going to school full or part time into a course of study at a community college or university leading to a career in the horticultural industry, are encouraged to apply. We’re thrilled to announce our first Scholarship awardee, Emmanuel Duarte from Florida International University. We’re proud of Emmanuel’s enthusiasm and passion in the agricultural field and want to encourage his progress in attaining a degree in Agricultural Science.
Emmanuel, we wish you the best of luck!
SUGAR PAWS for Jaisa
February 19, 2017
We’re thrilled to contribute and help raise money during Sugar Paws’ Cornhole Tournament for Jaisa to acquire a SDWR dog! Our donations, along with many others, helped raise over $13,500.00 that day.
On February 21st, Sugar Paws for Jaisa posted on Facebook: “There are no words sufficient enough to convey the effervescent happiness that we are all feeling right now! From the bottom of our hearts, we want to thank absolutely every person, volunteer, and sponsor who came to the tournament in support of this amazing family and more importantly in support of Jaisa and the pursuit of getting her the service dog. Together we raised over $13,500!!! Our hearts are overflowing with joy and love and we are in utter disbelief at the success of our event!”
UPDATE: On April 23, Sugar Paws for Jaisa posted: “Today we did it, today we reached our goal: $25,000! Jaisa gets her service dog! Our hearts are full and we don’t even know what to say or how to thank you all. Thank you just doesn’t seem to be enough. Every single person who helped us get here, every business, every single donator, thank you! We could not have made it here without you all!”
We’re so happy to hear the goal was met and Jaisa got her service dog! We hope the two of them have many years filled with awesome adventures!
American Advertising Awards 2016
February 2017
Hard to believe it’s been a year since our site won “Best in Show”!
Breast Cancer Awareness
October 2016
For every pink bloom you purchased we donated 10% of your purchase! In order to make our donation even more significant, Perfect Plants matched your percentage. We’re proud to announce that we were able to make a generous donation to The American Cancer Society as a result of your online purchases.
Thank you for helping share awareness and find a cure! We hope be able to donate even more next year!
A Day to Remember
Perfect Plants was honored to donate 54 Dogwood trees that were planted in memorial for this heartfelt event.
Stacey Williams, April 30, 2016
Many traveled a long way to participate in this event. A huge thank you to the investigators and officials on the Vick case who felt it important enough to attend and meet the adopters and various rescue groups who participated in saving these precious dogs. The adopters and rescuers shared their story and at that moment we became one with the dogs all sharing one common goal – Jim Knorr, retired USDA Special Agent on the Vick case reminded us of that goal – NEVER FORGET the dogs of the Bad Newz Kennels. Bill Brinkman, through his daughter, thanked everyone involved with saving these dogs and asked us to keep doing what is right, and we will. Author of The Lost Dogs, Jim Gorant, spoke about rescuing animals and the importance of everyone coming together to help an animal in their time of need. Wolf of Justice Rescue spoke of efforts to conquer dog fighting and when Janet Hopkins from the Metropolitan Opera sang You Will Never Walk Alone there was not a dry eye in the house.
Together we planted dogwood trees with plaques in honor of each and every dog seized nine years ago, and a weeping cherry to honor those who never made it out. The back field is now full of life with beautiful flowering trees for all to enjoy. This was a day of sharing and caring but finally for some, there was closure and peace.
It was a day of peace, a day of closure and a day to remember the dogs of the Bad Newz Kennels. Dogs Deserve Better was honored to host this Tribute and Memorial for the dogs. We were honored to have the adopters, the rescuers, the investigators and dog lovers from all over the country attend. We will always cherish the memories, the tears and the smiles. It was a day to remember.
The Kearney Center Rally Tally
Facebook, April 19, 2016
We are fortunate to live in such a supportive community! We were in need of some new plants to “spruce” up our property, so Perfect Plants Nursery generously donated 15 beautiful boxwood shrubs. In addition, The Plant Man Landscape & Design donated 7 bails of pine straw and planted everything for us. The center is going to look awesome for our Kearney Rally Tally on Saturday!
Fort Braden Elementary School students receive Christmas trees
Ashley White, Tallahassee Democrat staff writer 6:16 p.m. EST December 22, 2015
Stephanie Waugh from The Plant Man with some of the Fort Braden Elementary School students who received free Christmas trees. (Photo: Kristina Carlisle)
Students at Fort Braden Elementary School received Christmas trees to help get their homes in the holiday spirit.
The 12 trees were delivered by Perfect Plants Nursery on Dec. 9.
“We chose (Fort Braden) because we wanted a diverse population,” said Alex Kantor, owner of Perfect Plants Nursery. “We wanted to get the trees in homes that didn’t have them and make a Christmas for someone.”
The idea came from Kristina Carlisle who works at Perfect Plants. Then, Natalie Kantor, Kantor’s sister, bought the trees and tree stands to give away. Administrators and guidance counselors at Fort Braden chose the students who they believed would give the trees good homes.
“They were so happy,” Kantor said. “It’s definitely something I think we’re going to continue to do each year. It’s just nice to give back to someone who can really benefit from having a tree in their home.”
