Jimmy James approached his sons Dalton and Dylan James about starting a business. Bringing his background in horticulture to a garden center up for sale, the family brought Color Crop Nursery to life in 2014.
Color Crop Nursery is run by the James brothers, their father and a close-knit staff they consider family.
Contact information:
Location: 11304 White Settlement Road, Fort Worth
Phone: 817-367-3377
Facebook: Color Crop Nursery
Instagram: @colorcropnursery
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Nicole Lopez: Tell me a little bit about the history of Color Crop Nursery. How did it start?
Dalton James: Color Crop really started with family. My dad, Jimmy James, began working in the nursery industry at The Flower Ranch in Keller. In 2014, when I was 20 years old, he purchased Color Crop Nursery. My brother Dylan and I have been carrying it forward with him ever since.
Our first season was spring of 2014. We started growing. It was a whole learning process and team building, trying to get the right people around us.
Lopez: What kind of plants do you sell? Does your inventory change based on the season or time of year?
Color Crop Nursery specializes in seasonal plants and flowers, including those in planters and hanging pots. (Nicole Lopez | Fort Worth Report)
James: The nursery is the backbone of what we do. Each year we grow around 100,000 flats of flowers, which — along with our perennials, shrubs, and trees — adds up to between 2 million and 4 million individual plants. We grow everything from begonias, caladiums and pansies to salvias, lantanas and grasses, plus decorative baskets and patio pots. We also bring in a huge variety of shrubs and trees, like roses, live oaks, elms, hydrangeas, agaves and more.
We focus on growing annual color. That’s our main kind of crop that we grow. Horticulture is our background. Annual color — whether it’s begonias, periwinkle, big vines, hanging baskets, flower pots — that’s what we specialize in. We grow a lot of stuff here ourselves. We plant every week.
Lopez: What do your landscaping services include?
James: Dylan leads our 3D design work. I oversee operations, and our partner Aaron Henson brings years of design and installation expertise. Together, we handle everything from landscaping, irrigation and drainage to patios, outdoor kitchens, pergolas, pools and complete backyard transformations. We treat every project like it’s our own home — personal, thoughtful and professional.
Customers can even provide photos of their yards, and we’ll help them plan and design layouts in-house.
Lopez: What sets your business apart from other local nurseries?
James: We’re a family-owned business, and we value our team. The people that we work with, we love them. I have people I’ve known since I was a kid. Some worked for my dad for 30 years.
We’re known for our floral color, our quality and — mainly — our customer service. When you walk around the nursery, we’re going to take care of you. You don’t have to load your truck. We’re going to load it for you. We’re going to help you, make sure that you’re taken care of.
There’s a million nurseries out there that can grow flowers, but I don’t think anybody can compete with our customer service and how we take care of the people that come in here. I think that’s a unique quality to have.
Nicole Lopez is the environment reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at nicole.lopez@fortworthreport.org.
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