In a lot of states, selling plants takes a nursery license or registration from the state department of agriculture, because plants carry pests and diseases from one garden to the next. States define what counts, trees, shrubs, perennials, bedding plants, vegetable starts, cut flowers, and require a license or registration for each place where you grow or sell them, with inspections for pests. Some exempt hobby growers or small sales; others don't. Shipping plants to another state brings certificates of inspection and, for some plants, quarantines. Then the ordinary layers, a business name and sales tax, where some plants are taxed and others aren't. Texas, the example's state, requires a nursery and floral registration for each place that grows or offers florist items or nursery products for sale, from cut flowers and bedding plants to trees, with an annual fee by the size and type of location, inspections at least every three years, and certificates for shipments that need them. In the example below, a Tomball plant grower sorts its licenses. Below are the layers, Texas's rules, the example, and a free checklist.
The short version
- In a lot of states, selling plants takes a nursery license or registration from the agriculture department.
- It covers each place you grow or sell plants, with pest inspections.
- Some states exempt hobby growers or small sales; check yours.
- Shipping across a state line brings certificates of inspection and quarantines.
- Sales tax can apply to some plants and not others.
- Texas: a nursery and floral registration for each place, renewed yearly, fee by size and type.
- Texas: inspections at least every three years; certificates on shipments that need them.
- TaroStack keeps potting batches, losses and stock at each spot. More below.
The layers
| Layer | Who issues it | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Business name | State | An LLC filing, or an assumed name |
| Sales tax | State revenue department | Which plants are taxable |
| Nursery license or registration | State department of agriculture | Each place you grow or sell; small-seller exemptions |
| Inspections | State department of agriculture | Pests and diseases |
| Shipping certificates | Your state and the receiving state | Certificates of inspection, quarantines |
| Market rules | The market | Booth fees, and proof of registration |
How to price the plants is in how to price plants, and the business in plant nursery business plan. Every state differs; this is general information, not legal advice.
Texas's rules
| Rule | Texas Agriculture Code, chapter 71 |
|---|---|
| Florist items | Cut flowers, potted, blooming, foliage and bedding plants, corsage flowers, cut foliage, floral decorations (71.041) |
| Nursery products | Trees, shrubs, vines, cuttings, grafts, scions, grass, bulbs, buds grown for propagation and sale (71.041) |
| Registration | Each nursery, greenhouse, orchard, garden or other place growing or offering them for sale (71.043) |
| No registration, no sale | A person may not offer them for sale without the certificate (71.043) |
| The fee | Annual, by the size and type of location, plus an optional 15% for the Texas nursery and floral account (71.043) |
| The term | One year from issue, with a late fee for late renewal (71.043) |
| Inspections | At least once every three years (71.044) |
| Shipping out | A certificate of inspection with the shipment when the other state or country requires one (71.050) |
| Shipping in | The origin state's certificate of inspection (71.051) |
The law is chapter 71 of the Agriculture Code. Selling at a market, where plants sell by the pot rather than by weight, is in farmers market vendor permit.
An example: a Tomball plant grower
Cypress Creek Plant Co., a made-up plant grower in Tomball, Texas, I use in these examples, grows herbs, vegetable starts and native perennials in two hoop houses, sold at a Saturday market, a spring plant sale and online:
| Layer | Status |
|---|---|
| Business name, an LLC | Done, January 2024 |
| Sales tax permit | Done, January 2024; to check which plants are taxable |
| Nursery and floral registration, the farm | Renewed February 2, 2026; renews February 2, 2027 |
| Optional 15% for the nursery and floral account | Not paid |
| The market and the plant sale | To check with the department: how they're covered |
| Inspection | April 2025; due again by April 2028 |
| A customer in Oklahoma | Asked whether Oklahoma requires a certificate before shipping |
| Plugs bought from a Florida grower | Arrived with Florida's certificate of inspection |
| General liability insurance | Renews March 1, 2027 |
The Oklahoma order is the one that needed a question first: Texas sends a certificate when the receiving state asks for one, and some plants can't cross at all under a quarantine.
Get the checklist
Download the license to sell plants checklist. One sheet: each layer, who issues it, what it is, whether you need it, the cost, the date done and the renewal date; the status and the total cost fill in. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
Thousands of pots in two hoop houses, plants lost to rot, and stock split between the farm, the market and the plant sale: the registration is on the wall, but a checklist doesn't count the gallon salvia.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack treats potting up as production, and keeps stock at each spot.
Potting up as a batch. Each plant and size is an item, and potting up is a recipe: plugs, pots and soil. Recording a batch takes them off stock at what you paid and puts the plants on at their cost, divided by the good ones.
Losses with reasons. Plants lost after potting go off with their reason, reported by reason and item, and counting works on a phone in the hoop house with no signal.
Stock at each spot. The market stall can be a site, so plants moved there are counted there; more than one site is on Standard at $99 a month.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Cost of a gallon salvia | Worked out once | Each batch, divided by the good plants |
| Plants lost to rot | Not written down | Losses, by reason |
| Plants at the market | A guess | Stock at its site |
Batches, recipes, counts and losses with reasons are on every plan, from $49 a month; more than one site is on Standard at $99. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.