The Southern Nursery Association (SNA) is a non-profit, professional trade organization that was formed when nine southern members of the American Association of Nurserymen (AAN) envisioned a regional organization to negotiate with the railroads that served the southern nursery business. These charter members appointed a committee to draft a constitution and by-laws and in August 1899, nearly fifty southern nurserymen met to discuss the problems they faced. At the time, the survival of the nursery business in the South was threatened by unfavorable freight rates to Northern and Midwestern markets as well as a lack of cooperation between various states on issues of interstate trade. The newly formed association would combat these issues into the 1940s when agreements made between various states finally made the movement of plants across state borders easier and less financially taxing. In 1937, the SNA had allowed the first commercial exhibit at its annual convention. This small display slowly evolved into an annual trade show that has become the major source of funding for the association’s programs and a main focus of its annual convention. Headquartered in Atlanta, the SNA continues to provide wholesale growers, brokers, retailers, landscape architects, and allied suppliers with educational, marketing and networking opportunities to advance the horticultural industry in the South.