Blossoms burst and colors captivated at Fordhook Farm on the annual Burpee Open Day held Saturday.
Fordhook Farm, the site of the original Burpee Family homestead, is the lush landscape where the 150-year-old seed and plant producer continues to research, trial and introduce new plant varieties to eager gardeners nationwide.
For one day each year the landscaped vistas, planted trial gardens and historic seed house is open to the public.
“Our trial gardens are on display. We look at all the candidates, and we’re evaluating them and selections are made for the catalog sales. Here is [displayed] the research breeding for a new tomato or zinnia or marigold in the trial gardens,” said George Ball, Burpee company owner and executive chairman.
On Saturday, visitors had a chance to marvel at luscious tomatoes, ruffled lisianthus flowers and enormous ruby red “Corno Di Toro” sweet peppers, among many others.
Burpee, an iconic seed and gardening resource for generations of American gardeners, continues to prove seed innovation is as essential to gardeners as a sturdy shovel, dependable trowel and durable gloves.
Founded in 1876 by W. Atlee Burpee, the seed company continues its legacy today by researching and bringing new varieties to market, which are tested and grown onsite in Fordhook Farm trial gardens.
At the event, visitors were treated first-hand to progress on the ongoing “floor by floor” restoration of the property’s original historic seed house.
“The seed house is where you learned if you have good or bad seeds coming out of the fields. Sorting and gathering seeds is painstaking work,” Ball explained.
The seed house building is undergoing a thorough and historically-grounded restoration. Visitors were able to see the first floor of the building and work completed so far.
Ball said for the 150th anniversary he decided to restore the buildings’ actual windows so up close, “visitors will see them like they looked in 1893.”
Ball said Burpee’s annual “dream book” catalog is an early season harbinger where “spring arrives in your mailbox, even if it’s January 3.”
This year, alongside America’s 250th birthday – Burpee released heritage garden seed collections and commemorative seed packets with vintage art.
The Warminster-headquartered company partnered with historical sites such as George Washington’s Mount Vernon, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, The Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia and the American Horticultural Society for expertise, research, inspiration and authentic accuracy, according to Greenhouse Magazine.
The resulting heritage historic seed collections are available for gardeners to gift or grow at home.
Burpee is known for its groundbreaking varieties such as the first 1894 “iceberg lettuce,” its 1902 “Golden Bantam sweet corn,” “Big Boy” sandwich tomato released in 1949, and the first truly “stringless green pod bean” released in 1894.
In 1995, Burpee was the first horticultural company to offer an online website, according to Ball.
“Getting the new flowers and vegetables – everything is about the new. Tell me something, show me something and teach me something I’ve never heard before; a taste I’ve never had in a tomato or squash. Gardeners love it, because they love to be tantalized every year,” Ball said.
