Type Private company Owner George Ball Founder Washington Atlee Burpee | Industry Gardening Website www.burpee.com Founded 1878 | |
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Products Seeds, plants, and supplies for home gardening Headquarters Warminster, Pennsylvania, United States Parent organization Burpee Holding Company Inc. | ||
Burpee seeds uses iformbuilder mobile data collection apps
Burpee Seeds, officially W. Atlee Burpee & Co., is a seed company that was founded by Washington Atlee Burpee in 1876. Contrary to a natural folk etymology assumption, the company is not named after a relationship to "burpless" cucumbers.
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History
The company first sold garden seeds, farm supplies, tools, poultry and hogs. The direction of the company began to change with the death of its founder in 1915, when his son, David Burpee, inherited the firm. David was interested in war or victory gardens and was an early promoter of the concept during World War I. He also prioritized in flowers and initiated several flower breeding programs.
In 1970, David Burpee sold his company to General Foods. In 1974, Burpee moved from its north Philadelphia location to its current headquarters at 300 Park Avenue in Warminster, Pennsylvania. SEPTA extended its Warminster Line commuter rail to Warminster, the train station being opposite Park Avenue from Burpee's headquarters.
In 1979, the company was acquired by ITT. David Burpee remained as a consultant until his death in June 1980. In 1991, the Burpee company was acquired by George Ball, Inc., a diversified horticultural family business. Jonathan Burpee, the founder's grandson, was the last Burpee family member to work for the company. The company maintains the original Burpee farm, Fordhook Farms, in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, where notable varieties such as Iceberg lettuce and Big Boy tomato were bred.
The company currently sells seeds and garden accessories to home gardeners.
White Marigold
In its 1954 catalog, W. Atlee Burpee & Co. first advertised a competition for the development of the first white marigold flower, offering $10,000 to any gardener whose efforts produced a flower deemed to be pure white. 21 years later, the prize was awarded to 67-year-old Alice Vonk of Sully, Iowa, who received $100 the previous year as one of six gardeners nationwide whose marigolds came closest to being white. Vonk kept seeds from the lightest flowers in her garden each season, replanting for over two decades before achieving a pure white marigold that measured 2.5 inches in diameter. Her entry in the 1975 edition of the contest topped 8,200 other entrants and produced what was then described as the "costliest flower ever."