Heronswood is closing/moving

Read in the papaer this morning that Burpee is closing the Kingston location and moving operations to Pennsylvania. Apparently it was not profitable.

I think this is a real loss for the PNW. Such a great source of unusual plants and a great place to actually see them growing in their gardens. Apparently Hinkley has a few more years of a Non-Compete he signed when he sold to Burpee, but he may start again when that has expired.

jb

Thats terrible. Heronswood is a fantastic place. Guess things never change when big corporations take over. I wonder what will happen to the grounds after Burpee moves ? That's a big garden to take care of without a bunch of help.

I was there when they locked the gates, I called there Tuesday at 8.30 a.m. just to check if they had anything going on, and She said to come on up. I drive in there and go directly to the greenhouses and start picking out what I wanted, then I took my plant material over to the sales area and the employees are all standing around, which was suspicious, I know Celia. well so I ask her what's going on, she said we were just notified that Burpee is shutting the nursery down, no notice, nothing, and they fired everyone on the spot. sad!!! hostajim!

Oh NOOOOOO!!!!!!! I can't believe it!!! This is a huge loss for the area. I'm just stunned. I will never, ever buy anything from Burpee! Have to find out what all their subsidiaries are. I hope Dan starts up again after his no-compete contract expires. Actually, I was really disappointed when I found out he had sold to them.
I'm glad I got my hydrangeas there a couple of weeks ago. If I had known I would have bought more. :(((

This is a serious reminder of the need to do things while one can. I hadn't made it there "yet" - it was on my "round tuit" list. Arrrrrgggghhhhhhhhh

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/nwgardens/272206_heronswood31.html

Hadn't been there yet either- I was thinking of it as a holy grail that I was not yet worthy of, and quite a drive as well, but boy do I regret not getting there sooner. I surely hope some angel makes Burpee an offer and saves the grounds.

That PI news story has made the "most emailed" list now, according to the right hand side of the online newspaper. What a shame to see this happen! Honestly though, as much as I will side with the "little guy" over the big bad corporation, he should have gone over the implications of the non-compete agreement that he signed. I've signed them before, have two in force now, and I know what I signed and what it means should I be replaced, quit, or the company is dissolved. A buyback clause would have been a helpful addition as well. It doesn't matter what plans a company has and what they promise they will do, it matters what is in the contract. Burpee is not very high in my eyes right now, but hopefully they will become the good guy and sell back to Hinkley or destroy the non-compete. Time will tell. I do wish Hinkley and the other employees there the best in future endeavors.

What a sorry day for PNW and many of us in other locations. I do hope Burpee will rise to the occasion and sell back to Hinkley. It sounds so impromptu and spiteful by Burpee.

They couldn't ask for a site where their reputation could plummet faster than here at DG. If it's not resolved we might be mentioning Burpee's name on many other forums.

Thanks for that trip, Pixydish! THEY are growing beautifully.

Burpee has a website with customer service and an "email us" option. How about if we join in a big boycott and let them know what we think of the way they handled this?

http://www.burpee.com/custserv/customerservicemain.jsp
Burpee

I am bitterly disappointed that such a glorious operation could be closing (and under what I consider "nasty" circumstances) - and, sadly, I never managed to see it. It's been on my "to do" list for years. I can only begin to imagine how many Pacific Northwest gardeners are up in arms.

Carole

Thank you for the reference. I just sent them an e-mail.

BALV,
You should call into the 'Gardening With Ciscoe' radio show on KIRO 710 Radio on Saturday AM and read them the riot act on the air, hehehe.

Best;
bluelytes

I am concerned for the nursery also. I don't know that Dan can return to a burpee changed environment. He is quite busy with other things. Poor Herronswood and all of that knowledge and work that created such a unique place.

I didn't even realize he didn't still own it! I've never been there either.

So what's he doing now?

I thought he actually lived in a house on the site. I don't know why I thought that. I got it from some article I read once on the nursery.

:(

Gwen

I am for a boycott! The last time I was at Heronswood, just a few weeks ago, I spoke with one of the women grooming the perennial beds. She was telling me how much she loved her job, and what a special pleasure it was to work in such a world class garden. You could tell that the garden meant more than just a job to her. It is absolutely beyond the pale that Burpee would do this. There is just no excuse for treating people that way. I'm not sure what was in it for them to be so abrupt in their dealings with the Heronswood site. It is a huge loss for the NW gardening community.
Gwen, Dan and his partner haven't live at Heronswood for awhile now. They bought another house and are creating another garden. But he was still involved at Heronswood giving seminars and lectures.
Here are some photos I took at Heronswood last summer. We can all grieve together as we look at them.

A new zealand tree fern by the pond.

The fountain, designed and built by northwest artists Little and Lewis.

Another tree fern and our native Darmera peltata growing by the pond.
Here's a link to the Little and Lewis site, for anyone not familiar with the genius of their work.
http://www.littleandlewis.com/

And here is the text from the Seattle Post Intelligencer article:

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

KINGSTON, Wash. -- The Heronswood Nursery, known around the world for its exotic plant collection, has been closed by the Philadelphia-based Burpee seed company six years after it bought the Northwest horticulture icon with promises to keep things as they were.

Burpee bought the nursery from founder Dan Hinkley, admired for his Indiana Jones-like quests for fine but little-known plants, and his partner, Robert Jones. Burpee told Hinkley to keep hunting down rare plants for the nursery's collection while Jones ran the business.

The photoless catalogs Hinkley produced annually had become collector's items. Through essays, books and his Heronswood Web site, Hinkley has kept the public abreast of his plant-hunting exploits.

George Ball, president of the W. Atlee Burpee & Co., the nation's oldest and arguably most successful home-gardening company, said they tried to make Heronswood profitable for six years, but decided the best thing would be to relocate.

"But we're not closing it, we're just moving it," he said of the nursery founded in 1987.

Turns out the move may be to online only.



Hans Miller, Burpee's vice president, said Tuesday that the company has no immediate plan to open a Heronswood nursery in Pennsylvania, where the company has a 50-acre nursery at Willow Hill and a similar-size test and display garden at Fordhook Farm in Doylestown.

Burpee will test the market for a Heronswood facility at an event dubbed the Heronswood Hydrangea Open at Fordhook Farm, July 14-15.

If it doesn't test well, Miller said, "Heronswood will just be a Web mail-order site."

The nursery on the Kitsap Peninsula, across Puget Sound northwest of Seattle, closed Tuesday. Of its 26 employees, seven were asked to work through the summer and the others were told their jobs were gone, Ball said.

The fate of Heronswood's famed display gardens is still unknown, although Ball said the company is not planning on digging up the plants and shipping them back East.

"I'm hoping to keep this as long as we can, hoping to find ... let's say ... someone who wants to buy one of the few first-class private botanic gardens certainly in America if not the world.

"But I haven't figured all that out yet."

Hinkley said he would keep himself busy lecturing and writing more books.

"This has been like dealing with a death in the family," he said. "We're sad because we believed in Heronswood and believed it was more than just a nursery. We were trying to contribute to the horticultural community and the community as a whole."

---

On the Net:

Heronswood: http://www.heronswood.com/

Burpee: http://www.burpee.com

And finally, here is a photo of one of the many, many unusual and beautiful hydrangeas at Heronswood. I had been planning to attend their Hydrangea Days event in the summer. They carry hydrangeas that are almost impossible to find other places. If I'd known about this closing, I would have pulled out the credit card and bought one of every variety they have. I am feeling particularly hateful about Burpee after looking again at my hydrangea photos.

Dan Hinkley keeps busy with a daunting speaking calendar, lots of writing, international plant scouting expeditions and a newer smaller garden at his new home.

Wow, that hydrangea is stunning! Do you have that one, Pixy? I sure wish I'd gone there when I had the chance!

It'll be interesting to see what Burpee does with the site. I imagaine they don't want to sell it to anyone who'll run it as a nursery for the same reasons they wanted Dan to have a noncompete contract.

I'm not a big fan of big corporations. I personally would have been suspect from the getgo. I shop at small mom and pop shops at any chance I get. If I'm in town and want coffee, I look for independent coffee shops before I'll stop at Starbucks. I have nothing against Starbucks particularly, it's just that I like to give the indies a chance. I was self-employed for 18 years and know what it's like to try and make a living.

One of the big attractions to moving to Whidbey for me was the absense of chains. (We do have a Dairy Queen, a Subway, and an Ace Hardware.) Every now and then McDonald's rears its ugly head and I get so nervous. (They'll never open here as the boycott would just be UGLY.) I actually like McDonald's and eat there all the time when I'm in town and need a quick lunch. I just don't want it here.

I don't see why Burpee wanted Heronswood in the first place!

Gwen

I wonder if Burpee needed a write-off for tax purposes ? What happens to the property will be interesting. We do have a lot of wealthy people in the area, but I can't see Bill Gates or Paul Allen getting involved in gardening, unless it was to buy Burpee.lol

Maybe they'll do it just for community-building purposes. Certainly Gates could afford it and it would be great publicity for him. Perhaps he has an interest in gardening or at least respect and admiration for what the original owners built. That would be nice. But I agree with you that I can't see them getting real involved other than donating the money.

Gwen

Burpee bought a huge amount of genetics and now wants to profit by it. What a horrible way to accomplish this effect. How many of the Zonal plants in Kingston will transplant to Pennsylvania I have no idea. Dan has always had the benifit of knowing that his Korean, China, South Africa, etc would be happy in the wet and wonderful Herronswood. I have always teased him about anybody can grow plants in Kingston. Why not try Montana? He just laughed and said that is why he left Michigan where we grew up. Well now we will see how many plants the catalog looses. Though we all knew that without Dans love of his Herronswood it could not continue as a corprate entity. Dan is happy at his new garden and continues to love his travels to keep what he does best to find that unique specimen for us to all enjoy. I think his no compete clause is already over with. Also his commitment to Burpee is over soon. But Herronswood was a massive business for He and Bob to manage and they are enjoying their private life. Bill Gates would not see the value in Herronswood, but Paul Allen might. We can only hope.

Yes, I have that one, Gwen. But it's very small still.

Oh no. I just read the article. To quote Jens Molbak, CEO of Molbak's garden center in Woodinville: "We feel sick."

And the worst part for me, is I've always had this tour on the back of my calendar. I've never visited and have always meant to. "Next Summer...." etc.

This is another thread on the same subject. http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/609256/

Soferdig,

Nicely said. I got the impression from your earlier post here that you may have known Dan more than casually. I would hope Burpee understands what won't grow in PA and have a sale of some kind. I also wondered what will happen to the infrastructure of the growing operations. Mist systems, heaters, fans and such. I am in the market for these things and would love to have a part of Heronswood gracing my greenhouse.

jb

This message was edited Jun 2, 2006 1:54 PM

Well I think the community of Seattle will have an opportunity to buy the nursery. Or it will all be gone and the property sold. How horrible. Yeah Dan and I grew up in a town of 1200 where he and I were best friends. We spent most of our childhood together and traveled many places to see the world. He is too busy anymore to have any quality time and I last saw him at his sisters death bed a year ago.

Soderfig, do you really think the community of Seattle will buy the property? Heronswood isn't in Seattle - it's in Kingston, a ferry ride away from Seattle. And I doubt Kingston would have the funds to buy it (small town, etc.).

Maybe King County would be a possibility. We can only hope. I'm still just bummed over this!!

Carole

I now live in Montana so Seattle includes all of the Greater Puget sound area. No group in Seattle will be willing to buy anything at herronswood. We should only wait and see what Burpee does and then worry. Herronswood is too beautiful of a garden to let it go. Look back in time, Blodell, Buchart, and many other gardens of such quality never died when such occurances happened. Herronswood will always be. Again this is a Phoenix that will arise again and be so spectacular we will wonder why we worried.

I hope you are right sofer. I just visited that other thread and I think I like this one better. It's hard for me to imagine why someone in another part of the country would actually be glad to hear that Burpee has 'corrected' their 'mistake'. Geez!

Soferdig, that's the attitude we all need to have - "a Phoenix that will arise again." Thanks for those excellent words! And also for the history on Dan Hinkley - those of us out in this area think we know a lot about him, but we only know the more "recent" history - lt's a treat to hear his earlier history from you.

Researching who owns who is an awful tangle, but here is a brief google worth. Monsanto owns Seminis own Burpee Holding (was in bankruptcy- don't know current state) owns Burpee owns Heronswood and Cook's Garden. I really do try to balance activism with some manners so instead of telling anyone what to do, I'll leave it with saying that your choices matter and that whatever you choose to support is to that extent increased.

Well said, Kyra. Thanks for the 'google' info. It helps to know who to avoid. Avoiding Monsanto is going to be difficult, but avoiding Burpees has actually never been a problem for me. I've never ordered anything directly from them or from Cook's either.

Just for your information, the Garden Watchdog here on Dave's lists the affiliated companies for each company. Very easy to do. For example, check out "Gardens Alive" in the Watchdog. This company purchased a whole slew of companies in a big bankruptcy debaucle a few years back. The Watchdog link is at the top of this page. I use it often before buying mailorder from companies I am not familiar with.

I have a friend in Olympia who told me that members of her South Sound NPA group have also been sending e-mails to Burpee.

I sure appreciate the info on whom owns whom (who owns who?).

Carole

Thanks for the reminder, pardalinum. I had forgotton that.

Dear fellow slaves to the goddess Flora,

I have had the great pleasrue of visiting Heronswood several times a year for quite a while. Each new addition to the garden has been a joy to explore. My most recent visit was but a few short weeks before the closure. As I wandered the greenhouses, 2005 catalog in hand, It seemed that many plants were no longer available. This did not stop me from spending quite a lot of money as there were still lots of great treasures to bring home. Dan was being interviewed and photographed by a couple of gentlemen from some publication. I overheard some of the conversation & it was delightful in that special Hinkleyesque style. I almost didn't wander in the garden that day as the nursery seemed so different. I mentioned to a friend that the heart seemed to have gone out of the place - it felt strange. However, knowing the garden as a place of wonder and inspiration, I forced myself to slowly walk the familiar paths. It was amazing as always but something felt different. The Heronistas were as friendly as ever, the garden outstanding but the vibe had changed. I remember Ann Lovejoy writing about gardens being essentially ephemeral, seldom outliving their gardeners. As I walked & paused, I pondered the ephemeral nature of gardens and of gardeners. Gardens and their gardeners, like music, like a flower, like a beautiful piece of glass, like people, exist in time. Their very fleeting nature is what makes them special, unique - treasures.

Music, when soft voices die,
Vibrates in the memory;
Odors, when sweet violets sicken,
Live within the sense they quicken.

Rose leaves, when the rose is dead,
Are heaped for the beloved's bed;
And so thy thoughts, when thour art gone,
Love itself shall slumber on.

Shelley

A poem by Sarah Teasdale often came to mind as I wandered Heronswood & this time was no exception:

The sun was gone, and the moon was coming
Over the blue Connecticut hills,
The west was rosy, the east was flushed,
And over my head the swallows rushed
This way and that, with changeful wills.

I heard them twitter and watched them dart
Now together and now apart
Like dark petals blown from a tree;
The maples stamped against the west
Were black and stately and full of rest,

And the hazy orange moon grew up
And slowly changed to yellow gold
While the hills were darkened, fold on fold
To a deeper blue than a flower could hold.

Down the hill I went, and then
I forgot the ways of men,
For night-scents, heady, and damp and cool
Wakened ecstasy in me
On the brink of a shining pool.

O Beauty, out of many a cup
You have made me drunk and wild
Ever since I was a child,
But when have I been sure as now
That no bitterness can bend
And no sorrow wholly bow
One who loves you to the end?
And though I must give my breath
And my laughter all to death,
And my eyes through which joy came,

And my heart, a wavering flame;
If all must leave me and go back
Along a blind and fearful track
So that you can make anew,
Fusing with intenser fire,
Something nearer your desire;

If my soul must go alone
Through a cold infinity,
Or even if it vanish, too,
Beauty, I have worshipped you.

Let this single hour atone
For the theft of all of me.

Like you, I mourn the loss of this special gem, this symphony of place & time. Like some of you, I only knew Dan from his lectures, books & from seeing him at the garden. I never felt worthy of actually addressing him, lest my words be jumbled in a giddy awe-struck fashon. Like Mr. Hinkley, I would not want to see Heronswood slowly decline. If it must perish, let it be remembered as the Camelot that it was & not as a current place of faded glory. The joy of the place, like any garden was to see what the gardener and mother nature had done. A prime example (at Heronswood) is the tree, fallen in a windstorm which was left in situ, cut to allow passage on a path, and bromeliads planted in it's exposed roots. While this garden is amazing, without the heart of Hinkley, it wouldn't be the same. I would support any effort to keep it open as an educational site or as a great public garden. One hopes that Dan's love for the place would transcend the current shock & hurt & allow him to be involved in some way.

Beauty, I have worshipped you!

.

This message was edited Jul 5, 2006 10:18 AM

Herpst, thank you for this beautiful post! I think for those of us who love a garden the way we do, this passing is particularly poignant. I have, of late, struggled with why I simply care so much about this place. After all, I did not create it, and I had fewer opportunities to visit that I would have liked. But I think that it is the obvious care and delight that went into the creation of the place, as well as the heronista's devotion to the place that reverberates in me. To walk in the garden was to leave mundane life behind and enter some 'other' place. New delights awaited around every turn.
I, too, was there shortly before it closed, but I sensed nothing amiss in the garden itself. Only in the nursery where, as you said, many things were unavailable. The nursery stock seemed a bit tattered and I would say that I went home with nothing at all from my list except for some hydrangeas, which I was glad to have.
I would love to see this garden preserved for the wonder that it is, and for, as you say, educational purposes. I can't imagine a better setting for inspiring children to be gardners in the truest sense of the word.
And I LOVED the bromeliad tree! It was fabulous!
It is, perhaps, fitting that I should have forgotton my camera that day. Photos never really captured the spirit of the place. But there was one plant I might never see again: in the midst of a patch of variegated solomon's seal, there was a pure white one. Everything about the plant was white, a ghost plant. I would love to have a photo of it. I asked the heronista if they were going to propogate it and she said no, that they were difficult to do tissue culture with. It was the ultimate in ephemeral.

I recently talked to Celia who works at Heronswood. She said they kept 7 employees to maintain the gardens and fill the catalog orders. so I guess all is not lost. also that Burpee does plan on moveing the collection to Pa. but that needs to be worked out. hostajim1