Last year the veteran garden writer Adrian Higgins called our test gardens at Fordhook Farm “the Yankee stadium of gardening”. (Man, we dig him.) What’s intriguing about his comment is how much non-fans hate the Yankees and the reason why. The Yankee organization has traditionally spent enormous amounts of money to attract stars and then used them to fill stadiums and win championships. I’m sure Mr. Higgins didn’t mean any of this, but the shoe fits. My business decisions have made me as controversial in gardening as George Steinbrenner is in baseball. Being a leader sometimes means being a lightning rod.

The 133 year old W. Atlee Burpee & Co. —the foremost home garden flower and vegetable company—bought not only Heronswood Nursery (2000), but also The Cook’s Garden (2003), a pioneer gourmet seed collector that started the boutique European varietal movement, along with Roz Creasy, the Bon Marchee folks and Renee Shepherd. Ownership of The Cook’s Garden had been a bit erratic for two decades, but, even during that time, the founders, Ellen and Shep Ogden, did a great job roving the world to find new herbs, lettuces and salad greens, much as the Heronswood staff amassed the botanical treasures at our research garden on the Kitsap Peninsula. These various talents pitched, hit and ran brilliantly. Breeding and plant production remain our specialties, and we go to work every day, all over the world.

However, times change, and today’s gardening market is oriented toward the “young at heart”, no matter what the consumer’s age. Retail chains and the internet have joined the baby boom to create the millenium’s perfect storm. Amidst this chaotic growth, we’ve decided to invest in our existing talent—more in the mode of Hank Steinbrenner, the Yankee’s new owner and boss’s son, than in that of our past. He’s smarter than the newspapers say. I agree with his decision not to pay extravagantly for marquee players. “Wait and see” is our watchword for future cultivar development. No plants will be sold without first being tested for a couple of years in several locations. We shall take a pass on grandiose superstar deals. Not only do most of them fizzle out, but also homegrown talent is inherently congenial. Joba Chamberlain’s grace under the pressure of those hideous flies in Cleveland inspired me. Stick with winners.

The non-fans may grouse, the opposing teams may grin, and it may take a couple years to put the finishing touches on our new four acre woodland perennial test gardens at Fordhook, exclusively devoted to Heronswood varieties. However, I have great confidence in our team and especially the new talent. We’re collecting plants in South America, Central Europe, and the UK. Trips to Asia take a bit longer to organize, but we have a substantial backlog of recent discoveries to test in Washington state, Delaware and Pennsylvania. The spectacular 2008 Heronswood introductions include many new cultivars. Also, our candidates for 2009-2011 are promising. But every would-be champion needs to be tested for two years at our “farm teams” in zones 5, 6, 7 and 8, before we put them on the field. Your garden is “the majors”, and winning there is both our heritage as well as our commitment to you.

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