Burpee Seeds

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Burpee Seeds was founded by W. Atlee Burpee in 1878. Originally selling garden seeds as well as farm supplies, tools, and even poulty and dogs, the direction of the company began to change with the death of its founder in 1915 ^{[citation needed]}.

His son, David Burpee, took over the company upon his father's death. He was interested in War or victory gardens and was a big promoter of the concept. He also brought his interest in flowers to the forefront of the companies priorities and initiated several flower breeding programs.

In 1970, David Burpee sold his company to General Foods. In 1979 the company passed to ITT. David Burpee remained as a consultant until his death in June of 1980. In 1991 the Burpee company was acquired by George J. Ball, Inc., a diversified horticultural family business. Jonathan Burpee, the founder's grandson, was the last family member to work for the company. He was fired by Ball in 1993.

The company currently distributes vegetable, flower and herb seeds as well as garden and plant accessories to home gardeners.