Re: Heronswood shuts down

**bridget lamp b*@yahoo.com**

A very sad day indeed for all of us horticulturists in
the northwest...

bridget
seattle, wa

--- N Sterman <TalkingPoints@PlantSoup.Com> wrote:

> 
> >
> >    URL:
> > http://www.kitsapsun.com/bsun/local/article/
> > 0,2403,BSUN_19088_4738081,00.htmlRenowned
> Heronswood Nursery Closes  
> > its
> > Gates
> >
> > By Julie McCormick, jmccormick@kitsapsun.com
> >   May 30, 2006
> >
> >   KINGSTON
> >
> >   Slam. That's the sound of the gates shutting at
> Heronswood  
> > Nursery at
> > the beginning of its busiest season.
> >
> >   In a surprise announcement on Tuesday, 24
> stunned employees learned
> > that corporate owner W. Atlee Burpee & Co. was
> ending all local
> > operations of the rare plant nursery tucked away
> in North Kitsap that
> > has become a Northwest institution.
> >
> >   Customers tuned in to the seasonally scheduled
> open garden tours and
> > sales, or planning to sign up for one of its
> in-depth workshops didn't
> > even get to say goodbye. The next June "garden
> open" will be closed,
> > and no one will get a chance to say good-bye to
> the remarkable  
> > acres of
> > plantings that a Burpee official called the most
> extensive private
> > botanical garden in the country.
> >
> >   In its 19 years of operation, Heronswood became
> a beacon of pleasure
> > to tens of thousands of Northwest gardeners and
> garnered international
> > attention for the diversity of its collection,
> some 6,000 types of
> > plants.
> >
> >   Many were grown from seed collected by
> co-founder Dan Hinkley, a
> > former horticulture instructor at Edmonds
> Community College.
> >
> >   He, or sometimes staffers, traveled to the
> mountainous areas of Asia
> > to gather and bring back plants often only
> previously seen in the wild
> > or at botanical gardens in other countries.
> Customers multiplied.
> > Martha Stewart made regular visits and featured
> Heronswood and its
> > plants on her show and in her magazine. National
> media paid attention,
> > both mainstream and special interest.
> >
> >   The densely descriptive and quirky catalogue --
> the way most people
> > purchased from Heronswood -- was written
> personally by Hinkley, got
> > larger every year and Heronswood became the little
> nursery that could.
> >
> >   But it was precisely the nursery's regional
> emphasis that was its
> > Achilles' heel, said Burpee president George Ball.
> >
> >   "The vast collection of plants, while they were
> terrific for  
> > people in
> > the Pacific Northwest, they weren't good for
> people in places like  
> > Iowa
> > and Pennsylvania," said Ball.
> >
> >   After six years of Burpee ownership, business
> was flat, and  
> > Heronswood
> > has never been profitable, Ball said. "You have to
> be able to make a
> > profit if you're going to survive in business,
> especially with a
> > seasonal business," he said.
> >
> >   Ball, who flew in to announce Heronswood's
> closure, said Burpee
> > staffers will lift samples of the thousands of
> established plants in
> > Heronswood's extensive gardens and take them back
> to its Pennsylvania
> > research and production facilities to work on
> adapting them to other
> > climates less genial than the Pacific Northwest.
> >
> >   That's what Burpee is known for, said Ball. "Our
> founder was a  
> > genius
> > at adapting plants to different climates," he
> said.
> >
> >   Hinkley and co-founder and partner Robert Jones
> have continued to  
> > run
> > the business under Burpee's ownership. Neither had
> any hint that it
> > would be shut down, nor so quickly. Nor did he
> completely understand
> > why.
> >
> >   "It (Burpee) is an organization that looks at
> profit and I assume
> > that's what it's all about," he said from his
> Indianola home, where
> > employees gathered after the gates literally were
> shut.
> >
> >   "We have a family of employees that I have
> thought of as my closest
> > friends that have really devoted years and years
> of hard work to  
> > making
> > Heronswood what it is," he said. "I'm saddened,
> that's the bottom
> > line." Ball said Burpee made above-average
> outplacement and severance
> > offers to employees, but would not describe them
> in detail.
> >
> >   He said the company's abrupt announcement was
> made to spare the
> > feelings of employees. If the closure had been
> announced months ahead
> > of time, the long wait for the end would have
> stolen their dignity, he
> > said.
> >
> >   Both Hinkley and Ball indicated that there have
> been differences  
> > over
> > Hersonswood's catalogue, revamped this year with
> only 250 plants
> > offered and full of bright, colorful pictures like
> most standard
> > offerings from giant retailers.
> >
> >   Hinkley called it a dumbing down that talked
> down to Heronswood's  
> > core
> > customer base. Ball said the old one read like a
> textbook.
> >
> >   North Kitsap Commissioner Chris Endresen said
> she was shocked and
> > dismayed at the loss of a county treasure. "In
> fact, it's a national
> > treasure, it's nationally known and it's
> internationally known and
> > shame on Burpee," she said.
> >
> >   Burpee will carefully market the nursery's
> buildings and grounds,  
> > Ball
> > said, and will leave the plantings as they are
> after giving them a
> > sampling "haircut." Hinkley said he's working on
> two books, and will
> > continue to travel and look for plants.
> >
> >   The only part of the collection he owns, he
> said, are the gleanings
> > from his most recent trips to India and the
> Himalayas.
> >
> >   As for every fan's burning question, "At this
> point I have no
> > intention of starting another nursery," he said.
> >
> >   Copyright 2006, kitsapsun.com. All Rights
> Reserved.
> >   --
> >   Robert L. Jones
> >   Director of Operations
> >   Heronswood Nursery
> >   360.297.4172
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > gardenwriters mailing list
> > gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org
> >
>
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/gardenwriters
> >
> 
=== message truncated ===

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