Park Seed Memories

Space Tomatoes, Fresh from the Vine

A while back, my NASA contact, Jon, asked how long our space seed will remain viable in a classroom environment. In his answer, Dr. Jim Alston pointed out that if you kept the seeds in a sealed container in a cool place, they could theoretically last a long time. Well, folks, today I have real experimental data to suggest just how long seal space seed can last! Jim received this very unexpected email with pictures attached (see tomatos left and tall tomato plant below):

Hi,
I am a retired NASA technician that was on the LDEF retrieval team in 1990. I later received a package of seeds that were distributed to schools around the country. The seeds sat in my refrigerator until this spring (2008), and my wife--who usually plants some tomatoes in her flower garden--decided to see if the seeds would germinate. I am happy to report after all these years that they grew and have produced tomatoes. I am attaching pictures to prove it. The seeds were labeled "Canister 4; Layer-A,B,C,& D MIXED." I would be interested to know if these flew or were in the control group.

Thanks and Congratulations,
Charles Bailey

Holy guacamole, friends--those are some pretty old seeds to be sprouting and growing so well! Here's Doc Alston's response about whether these specific seeds orbited the Earth or stayed safely home in our vault as part of the control group, and his calculation of how old they really are:

Charles,
Good to hear from you and the almost-forgotten tomato seed. The seed that you received were flight seed. The seed in each canister was divided into layers, with layer 'A' being toward space. Your packet was a mix of the 4 layers and was used for the elementary school distribution.

The seed were in flight from 1984 to 1990 and had been produced in 1983, so the seed was/is 25 years old. Did you observe anything unusual about the plants or the fruit?

Thanks for sharing.
Jim

Naturally, I've contacted Mr. Bailey to see if he has more stories to tell about his adventures as a NASA technician. Stay tuned!

Mystery Box Contains Blast from the Past

When I came back from lunch today, a mysterious box was perched on my file cabinet, courtesy of the lovely folks in our mail room. A quick squint at the return address on the mailing label reminded me that a week ago, I exchanged emails with a charming gentleman in California. He told me that he had a complete set of Park's Floral Magazine from 1911, and he wondered what he should do with them. Naturally, I suggested that it would significantly enrich my archive project if he would donate them to us. I'm happy to report that, like other kind people around the country, Jim was kind enough to reply thusly:

Claire,
I run a thrift store in Felton, California, and we get stuff like this from time to time. When I saw it, I thought somebody would love to have this, so I Googled up the mag and found you. Glad to send it to you and that you are happy  to have it.
Jim

Thank you so much, Jim--I am indeed happy to have it! I tore into the box like a kid on Christmas morning, and found to my surprise that the collection was bound into a book. I'm guessing it was done by hand, with four holes bored through the stack and string very neatly threaded and tied with a tiny bow.

I randomly opened the book to the middle, only to be confronted by an advertisement admonishing me that "Fat is Dangerous!" Hrmph--just what I want to be reminded of after lunch! Seriously, the Park Seed publications of the time truly were magazines, not catalogs. They are chock full of ads from a wide (and wild!) variety of companies, many of them for what I can only describe as "snake oil." We'll look at those another time.

Right now, I'm looking at the magazine for July, 1911. The cover sports a bright red headline, "Sow This Month." Mr. Park's recommendations for July include Aquilegia columbine; Delphinium; pinks, carnations, and picotees; Hollyhock; Poppy; Platycodon; Primula; Sweet William; Linum Perenne; Antirrhinum; and Pyrethrum. Back in those pre-World War I days, you could get 14 packs of "A Fine Collection of Seeds of the Best Sorts" for only 50 cents. And your subscription to the magazine? Only 10 cents per year. Those were the days, my friends!

Do you have vintage Park Seed, Wayside Gardens, or general gardening artifacts that you'd like to tell us about? Send pictures and your stories to me at ckuhl@parkseed.com.

Garden Club and Catalogs circa 1923

The fun of being Special Projects Director here at Park Seed Company is that I never know what interesting tidbit is going to be routed to my mailbox. Just the other day, one of our customer service folks forwarded me this message that came in via the general email address for Wayside Gardens:

"Since both organizations started during the 1920s, I'm emailing to ask if you have any photos, posters, advertisements, and/or catalogues of flowers and gardening from the 1920s that we can use for our 85th anniversity gala of our gardening club."

Heck, if there is anything I enjoy, it's an excuse to go digging around in our archives looking for historical artifacts from the early days of Wayside Gardens or Park Seed! I found out that this garden club in Saratoga, New York, was founded in 1923, and to my surprise and delight, I found several 1923 publications. Ihave sent my new friends in New York some images (like the Hardy Perennial Plants catalog cover above left) to use in their celebratory materials. And they have promised to send me some tidbits about their club and its history to share here after their big 85th anniversary luncheon in November, so stay tuned!

In the meantime, I enjoyed perusing the vintage catalogs. According to the official history of Wayside Gardens, although the company was founded in 1916, the first catalog was not printed until 1922--so these 1923 specimens are very clost to the earliest available!

Even in black & white, the flower and garden images are lovely. And you see pictures of familiar favorites. For example, the flower shown at right is a Helianthemum, also known as the Rock or Sun Rose. The 1923 catalog describes Helianthemum as "low growing evergreen plants, forming broah clumps and which during their flowering season, July to September, are hidden by a mass of bloom; for the front of the border, the rockery, or a dry sunny bank." Today's catalog makes basically the same boasts about this sturdy plant!

Of course, bulbs never go out of style! The Dutch Bulbs cover (left) features Lilium Candidum and promises "Special Import Prices" for the fall of 1923. For many years, one of the competitive differentiators for Wayside Gardens was the close ties that the owner had to the Dutch family bulb business in Holland. This gave the company an inside track on new introductions.

I'm looking forward to learning more about this 85-year-old garden club! If your garden club has a long, proud history, I hope you'll email me with the particulars, along with pictures of your members and their gardens. I love hearing from you!

U Scream, I Scream--for National Ice Cream Month at Park Seed

It is HOT down here in South Carolina, and all of us at Park Seed Company have been working pretty darn hard for quite a long spell. First to get seeds ready for early seed-starting, then to get spring plants ready to ship, and then last month to get everything in place for Flower Day. Whew! So as a cooooool thank-you to everyone, our executive team decided that we needed to celebrate National Ice Cream Month! Today's blog is just a rogues' gallery of some of my friends and colleagues enjoying a nice cool treat.

When the clock chimed "ice cream time," there was a sudden big bustle in the halls as we all made our way to the front and back canteens. Our Human Resources folks had the challenge of making sure that everyone got the right kind of ice cream You can see some of them in the picture on the left (above) trying to supervise the rush to the cooler.

In the picture on the right, you may recognize some of our intrepid Letterboxing gang, along with a couple of other denizens of the eComm world.

Funny thing--everyone was already smiling! I didn't even have to tell them to say "Cheese." I guess Ice cream just has a way of making smiles happen automatically!

Finally, here's a nice picture of Kimberly and my across-the-hall neighbor, Patricia. Clearly, they are enjoying the unexpected break time. And while Kimberly's primary passion is candy, that cheesy grin on her face (top right) is testimony that ice cream will do in a pinch. By the way, for my long-time readers, you should know that Kimberly is the bride of Walt. Which tells you that she's a woman of good taste. And considerable patience.

So what are you waiting for? Go get some ice cream!

STS-118 Student Scientists: 1 Million Strong and Still Growing!

We've been following the latest Seeds in Space adventures in this blog for a while now. In fact, we've had some wonderful pictures and stories from kids around the country, including Allenton, Wisconsin; Providence, Rhode Island. and Indianapolis, Indiana. These teachers and students have all been using Cinnamon Basil seed that visited outer space via Space Shuttle Endeavour as part of the STS-118 mission.

Well, yesterday, I received an email from NASA, forwarded by the esteemed Doc Alston, our Director of Research and Quality Assurance and our liaison to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. One of our key contacts, a delightful gentleman named Jon, sent us an update on the program and also asked a very good question. Jon was kind enough to allow me to share his message here:

"Jim:
"Hope all is going well at Park Seed.  I just wanted to give you a status on the impact the STS-118 seeds project has had on educators and students across the country.  We are quickly approaching 1 million students involved in this project.  The Engineering Design Challenge (in which students design, build and evaluate a growth chamber for future missions to the moon) is moving along very well.

"One question--any idea on how long the seeds will be viable if they are kept in relatively normal temperature and humidity levels (ie. a classroom)? 

"Thanks,
Jon"

Gosh--1 million students?!?! That's fantastic! Personally, I'd love to blog about about every one of  them here! And what about Jon's question? How long will the space and control seed remain viable, once they've been sent to schools around the country?

According to Jim, seeds kept sealed in a Park Seed package can survive 2-3 years, assuming a room temperature of around 78 degrees and humidity of around 36%. Now, if you take those same seed packs, seal them in a zipable plastic bag with all the air squeezed out, and put them in a refridgerator, the seeds can remain viable for up to 10 years! Remember--the reason space is a great place to keep seed is that they require air, water, and warmth to sprout. So a cold, airless place works really well for preserving seed.

Thanks for the information, Jim. Good to know. And Jon said that NASA has some STS-118 seed available. So teachers, Master Gardeners, students, and space fans, there is still time to sign up for the Engineering Challenge: Lunar Plant Growth Chamber. Start preparing now and you'll be all set for a great space adventure when school starts again.

And once you've begun your engineering design challenge, don't forget to send pictures and stories to me! Email me at ckuhl@parkseed.com to share your seeds in space experiments, experiences, and excitement. We love Seeds in Space--it's out of this world!

Fun Photos of Flower Day

Flower Day 2008 has come and gone, but happily, the images linger on! We had somewhere around 4,000 happy garden-lovers on the grounds. The day started with a drizzle that cooled things off without really dampening the fun. As usual, the Park Seed Trial Gardens were at their peak. Visitors saw new and exciting "experimental" plants grown from seed in the All America Selections row trials. Several of the theme gardens sported new introductions from Wayside Gardens. And we even had a brand new rose garden showing its colors near the driveway that leads off campus.

If you'd like to see some photos of the big event, check out these sites:

• 2008 Flower Day pictures by Ashley
• More Flower Day 2008 pix from Christa
• Even MORE Flower Day 2008 photos!

I'd have to say that a good time was had by all, visitors and employees alike. All those big smiles in the candid photos are testimony to the joy that a day in the garden brings to one and all!

And by the way--keep your eye on this space for videos of visitors sharing their best gardening stories and wishing Park Seed a happy 140th birthday! Our video team is feverishing downloading and editing the hours of footage that we captured. I know you will really enjoy meeting these folks and hearing the stories they have to share.

Did you visit us at Flower Day this year....or any year? We'd LOVE to hear about your visit and post some of your photos here. Just email me at ckuhl@parkseed.com. The more, the merrier!

Perhaps a Gardening Goddess?

Park Seed is certainly a growing company, in every sense of the word. And when a company is growing, that often means that new people are invited on board to help with the work. I'm delighted to introduce you to one such new-found friend, Denise Smith.

Denise just recently joined us, but her ready smile and infectious laugh are already becoming pleasantly familiar. First and foremost, Denise loves plants and gardening. She has a degree in Horticulture (cum laude) from the Ambler Campus of Temple University in Pennsylvania and a degree in Plant Science (also with honors) from University of Delaware. Armed with her gardening expertise and knowledge, Denise has crafted a successful career in several different segments of the horticulture industry.

One early job was managing a greenhouse that served a retirement community. Her duties included producing plants and flowers for summer gardens, offices, common areas, and special occasions. I can just image the faces of the community members as they admired Denise's handiwork!

She has also worked for several professional grower organizations in locations from Puerto Rico to Florida to Tennessee. And for a long time, she was the owner/operator of GardenSmith Greenhouse & Nursery in Jefferson, Georgia. It was a wholesale/retail operation, serving homeowners, gardeners, independent garden centers, and specialty landscapers across the Southeast. I've owned businesses myself, so I know that Denise must be a woman of many talents--you have to wear a lot of hats when you are sole owner! Indeed, her resume lists "production planning; growing; recruiting, hiring, training, and supervising employees; publicity; sales and marketing; facilities maintenance; shipping; community outreach; public speaking; and writing." Whew!

That item about community outreach is a bit of an understatement. Denise is very committed to giving of her time and talents to state, local, industry and charitable organizations. (Hmmm...I wonder if I can recruit her for my Rotary Club!?) Among many other groups, she was on the Board of Directors for the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce, the Crawford W. Long Museum, and the Tumbling Waters Society. To round out her busy schedule, Denise also published articles in publications such as Fine Gardening magazine and was a featured speaker for flower shows, conferences, and symposia around the Southeast. She even found the time to be co-founder of the Susquehanna Unit of the Herb Society of America!

So what is Denise going to be doing here at Park Seed? I understand that her emphasis is going to be on the plant side of the Park Seed brand. Which means she will be working closely with my buddy, Stephanie. But now that creates a new challenge. If Stephanie is the Queen of Seeds, what title does that leave for our new friend? Denise's suggestion--Garden Goddess!

Yep, she's going to fit in around here just fine!

Flowers, Fireworks, and The Fourth

Hooray for holidays and long weekends! Because holidays are a good time to kick back and have some fun, I'm going to share with you a little game that we play at Park Seed/Wayside Gardens. Plant developers often get very creative in naming their new cultivars, and we get a kick out of making up stories using those clever names. So to celebrate the Fourth of July, here are some plants with names appropriate to the event.

First, let's take a moment to honor important people from America's past. Benjamin Franklin, inventor, wit, author, and diplomat, is represented by Franklinia alatamaha. The story goes that in 1777, a Georgia gardener named this beauty after his life-long friend, Benjamin.

The roster of remarkable presidents features Abraham Lincoln quite prominantely, as does the flower world. I do suspect, however, that our esteemed national hero would prefer to be associated with the Mister Lincoln Rose than with the Lincoln Leek!

Of course, the Fourth would simply not be THE Fourth without pyrotechnics! Happily, you don't have to put your fingers in your ears to enjoy these:

Hosta Fireworks (left)

Firecracker Flower (right)

Dahlia Fireworks (below left)

Brazilian Fireworks Maracas (right)

To conclude festive celebrations of the birth of our nation, most Fourth of July programs fire up an orchestra and a few cannons to perform the 1812 Overture by Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky. Odd, given that the piece celebrates the victory of the Russians over Napoleon's invasion and has nothing to do with the USA whatsoever. (Still, it's very popular! Back when I made my living as a musician, I remember playing the 1812 at three different concerts with three different groups on that single day!)

Fortunately, most bands and orchestras follow the 1812 with a much more suitable American signature tune: The Stars and Stripes Forever! And so in similar fashion, I'll conclude this little Independence Day post with the lovely Stars and Stripes Amaryllis.

Have a wonderful and safe holiday!!

WRG2: Denise's Doozies and Doggies

If I'm going to offer a series of posts describing the gardens of my colleagues here in the Park Seed eCommerce Department (We Are Gardeners, Too! or WRG2), then I surely must shine the spotlight on my gal pal Denise Bruner. Yes, you may remember her as Ms. Cheez-It, or as a member of our Letterbox Gang, or even as a serious gardener, based on her Fall plantings. Here's a glimpse at Denise's Summer garden, which is packed with some real doozies!

This frothy pink blossom is a tree peony. I personally just love peonies, and even tried to grow some in the backyard of a house I had years ago. (We won't mention the fact that I planted three out of nine headfirst...which made for a pretty ragged row, I have to say!)

Denise has made room in her yard and in her heart for a couple of members of the herb category. At left is a borage bloom. To the right is calendula. If you remember, calendula is the Herb of the Year for 2008, as determined by the International Herb Association.

The lovely dangling, bell-shaped blue flower at left is a Clematis--Clematis 'Rooguchi' to be precise. Another flower in a similar color scheme is the Viola 'Silver Samurai' shown at right. I realize the picture looks a little dark in the small size, but click on it to see the large image, and you'll see the lovely dewdrops glistening on the petals and foliage.

I'm told that no garden is complete without at least a few roses. Denise has included a couple of Floribundas. The picture-perfect blossom on the left is 'Sisters at Heart,' and the bright bouquet on the right is 'Scentimental.' I think it looks like peppermint candy, and I understand it's not just beautiful, but also has a spicy fragrance (hence the name!).

Finally, although flora are the focal point of our garden tours, we have not been neglecting the fauna. Denise is rightly fond of the ladybugs in her garden, such as the one roaming at left. But she reserves the bulk of her affection for the three charming amigas shown below. This trio of Chihuahuas bring love and laughter to the household. I'll let Denise introduce them in her own words:

"Ernestina is the white one with her tongue sticking out. Boo is the gray one. She's the fat girl with the thyroid problem and a bad attitude to go with it. Last is Lupe - full name Guadalupe de Dionisia. (Dionisia was my fake Spanish name in my high school Spanish class...my teacher pretty much made it up because there wasn't a Spanish equivalent for Denise.) She's the tan one that's waaaaaay sweet. She's the momma of the group and the head patrol for the yard and compost bin."

Thanks, Denise, for letting us ramble around in your garden. We enjoyed the plants and the pups!

Do you have photos of your summer garden to share? Please email them to me at ckuhl@parkseed.com. Let us know what's in your garden!