Happy 226th Birthday
to D. Landreth Seed Company!
If you like gardening, you should know about Landreth Seed Company. Browsing through their catalog is at least a 3-bib drool-a-thon for gardeners.
The company first opened in Philadelphia on January 7, 1784. Now how many seed companies do you know that have stayed in business 226 years?
Some of their initial customers included such notables as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Joseph Bonaparte (Napoleon’s brother).
This company introduced the Zinnia into the United States, and what would a summer flowerbed be without cheerful zinnias? Landreth also introduced the first truly white potato. (Potatoes were yellow before that.) Now they not only have white potatoes, but other colors like purple!
And a crowning achievement in my estimation - in 1820, Landreth introduced the tomato. Think how many foods you eat that have tomatoes in them! Spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, ketchup, salad tomatoes, sliced tomatoes on sandwiches... the list could go on and on. It's hard to believe people first thought tomatoes were poisonous!
They have about 85 different kind of tomatoes now, with some great heirloom varieties like Brandywine.
Reading about Landreth's history is pretty interesting. They are the fifth oldest corporation in America, and claim to have sold seed to every American president from George Washington to Franklin D. Roosevelt.
In their words,
"The Landreth story is the story of an American family business which was born near the time of America’s birth and grew with America over three centuries. It is a story of strong minded men and women of principle, fathers and mothers, sons and daughters who pursued a path of innovation and exploration with the pioneering spirit that will always be the essence of what makes this country great."
So Happy Birthday to an American success story that helps our gardens grow!
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Happy Birthday to them!! I think it’s amazing that a company in 1784 thought, “Let gather the seeds from our garden stuff, dry it out and sell it.” Of course, I wonder who bought seeds back then too. I would think that acreage neighbors would just trade seeds if they wanted something new.
Hi, I’m an American expat in New Zealand. Purple potatoes are called ‘Maori potatoes’ here because they’ve been eating by the Maori here for a very long time. I’m told that the original Polynesian explorers brought the purple potatoes with them when they discovered New Zealand.
I grew them in my garden last year, and they were great fun.
Ceecee, maybe he sold seeds because for one thing, he had different ones people didn’t already have. Who knows!?!
Moon over Martinborough. . . wow! New Zealand! Welcome! That’s pretty interesting about the purple potatoes.