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vieja_gw

who are these companies ...?

vieja_gw
10 years ago

I get garden catalogs form so many 'different'? companies but often see their address is much the same: Randolph, Wisconsin !! Are these the same company using different names or really different/separate companies? If they are different, where is the seed/plants grown... same place or different? I guess Burpees is now owned by Jung?

I apologise... I am not on the appropriate site probably but couldn't find a better one!


Very confusing!!

Comments (20)

  • farmerdill
    10 years ago

    As far as I know Burpee is stilled owned by George Ball. Jung owns R. H. Shumway, Totally Tomatoes, Vermont bean, Seymour, HPS. All retail seed companies buy seed from big developers and growers. It could be grown anywhere in the world. Plants are usually drop shipped from a contracting nursery or grower.

  • theforgottenone1013 (SE MI zone 5b/6a)
    10 years ago

    Vermont Bean, Totally Tomatoes, Jung, R.H. Shumways, Edmunds Roses, and several others are all basically the same company. You can order from all these separate companies online and pay only one shipping rate by going to a website they have in their catalogs (I'm not sure if I should post the site or not). I personally have never had any problems with any of them.

    Rodney

  • vieja_gw
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thanks! Seems it would be more efficient if all combined under just ONE company/name if all owned by the same company ...... ! Maybe the confusion is intended ?

    So many well known & liked & respected companies sell & sell their good name with it. But if the new company doesn't have a good reputation it reflects badly on the original good name & company?

  • digdirt2
    10 years ago

    I don't understand why you are so concerned. Just because a company is owned by a different parent company doesn't mean their reputation is somehow questionable much less "bad". Umbrella ownership is actually quite common in all aspects of business from airlines to restaurants to yacht makers and has been for many decades.

    Each of the seed companies you mention was once an independent company, many family owned and sold and resold for many different reasons. Each has a different target or regional focus and different management philosophy. Order from the ones who offer the seeds you want and don't worry about who owns who.

    Dave

  • nc_crn
    10 years ago

    Some companies have come in and skewed what the company once was (Heronswood Nursery/Burpee, most recently notorious in the negative aspect of new ownership).

    For the most part there are some good ownership companies out there pushing out good products and/or leaving the smaller companies they own mostly independent to do their thing without much interference in their operations.

    I find the "RH Shumway" umbrella of companies very high quality. They share a lot of similar stock between each other, but they take care to keep developing and keep stocking things that keeps each sub-company under the umbrella unique.

    Aside from the larger company buying out the smaller company and changing it's focus or limiting what it stocks...the biggest danger seems to come from the parent company coming into money problems and it effecting everything from stock to quality to service and points in between. Something is going down (mainly money issues) with once-good Park Seeds and it's negatively effecting every sub-company they own/run...Wayside Gardens, Jackson and Perkins, etc.

    This post was edited by nc-crn on Wed, Nov 13, 13 at 18:39

  • little_minnie
    10 years ago

    Look them up on Dave's garden. It won't let me post the link to Dave's due to spam.

  • woohooman San Diego CA zone 10a
    10 years ago

    I don't keep up with the whole seed companies monopolizing umbrella thing. So, I won't comment on that.

    But.... one thing that's very common in business and has been for as long as I can remember is that companies that deal a lot with mail order will set up business in the midwest. Thus allowing a midpoint for mailings across the U.S.

    Richardson, TX, for example, is synonymous with mail order.

    Kevin

    This post was edited by woohooman on Wed, Nov 13, 13 at 20:03

  • theforgottenone1013 (SE MI zone 5b/6a)
    10 years ago

    I tried to do the same thing, little_minnie, and got that same spam warning. Don't understand why it won't let us link to that site.

    Rodney

  • nc_crn
    10 years ago

    The amount of self-reviewed and "stuffed ballot box" reviews on Dave's Gardens is unfortunately all-too-much. You really need many dozens of reviews (with the most recent over a year given the most weight) to skew out the b/s from the real.

    As far as how they earned "spammer" status on this site, though, i dunno.

  • vieja_gw
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Some of the 'old time' nurseries/catalogs that we seniors had always depended on/ordered from.. now seem to have different owners lately so wondered if the old good reputation is now the same & just curious as th why the mailing addresses of most are in Randolph, Wisconsin. Just wondering, that's all!
    Seems to be happening in many other areas of business also : Sears/KMart, etc. Unfortunate that one would sell one's good name & reputation along with the company, unless the reputation of the new company would uphold one's good name!

  • wayne_5 zone 6a Central Indiana
    10 years ago

    Like nc-crn said, It usually is a money problem that small companies face that sell out to a bigger concern......they can't help it. I think it is better to continue under new management than to slip into obliviation.

    That said, we like to continue the familiarity of our old company with its familiar look and products.

  • farmerdill
    10 years ago

    Vendors are located all across the country frpm Maine (Johnny's, Pinetree, Fedco) to California (Sustainable, Kitazawa, Evergreen, Redwood, J.L. Hudson etc) From Oregon (Territorial, Victory), to South Carolina (Parks, Twilley) and points in between Pennsylvania (Burpee) Connecticut (New England Seed) Missouri (Baker Creek) Texas ( Wiilhite) Kentucky (Bunton, Ferry- Morse) New York (Harris) Indianna ( Gardens Alive group - Gurneys Henry Fields) Iowa (Sandhill, Seed Savers Exchange). Lots of vendors scattered about the counrty that I don't know about. Two Canadian companies maintain a US presence (Stokes, Veseys)
    Wherever you are you can find a vendor near if that is your pleasure.

  • tishtoshnm Zone 6/NM
    10 years ago

    I think it can be important to understand the dynamics of who owns who. For me, I thought that there was a company that produced seeds in NM and I thought this would help me get varieties suited for my climate (I think it was Seeds of Change, not sure). I was a couple years too late though, the company was bought out by Nestle and closed their farm that was local.

    Now, there is another NM based company, Gouret Seeds, but the seed is not produced locally, in fact, I think much of it is European.

  • seysonn
    10 years ago

    That is why I try to save seeds from OP/Heirlooms, as much as possible. This coming season I might buy just couple of hybrid tomato varieties. Everything else will be OP.

  • Mark
    10 years ago

    Interesting thread and great info.

    Even those companies that have their own seed farms often can't produce certain seeds in their climate so they will usually contract growers in optimal areas to produce for them. Western states have predictably dry summers and can produce many seed crops that can't be done back east because of summer rains. All the composites, including lettuce, are a prime example.

    Here in Oregon i've worked at various farms that have grown seeds for: Seeds of Change, Territorial, Fedco, Turtle Tree, High Mowing, Wild Garden and likely a few others I can't remember.

  • vieja_gw
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    tissshtoshnm:
    Roswell Seed here in New Mexico sells a lot of seed but not sure either where that seed is grown ... & the bulk seed I buy from them has no expiration date on the package I get either.

    Roswell is in zone 6, @ ?3600 ft. as you are zone 6, yet Roswell is far south of us here in zone 7 ... a mile high!

  • Mark
    10 years ago

    I missed the part about seeds from New Mexico.

    As far as I know Seeds of Change still has their research farm in NM. Also, they weren't "bought out" by Nestle, they were "bailed out" from going under by Mars/M&M who used their name to start a health food line. I don't think they effected much change in the seed company other than a new, glossy catalogue.
    I still like Seeds of Change for high quality, organic seeds. Below is a recent article.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Seeds of Change research farm

  • fusion_power
    10 years ago

    I grow a few varieties of seed for Sandhill Preservation. Glenn and I talk in late winter and set up varieties he wants grown out. I plant, harvest, separate seed, and ship them to him. He is in Iowa, I am in Alabama. The advantage for him is that I have access to and can grow varieties that are adapted here in the deep south.

    For example, I grow peanuts for him because I have a soil type and climate that is highly conducive to producing lots of peanuts. I also grow some cotton, beans, peppers, tomatoes, okra, and melons/watermelons. By growing a single variety, I do not have to worry about cross pollination.

    While he pays me for the seed, it is not really enough to justify the effort involved. My reason for growing is because I support the concept of preserving and maintaining the seed that have sustained humanity for generations. I also do not trust the large conglomerates like monsanto to produce and maintain diversity.

  • tishtoshnm Zone 6/NM
    10 years ago

    Madroneb, Thank you for the article. I may have to look into it further in the future. The last I had seen was the 2010 closing of the farm but did not keep up on if it had been re-opened or not (trying to keep abreast of all of that is tiring).

    Vieja, I will look into Roswell Seed too. I am actually in Santa Fe county, DH even works in Santa Fe (although we are about an hour out) and that is why I was really interested in their seeds because the climates are rather similar (SF is just a teensy bit cooler and a little bit wetter, depending on what directions the storms are coming in from that year).

  • vieja_gw
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    tishtossnm: I had read/heard of 'Seeds of Change' in an issue of 'Mother Earth News' I think. There is also an underground place in Iowa (where I am from before becoming a New Mexican!) & maybe in Colorado where I think they are saving seeds to retreive & grow if there is a disaster of some kind that wipes out all above ground?

    Roswell Seed as well as not having an expiration date on their seed that they weigh & package there for you,has no source of the seed on the packages either. That store goes WAY back in the family & Roswell history & a neat old store to visit!

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