Our Story

Every year, just as winter sets in, millions of gardeners eagerly await the arrival of the Park's Seed catalog. Like their parents and grandparents have done for more than a century, today's home gardeners turn to Park's for new and unusual flowers and vegetables. Here, gardeners find all they could wish for in America's complete listing of home garden seeds, complemented by ornamental bulbs and plants as well as the latest and best in gardening accessories. Although generations have thumbed through the pages of Park's catalogs since 1868, few have known the story of George Watt Park, one of seven children in a Libonia, Pennsylvania farm family.

A Young Entrepreneur

George's mother noticed his interest in horticulture when he was just a young child, and encouraged him to raise flowers in a corner of her flower garden. Later, when George Park was 16, he bought a hand press and printed a list of seeds that he sent around to friends and neighbors. After Park printed his list, he bought an advertisement in The Rural American for $3.50, which brought him $6.50 in seed orders. With this success, the young entrepreneur learned one of the cardinal rules of business: "it pays to advertise."

Park's First Catalog

Spurred by the initial success of his one-page seed list, George printed the first Park catalog in 1868. It was just 8 pages with 2 illustrations - wood cuts of an aster and a pansy. Then in 1871 the young seedsman started a monthly magazine, The Floral Gazette, in which he offered advice on gardening and created a forum where people could share gardening experiences. The magazine gave even the poorest gardener an opportunity to grow many different varieties through its exchange column, which encouraged readers to trade seeds, bulbs and plants. Circulation of the magazine grew to 20,000 in 1877, and to over 800,000 by 1918.

Successful Businessman Earns Degree

Although Park changed the name of the monthly magazine to Park's Floral Magazine in 1877, and raised the subscription price to the princely sum of .50 a year to cover increased postal rates, thousands of loyal readers still felt they were getting a bargain. In fact, one wrote that he feared a collection would have to be taken up for the publisher because "he gives the magazine away". In reality, George didn't go broke. The business continued to evolve and grow and as he approached 30, he was already a successful businessman. It was at this time that George did what most would consider risky---leave a thriving business so he could fulfill his lifelong dream of getting a college education. In 1882 Park left Pennsylvania to attend Michigan State University where he would earn a degree in Horticulture.

A New Location for the Company

Park returned full-time to Libonia, Pennsylvania and resumed leadership of his company that continued to grow for the next ten years. Then, around the turn of the century, an opportunity to improve the efficiency of the company's shipping operations, namely being closer to the Pennsylvania Railroad, meant pulling up stakes and moving to new headquarters. Always looking to improve and grow the company, Park did not hesitate to make the decision. The new location was in LaPark (now Paradise) in the southeastern part of the state.

A May-December Romance

When most would be putting a lifetime of work behind them and looking forward to retirement, George was reinventing himself, and the company he started, once again. At the age of 64, Park was a widower when he met the much younger Mary Barratt, a home demonstration county agent from South Carolina. She had written to him for advice on teaching horticulture to homemakers. For two years they corresponded, sometimes in very lengthy 40-page letters. What began as friendship based on their common horticulture interest blossomed into love, and they were married in 1918.

The Company Finds a New Home--Again

Perhaps energized by his newfound romance, Park decided to move the company from Pennsylvania to Dunedin, Florida and printed a catalog there in 1923. Although the Parks liked living in Florida, this was before air-conditioning, and they found that seeds would not keep long in the heat and humidity. Searching for a place with a more favorable climate, the Parks selected Mary's hometown--- Greenwood, South Carolina.

Park Family Continues to Lead Company

George W. Park died in 1935 and Mary continued the successful operation of the company while raising their two boys, George Barratt and William John. . Like their father, they had their own garden as boys, and worked in the seed house after school. After World War II, George Barratt Park headed the company until his untimely death in 1967, when his younger brother William J. Park, assumed leadership. William continued until 1990 when he became Chairman of the Board. Today, Karen Park Jennings, George Barratt Park's daughter, is the owner of the company.

In a span of three generations, Park Seed Co. has grown from a one page list of seeds handed out to neighbors and friends to the largest family-owned direct-marketing horticulture company in the U.S. Park offers gardeners, through its catalogs and corresponding web sites, thousands of choice seeds, plants, bulbs, and gardening aids. But even as the company expands and evolves to meet new challenges, the founder's tradition of giving first priority to our customer's success and gardening pleasure is still a guiding principle.

Continuing to lead the seed industry. Growing our online business even further, by reaching a younger audience.

The Seed and Garden industry will continue to grow their online business even further, by creating a larger presence on the web. Along with the successful catalogs that the current customers have grown to love.

Once a year, usually mid-June, Park Seed has "Flower Day". On Flower Day you have the opportunity to hear some of America's most respected authorities on gardening including members of our Park Seed Product Development Team. Visitors can attend gardening seminars and demonstrations on various gardening subjects or take a tour of our state of the art seed room as well as other areas of our facility.