Planting Roots for The Future
In 1897 when The Conard and Jones Co. started, roses were just beginning to appear in people’s gardens. More than a century later Star® Roses and Plants, as it is known today, has introduced some of the most popular plants in the industry and has made them accessible to gardens throughout the world. Our history is marked by many “firsts” that have helped shape America’s gardens and the nursery industry.
First with Plant Guarantees
The 1907 catalog pledged “Conard and Jones roses to bloom each at its seasonable time.” This was followed by the headline, “A new way to buy roses: Our roses are guaranteed to bloom.” To the best of the company’s knowledge, this was the first guarantee to the consumer in the nursery industry.
Innovation through Trademarks, Patents
Robert Pyle, who joined the company in 1900 and became its head in 1907, was a marketing genius and savvy entrepreneur. He decided to focus the company’s marketing efforts on roses, establishing The Conard and Jones Co. as a primary grower of roses in America. To reinforce his marketing strategy and set his company’s roses apart from those of the competition, he adopted and trademarked the word Star in 1908, thus creating Star® Roses. This became one of the first horticultural trademarks, one Star® Roses and Plants is still known for over 120 years later.
Later, when the Plant Patent Act was passed in 1930, Star® Roses and Plants was among the first to patent new roses and license other leading nurseries to grow and sell them, which made both the industry and the company stronger.
Pioneer in Forging European Alliances
While other nurserymen traveled to Europe early in the century, Pyle seems to be the first nurseryman to forge partnerships with European hybridizers and to bring their creations to the American market. Pyle’s alliance with Meilland International in the south of France dates back to the 1930’s and has resulted in numerous introductions, including the Peace rose.
Industry Leader, Award Winner
Pyle was among the industry leaders who established All American Rose Selections (AARS) in 1938 with the mission of evaluating new roses and publicizing the award winners. Before it dissolved in 2013, AARS had test and demonstration gardens across the nation, including one at Star® Roses and Plants facilities in West Grove, PA. Star® Roses and Plants has had dozens of AARS winners over the years.
Later, when the Plant Patent Act was passed in 1930, Star® Roses and Plants was among the first to patent new roses and license other leading nurseries to grow and sell them, which made both the industry and the company stronger.
More Than Roses
While the emphasis for many years was on roses, Star® Roses and Plants always offered other quality plants. Antoine Wintzer, a hybridizer from Alsace Lorraine, did much of the pioneering work in scientifically hybridizing cannas in the US around the turn of the century. These exotic plants figured prominently in early catalogs. In 1970, Star® Roses and Plants introduced the Blue and China Hollies, generally considered one of the best ornamental plant introductions of the decade and perhaps the century.
Other Firsts and More Ahead
Star® Roses and Plants has had a century of firsts. It was one of the first on the east coast to become a container production nursery. It introduced the first climbing rose (Mme. Gregoire Staechelin in 1928) to win “The Gold Medal of Bagatelle” award in Paris. It also introduced the first rose (Sonia) suited to both garden and greenhouse and the first roses (Sunblaze®) to fit between traditional floribundas and true miniature roses. To maintain its tradition of innovation, Star® Roses and Plants introduced The Knock Out® Family of Roses and Drift® Roses, both breakthrough series in rose breeding.
Succession, Acquisition, and Transition
After thirty years at the helm, Steve Hutton sold Star® Roses and Plants to Ball® Horticultural in 2015. With the sale, the company inherited hundreds of woody plants from the Ball Ornamentals program and handed off the young perennial program to Darwin® Perennials.
A year later, Star® Roses and Plants purchased BrazelBerries®, relaunching the brand as Bushel and Berry®, further diversifying their plant portfolio. The company additionally secured the exclusive right to license Kordes® garden roses throughout the US and Canada, positioning it as the most complete supplier to the nursery industry, with an extensive offering of roses, woody shrubs, and edibles.
In 2018, Bradd Yoder was promoted from Director of Sales to President of Star® Roses and Plants and continues to grow the company with a renewed focus on research and development, trialing, and systems. Star® Roses and Plants celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2022 and continues its legacy of Bringing Great Plants to the World’s Gardens®.
