The Burpee Open is blooming big this month, and it offers the chance to explore the (typically closed) grounds of one of the most well-known gardening brands in the world.
Set for July 27, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the experience is meant to give access to Fordhook Farm for a few hours one day a year to the public through self-guided garden tours. The event also boasts food trucks, live music, horticultural speakers, and other surprises in store.
“The Burpee Open is all about showing you things that you’ve never seen before and making you feel things that you’ve never felt,” says George Ball, Burpee Chairman. “That’s the goal of every visit.”
Globally, the brand is known as one of the foremost garden, seed, and plant companies, but what many don’t know is that its home lies close by in Bucks County. At the farm, Burpee breeds and trials plants to “to deliver the highest quality products and services to gardeners and other customers.” They also discover breakthrough varieties in fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers year-round.
Some of their past achievements include being the first to produce non-wilting lettuce in 1894, developing the world’s first large oval eggplant in 1905, and with revolutionizing the 2013 ‘Super Sauce’ tomato..’
The Burpee Open brings in thousands of guests annually making their way through the grounds, which were first purchased by founder W. Atlee Burpee in 1888. With only one day on the schedule each year (though there might be another added in coming years), the exclusivity of the floral-filled event is just one of the allures to the Open.
Visitors can wander through the brand’s Stumpery (which happens to be the largest of its kind in the world), Creek Garden (aka a creek now filled with colorful annuals and perennials), Stock Trial Beds, Arboretum (with over 138 rare tree specimens), newly renovated Ice House Garden, and much more.
One stand-out is definitely the Happiness Garden, which features a wide variety of different flowers, bees, butterflies and interesting sculptures (including a large model of a beehive made out of glass.) There’s also the Kitchen Garden, which is essentially a place to show the brand’s projects and innovations.
On top of self-guided garden tours, the Burpee Open on July 27 will feature food from local businesses along with shopping from The Bucks County Flower Collective and the Burpee Garden Shop. Children attending the event can participate in activities like flower arranging and a scavenger hunt, and then a lineup of guest speakers like plant breeders, garden designers, authors, and more will be on-site.
“At the Burpee Open, you can see our beautiful botanical garden through many different lenses,” adds George Ball in another statement. “You can see it through the lens of a family and its history. You can see it through the lens of horticulture and American history. And you can see it through the lens of a great gardening company.”
To learn more information about the 2024 Burpee Open at Fordhook Farm (105 New Britain Road, Doylestown), visit burpee.com
