My father was a wholesale grower and shipper of dish garden plants for most of his adult life, and I resisted his repeated overtures to take over his nursery business after he retired. Waking up at the crack of dawn and working long hours under the smoggy skies of southern California during the hot summer months did not appeal to me. When my dad retired in 1989, another nurseryman acquired his nursery stock, while a local developer bought the property and converted it into multiple single family homes.
Even though I disavowed any interest in taking over the family business, I did gain some exposure to the work environment. For instance, during the early 1980s when I was unemployed, my father hired me on a temporary basis as one of his nursery employees. I filled in wherever I was needed, such as watering plants in the lath house, loading soil into wooden flats that were used to grow rooted cuttings, and working alongside his staff in the packing shed to wrap and package plants into corrugated cardboard boxes that were being shipped off to buyers.
These days, my horticultural activities are confined to growing edible produce like garlic, onions, basil, potatoes, strawberries, tomatoes, squash, and broccoli. With the passage of time, I've observed that most of my dad's plant growing advice fell on deaf ears and have been largely forgotten, except for snippets such as, "Use vermiculite as a growing agent when appropriate, and water the heck out of your strawberries."
In May 1975, my parents took advantage of their once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to participate in a private tour of horticultural centers and events in Holland, France, Germany, and Britain. Their trip was organized by the California Association of Nurserymen where my father was a member. My parents took hundreds of photos of their overseas trip, and I recently spent time reviewing and digitizing many of their best images that they captured on film.
Identifying and cataloging the photographs was not a routine matter. My parents shot their film rolls using simple point-and-shoot cameras so common in those days that were technologically incapable of embedding GPS coordinates to each image. Except for the famous tulip gardens in Keukenhof which I had visited during the spring of 1998, I relied upon captions that my mother had inserted on selected album pages or had written on the back sides of photos.
One of the special events that my parents gained entrance to was the Chelsea Flower Show, which is a 5-day showcase held each May in the Chelsea district of London. Sponsored by the Royal Horticultural Society, the Chelsea Flower Show began in 1912, and regular attendees include members of the British royal family.
Out of the dozen images that my parents took at the flower show, only one captured both the plant display and company name of one of the exhibitors, which was Burnham Nurseries.
Out of curiosity, I conducted an online search and was pleasantly surprised to learn that Burnham Nurseries is still in business today. On a whim, I submitted an inquiry using the online form on Burnham Nurseries' web page.
After several days had passed, I received the following reply by email:
Hi Dale,
Thank you for your email and getting in touch. Amazing that you found this photo from 1975, and yes we are still going strong! I love the fact that our catalogues at that time were only 10 pence! I don't think you can buy anything that cheaply these days. We attended the Chelsea Flower Show for 52 years and stopped in 2009 after gaining our 20th Gold Medal.
All the best and thanks again,
Sara Rittershausen
Burnham Nurseries Ltd, Forches Cross, Newton Abbot, Devon, England TQ12 6PZ.
Tel: 01626 352233