Heronswood: A Brief History

Founded in 1987 by plantsman Dan Hinkley and architect Robert Jones, Heronswood Nursery and its gardens became internationally known by the late 1990s. The five acres of gardens created amid tall Douglas firs served as a trial ground for thousands of plants grown from seeds collected in the wild and new to cultivation. Over the years, Hinkley and others gathered seed from all over the world: China, Korea, Japan, Bhutan, South Africa, Chile, Costa Rica and myriad other countries are represented in the gardens. The resulting plants were trialed in the gardens and tagged in order to trace the plant’s origin (or provenance), the year the seed was collected, the country, the altitude, growing conditions, and more. Once these plants passed muster in the gardens, they were made available to gardeners everywhere through the famous book-length Heronswood catalogues and later via the company’s Web site.

In 2000 Heronswood was purchased by W. Atlee Burpee & Co., enabling the nursery to acquire an additional seven acres next door where two more greenhouses were erected for special collections.

The list of famous gardeners who have made the journey to view the Heronswood plant collections is too long to print. Longer still is the list of regional gardeners who learned about plants at Heronswood and would never be the same! The list of Heronswood plant introductions amazes us all: hardy impatiens and begonias, new and exotic forms of Solomon’s seal and Disporum, sapphire-blue Corydalis, rare hydrangeas (both shrubby and climbing)—and that is without even mentioning the nursery’s famous hellebore breeding program from which many outstanding examples are growing in the woodland gardens.

Now this treasured garden is up for sale. Please join us in our effort to continue its history, to perpetuate its tradition of teaching and research, and, most important, to preserve this internationally renowned botanical garden for the benefit of horticultural students and professionals, gardeners, and the public gardens and communities of the Pacific Northwest and beyond.