The Burpee Open Will Showcase the Gardening Giant’s Doylestown Home This Weekend

DOYLESTOWN, PA—A local farm that’s home to the gardening giant Burpee will open its doors to give the public a rare peek at its gardens and estate this weekend.

Fordhook Farm, which is located at105 New Britain Rd. (across from the side entrance to Delaware Valley University), is home to Burpee’s product testing operations. Because the gates to the farm are open to the public only one day a year, the event offers a rare chance to see the test gardens of one of the biggest gardening companies in the United States.

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The Burpee Open takes place on Saturday, July 27, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The free event will feature self-guided garden tours, a chance to ask expert gardeners questions, lectures, activities for kids, live music, food trucks and a pop-up Burpee store.

This is only the second time the event has been held since 2019. The event was cancelled for 2020, 2021 and 2022 because of the pandemic. It returned for the first time in 2023.

Burpee and its open houses have deep roots in Doylestown. Atlee Burpee was running a poultry and livestock company here when he created the company named after his family. Burpee’s customers regularly complained that they needed a better source of seeds, so he created the first research-based seed business in the U.S. By the end of the 1800s, Burpee had unveiled new varieties of cabbages, lima beans and peppers.

The company began holding the Burpee Open in late 1800s as a farmer’s picnic that would attract hundreds of guests from Doylestown and the surrounding areas. Back then, farmers were excited to see Burpee’s facilities and the company’s latest products.

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Fordhook Farm still plays a central role in Burpee’s products, with the Doylestown location conducting nearly all of its research and trials. Visitors on Saturday will see a compound of buildings on the sprawling property behind the tall gates on New Britain Road and perfectly tended gardens with a variety of plants and flowers.

One barn on the property that originally served as a seed house has been converted into a meeting space. And one of the newer gardens—the “stumpery”—offers a modern take on gardens. The semi-wooded area contains hundreds of tree stumps surrounded by ferns and other plants that thrive in the shade.

More information on the Burpee Open is available on Burpee’s website.

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