privately held industry gardening founded 1915 strongsville ohio usa headquarters granger township medina county ohio usa coordinates coordinates 41 08 27 n 81 44 04 w 41.140911 n 81.734457 w 41.140911 ; 81.734457 products seeds plants and accessories website www.hirts.com hirt s gardens is a retail greenhouse located in granger township medina county ohio that offers unusual and hard to find seeds seedlings and mature plants ranging from traditional vegetables to rare perennials to exotic houseplants . contents 1 notable media coverage 2 history 3 popular plants 3.1 carnivorous plants 3.2 passionflowers 3.3 sensitive plants 3.4 olive trees 3.5 heirloom vegetables 4 popular seeds 4.1 organic seeds 4.2 hybrid seeds 5 rare seeds 5.1 heirloom tomatoes 6 references 7 external links notable media coverage edit although hirt s gardens started as a small family business and is managed today by matthew hirt the great grandson of founder sam hirt it has received national coverage . hirt s gardens its significance has been established in multiple ways . the hirt family s greenhouses have been mentioned in historical society books such as strongsville we shape our destiny 1968 . 1 the architecture of the greenhouses was highlighted in the book images of america strongsville written by bruce m. courey . hirt s gardens is listed as a resource on ohio state university s horticulture and crop science resource page . 2 the hirt family s four generations who have run the business have been featured in newspaper articles such as reporter linda kinsey s article family roots traced to local greenhouse . 3 alan hirt s wide ranging success radio florist shops in malls was covered in kimberly harrison s article hirt tunes in fewer plant shops more radio . 4 national garden writers such as brenda beust smith from the houston chronicle have cited hirt s gardens in their columns 5 mother earth news a popular magazine about gardening listed hirt s as one of the top 20 sources for heirloom tomato seeds in the united states . 6 history edit hirt s gardens is a family business that has operated continuously since 1915 and is one of the oldest retail greenhouses in ohio . started by sam and anna hirt its early focus was on horseradish and vegetables which sam hirt sold in cleveland . hirt s greenhouse in 1940 it is believed that sam intended to pass the business directly to his eldest son paul hirt but paul hirt died in 1918 when the merchant marine ship he was on the otranto sank off the coast of england . so sam hirt passed the business to some of his other sons most notably lawrence hirt art hirt and hobart hirt . lawrence and art started hirt s wholesale which supplied florists supplies vegetable seedlings and houseplants to the retail business run by hobart and his wife onalee n e baker . the retail business was initially called strongsville greenhouse and was located at 13867 pearl rd strongsville ohio . hirt s gardens today the three children of hobart and onalee hirt were marie clare and alan . all worked at the greenhouse in the 1960s and 1970s and the business was passed on to clare and alan in the mid 1970s who were joined by a third business partner paul king whom they had met at ohio state university . by then the greenhouses were known as hirt s greenhouse and flowers . for a while they operated small florists outlets at two popular northeast ohio malls great northern mall and beachwood place . alan hirt along with his wife at the time karen hirt found great success appearing on local news and radio shows where they answered common gardening questions . by the late 1990s the successful business included a floral shop and 14 greenhouses wall to wall at the intersections of pearl road and royalton road one of the busiest corners in strongsville . in 2004 the property was sold to developers but the business did not end . clare hirt took over the floral part of the business called it hirt s flowers and re located down the road from the original business at 14407 pearl rd. hirt s flowers was then sold in 2014 and while it retains the hirt name it is no longer run by the hirt family . alan hirt and his son matthew hirt took over the horticulture part of the business now called hirt s gardens . it is now located at 4943 ridge rd. the original strongsville greenhouses were demolished in 2005 . popular plants edit while hirt s gardens grows thousands of common plants they specialize in harder to find plants . here is a list of their most popular unusual plants . carnivorous plant terrarium at hirt s gardens carnivorous plants edit of the approximately 630 species of carnivorous plants known to exist hirt s gardens grows about thirty . carnivorous plants are one of the most popular plants sold at hirt s gardens . venus flytrap at hirt s gardens passionflowers edit a passion flower in bloom at hirt s gardens hirt s gardens offers both seeds and mature plants of passiflora in several varieties including the scarlet passionflower the sweet granadilla the sweet calabash and the blue passionflower as well as an edible variety . matthew hirt believes that gardeners prize the plant for both its religious associations and the striking beauty of the blossoms . sensitive plants edit hirt s gardens offers both seeds and mature plants of mimosa pudica . sensitive plants cultivated by hirt s gardens were featured in the season 5 premier of csi ny . owner alan hirt was contacted by the show s producers because they explained his was the closest greenhouse to new york city that sold sensitive plants in quantity and they needed the plants for the show s final cliffhanger scene involving the murderer . 7 a sensitive plant in bloom at hirt s gardens olive trees edit hirt s gardens has olive tree seeds and seedling olive trees of the species olea europaea a species famous for its associations with peace . heirloom vegetables edit hirt s gardens offers a variety of heirloom vegetables as seeds sold year round or young plants sold during spring . hirt s gardens sells heirloom tomato seedlings popular seeds edit organic seeds edit hirt s gardens offers organic seeds year round . organic seeds have been produced using practices that support the cycling of on farm resources promote ecological balance and conserve biodiversity in accordance with the usda organic regulations . 8 hybrid seeds edit hirt s gardens offers hybrid seed year round . rare seeds edit heirloom tomatoes edit heirloom tomatoes have become increasingly popular in recent years . hirt s gardens offers more than sixty varieties of heirloom tomato seeds that produce fruits in sizes ranging from grape to globe . references edit ohio historical society . strongsville we shape our destiny 1968 . horticulture and crop science resource page . the ohio state university . web . kinsey linda . family roots traced to local greenhouse . sun star . 14 january 1982 c1 . harrison kimberly p. hirt tunes in fewer plant shops more radio . crain s cleveland business . 6 september 1993 smith brenda beust . one person s scourge is another s delight colorful oxalis can brighten winter lawns . houston chronicle . 7 february 2009 . pleasant barbara . first class tomatoes . mother earth news . 1 april 2006 . www.motherearthnews.com ohio greenhouse helps out csi ny . greenhouse grower . october 21 2008 . http www.ams.usda.gov sites default files media about % 20the % 20national % 20organic % 20program.pdf external links edit hirt s gardens retail web site hirt s facebook page photographs of the hirt family and their greenhouses article about increasing popularity of growing vegetables featuring an interview with alan hirt article about hirt s gardens sensitive plants appearing on csi new york link to images of america strongsville featuring hirt s gardens link to hirt s gardens appearance on ohio state university s horticulture and crop sciences resource page retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title hirt % 27s gardens & 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