verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . january 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message w. atlee burpee & co. type private company industry gardening founder washington atlee burpee products seeds plants and supplies for home gardening owner george ball website www.burpee.com burpee seeds officially w. atlee burpee & co. is a seed company that was founded by washington atlee burpee in 1876 . 1 contrary to a natural folk etymology assumption the company is not named after a relationship to burpless cucumbers . contents 1 history 2 white marigold 3 references 4 external links history edit the company first sold garden seeds farm supplies tools poultry and hogs . the direction of the company began to change with the death of its founder in 1915 when his son david burpee inherited the firm . david was interested in war or victory gardens and was an early promoter of the concept during world war i. he also prioritized in flowers and initiated several flower breeding programs . in 1970 david burpee sold his company to general foods . in 1974 burpee moved from its north philadelphia location to its current headquarters at 300 park avenue in warminster pennsylvania . septa extended its warminster line commuter rail to warminster the train station being opposite park avenue from burpee s headquarters . in 1979 the company was acquired by itt . david burpee remained as a consultant until his death in june 1980 . in 1991 the burpee company was acquired by george ball inc. a diversified horticultural family business . jonathan burpee the founder s grandson was the last burpee family member to work for the company . the company maintains the original burpee farm fordhook farms in doylestown pennsylvania where notable varieties such as iceberg lettuce and big boy tomato were bred . the company currently sells seeds and garden accessories to home gardeners . white marigold edit in its 1954 catalog w. atlee burpee & co. first advertised a competition for the development of the first white marigold flower offering 10 000 to any gardener whose efforts produced a flower deemed to be pure white . 21 years later the prize was awarded to 67 year old alice vonk of sully iowa who received 100 the previous year as one of six gardeners nationwide whose marigolds came closest to being white . 2 3 4 5 6 vonk kept seeds from the lightest flowers in her garden each season replanting for over two decades before achieving a pure white marigold that measured 2.5 inches in diameter . her entry in the 1975 edition of the contest topped 8 200 other entrants and produced what was then described as the costliest flower ever . 2 references edit retailerida4b383cd view brandburpee . burpee company history page . burpee.com . retrieved 2011 08 08 . a b sully woman s life unchanged after producing prize marigold pella chronicle pella iowa september 10 1975 page 16 . beaver county times google news archive search the free lance star google news archive search the evening independent google news archive search sarasota herald tribune google news archive search external links edit biography of w. atlee burpee biography of david burpee burpee seeds corporate site the legacy of w. atlee burpee burpee catalog cover gallery retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title burpee seeds & oldid 743215896 categories agriculture companies of the united statescompanies established in 1876seed companiescompanies based in bucks county pennsylvania1876 establishments in pennsylvaniahidden categories articles needing additional references from january 2016all articles needing additional references navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 8 october 2016 at 15 18 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view