Description
Lompoc Valley Botanic and Horticultural Society, Published 2006. Paperback, viii, 48 pp.; 22 x 27 cm; illustrated with photographs, some in color, seed packet and catalogue art, and a map of the flower fields.
Rare, out-of-print & unusual books · Since 1997
112
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Catalog notes
Condition & notes
In Very Good condition. Glossy pictorial paper covers, mild edge and shelf wear. Binding tight. Presentation inscription on title page in black ink to three family members, signed by the author and dated 2006. Otherwise unmarked. Robert Rennie planted half an acre of sweet peas near Lompoc in 1907. Cool foggy mornings, warm days and ocean breezes suited the crop as English weather never had, and in 1909 W. Atlee Burpee bought valley land for a west coast trial ground, putting 120 acres into sweet peas at Floradale Farms. Anton Zvolanek, who had bred the winter-flowering sweet pea in New Jersey, followed in 1910 and stayed until 1975; Bodger built the dahlia-flowered zinnia into a market from 1919; Denholm Seeds was founded in 1939. Burpee's 1933 catalogue offered a variety called the Lompoc, and David Burpee ran a twenty-one year contest here for a pure white marigold. Burpee left the valley in 1985. Cover photograph by Bruce Fall catches a Titan rising from Vandenberg behind the fields, the same coastal fog serving both industries. Contents: Map of Flower Fields, 1949; Foreword; Acknowledgments; Old Time Seedsmen Talk; W. Atlee Burpee Company; Zvolanek Seed Co., William Zvolanek & Co.; Bodger Seeds; Denholm Seeds; Oglevee Limited; Environmental Seed Producers; Floranova; Chaotic Exotics; Pack Trials; Cut Flower Crops; Bibliography.