What happened?

It is a very long story.

Sara Ann started a nice discussion here in 2013 asking about JP; hoovb gave a good rundown of their complex business situation (replete with pending divorce, I believe) thru 2013. I have not read an update since then.

I would post a link, but am wary of deletion by Houzz, although Cori Ann only reported on Houzz deleting posts with Amazon links (and the aforementioned discussion is a Houzz discussion).

I didn't realize rose growers were having such a hard time. Maybe J and P are just online sales only now. I had the impression they were the biggest rose seller around. Now all the roses that sell locally come from Medford.

Ok, they were owned by Harry and David from 1962 until about 2006 when they were sold to Park Seed

When Harry and David owned them we did massive retail sales. The roses were everywhere. Selling them was where I learned so much about roses and feel in love.

The profits had begun to flatline so H&D sold them to Park Seed. Park Seed went bankrupt soon after. I heard at that point they were sold to Weeks. I dont know what happened there because they are back at Park Seed.

I've gotten Rose's from them recently and some have been better than others but they gladly replaced those that were duds.

Back when we owned them, one of the perks was that all of the left over bare root Rose's went home with the employees. Boy did I get some beauties.

Because this happened in July, I am really good at keeping them alive lol

Kristine mentions, above, that she had heard they (JP) had been sold to Weeks (in the past).

hoovb's post (in the discussion started by Sara Ann) from 2013 referenced arsyankee.org, where an article about JP says:

In 2007, when J & P appeared to be a financially sound business, Weeks contracted with J & P to produce rose plants for delivery to J & P in December 2009. However, due to its financial problems J & P was unable to take delivery, resulting in a $1.7 million dollar loss to Weeks. This may have distorted Weeks’ sales figures for 2009 and 2010, decreasing sales in 2009 and increasing sales in 2010 as Weeks attempted to sell the plants that J & P had been unable to accept. Weeks’ sale of these J & P rose plants may have led some to conclude, incorrectly, either that Weeks had purchased J & P or that J & P had been liquidated and Weeks had purchased their inventory.

J&P also left us hanging before we sold them to the tune if over a million dollars. Even though we owned it, it was basically a different company. Spring came, and the Rose's didnt.

Park bought them and almost immediately went bankrupt. From there it sounds like things got really bad.

Hi everyone! Jackson & Perkins is still in business, and while we do not have any retail outlets anymore, you can still find our products online or through our catalogs. We pride ourselves on our roses, perennials, and other products that we offer so I would love to connect with rochesterroseman or anyone else who has not received quality products with us recently.

Nice to hear from you J&P.

I work for Harry and David and have fond memories of Jackson and Perkins I still drive by the test garden every day and think longingly of those wonderful days of test gardens and beautiful roses how I miss your company. I'm glad you are doing well and always look forward to your catalogs continued success in the future.

Park Seed didn't have a smooth ride either. Park and wayside did business out of the same address. A couple from Florida who had made a lot of money in real estate bought a company in that part of South Carolina who were into cellular propagation of plants. Then, they bought Park Wayside. Then there were bankruptcies there.

So I went on Google Earth to see what's happening nowadays at Park Seed just north of Greenwood SC. The buildings are still there. (It's now Wayside and it's on Cokesbury Road, north of town, just where it always was.) But there are no display gardens, and most of the growing areas around it are empty. There are cars, so some folks have held onto their jobs, but it looks nothing like the riot of color and great growing area that had their summer sale at the end of June (when the heat was stifling). It's just barely there.

wayside from the air

Stillanntn6b - Yes Park Seed, Jackson & Perkins, and Wayside Gardens are now all under the Jackson & Perkins Park Acquisition company. Our headquarters are in South Carolina, and while we no longer have the trial gardens like we used to and have transitioned into selling online, we are extremely proud of our past. And like many other companies we focus on the future and are continually looking for ways to expand in this new time of our business.

Hmm.. very interesting reading this, seeing that now J&P is starting to introduce the 'German bred' roses for sale.