1 8 9 2The Dingee and Conard Co.

Dingee & Conard Co. of West Grove, PA grows and distributes fruit trees to Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey farmers.

1800 1870 1897

Dingee & Conard Co. expands from a fruit tree distributor to a mail order company for

flowering plants.

Alfred Conard, S. Morris Jones and Antoine Wintzer

incorporated Conard & Jones Company as a mail order firm selling roses, plants and seeds.

1906

Dingee & Conard Co. publishes and distributes first gardening catalog with “roses by mail a specialty.”

1880

Following Alfred Conard’s death, Robert Pyle, originally hired as a helper in 1898, and his father purchase a

large part of Conard’s share of the business.

1855

Planting Roots For The Future

In 1897 when the Conard and Jones Co. started, roses were just beginning to appear in people’s gardens.

A century later Star® Roses and Plants/Conard-Pyle, as it is known today, has introduced some of the most popular roses and other plants in the industry -- and has made them accessible to gardens throughout the world. For decades the company has had many “firsts” that have helped shape America’s gardens and the nursery industry.

First With Plant Guarantees

The earliest of these “firsts” were guarantees. The 1904 spring catalog promises, “safe delivery to all post offices in the US.” The 1907 catalog pledges “Conard and Jones roses to bloom each at its seasonable time.” This was followed by the headline, “A new way to buy roses: Our roses are guaranteed to bloom.” To the best of the company’s knowledge, this was the first guarantee to the consumer in the nursery industry. Robert Pyle’s magazine, Success with Roses -- a classic for rose lovers for many years -- provided tips that took the guarantees a step further.

Innovation through trademarks, patents

Pyle, who joined the company in 1900 and became its head in 1907, was a marketing genius and savvy entrepreneur. He decided to focus the company’s marketing efforts on roses, establishing The Conard and Jones Co. as a primary grower of roses in America. To reinforce his marketing strategy and set his company’s roses apart from those of the competition, he adopted and trademarked the word “Star” in 1908, thus creating “Star® Roses.” This became one of the first horticultural trademarks, one Star® Roses and Plants/Conard-Pyle is known for over 100 years later.

Dingee & Conard Co. of West Grove, PA grows and distributes fruit trees to Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey farmers.

The History and Evolution of Star® Roses and Plants/Conard-Pyle

Name changes to The Conard-Pyle Co. and Star® Roses assumes

prominence with the public.

1925 1951

Sidney B. Hutton, after 20 years with CP, becomes president of the firm following Pyle’s death.

He is succeeded by his sons, Sidney B. (Beany) Hutton, Jr.,

in 1964 and R. J. (Dick) Hutton in 1974.

Pyle suggests “this greatest new

rose of our time should be named for

the world’s greatest desire: ‘Peace.’” The

name is adopted the day Berlin fell to the Allied Forces and the ‘Peace’ rose greets delegates to the first United Nations meeting in San Francisco. AARS names ‘Peace’ its only 1946 award winner the day Japan surrendered.

1908

Believing the company would thrive if it specialized, Pyle selects roses as the most promising market opportunity.

Pyle adopts and trademarks the word “Star,” creating Star® Roses as the first horticultural trademark.

1911

Pyle sails to Europe in search of new roses, marking the beginning of long-held relationships between The Conard-Pyle Co. and many of Europe’s most noted hybridizers.

Jones retires and sells his interest to Pyle.

1945

Later, when the Plant Patent Act was passed in 1930, Star® Roses and Plants/Conard-Pyle was among the first to patent new roses and license other leading nurseries to grow and sell them, which made both the industry and the company stronger.

Pioneer In Forging European Alliances

While other nurserymen traveled to Europe early in the century, Pyle seems to be the first nurseryman to forge partnerships with European hybridizers and to bring their creations to the American market. Pyle’s alliance with Meilland International in the south of France dates back to the 1930’s and has resulted in numerous introductions, including the Peace Rose.

First In Miniatures

In 1933 Star® Roses and Plants/Conard-Pyle became the first nursery in the US to introduce a miniature rose. Known as Tom Thumb, this rose was created by Dutch nurseryman Jan de Vink and was an instant success because of its unique size. A true duplicate of the garden rose, it was the first rose that could be planted in window boxes, porch containers and rock gardens. More than half a century later, in 1989, Star® Roses and Plants/Conard-Pyle had another diminutive introduction, Debut™ (Meibarke) which became the first miniature rose to win an AARS award.

Industry Leader, Award Winner

Robert Pyle was among the industry leaders who established All American Rose Selections, Inc. Its mission today is the same as when it was established in 1938, to test and evaluate new roses and then to publicize the award winners. Today AARS has test and demonstration gardens across the nation, including one at Star® Roses and Plants/Conard-Pyle’s facilities in West Grove, PA.

Star® Roses and Plants has had dozens of AARS winners over the years. One of the most famous is the ‘Peace’ rose, which Francis Meilland dispatched to Star® Roses and Plants/Conard-Pyle on one of the last aircrafts to leave France before it crumbled under the Nazi blitzkrieg. During

Conard and Jones Co. was incorporated as a mail order firm selling roses, plants and seeds by Alfred Conard, S. Morris Jones and Antoine Wintzer.

1963 1978

In what was then thought to be a daring move, CP ceases its field grown nursery operation and becomes one of the first container production nurseries in the eastern US.

Recognizing changing times and opportunities, CP

eliminated its retail stores and mail order business to give full

attention to production and wholesale sales.

CP leadership passes to the third generation of the Hutton family as Steven B. Hutton becomes president and R. J. Hutton became chairman of the board.

1986 1992

CP introduces the Meserve Hollies,

generally considered the best group of ornamental plants

introductions of the decade -- and perhaps

the century.

1970

Rose Breeder, Bill Radler, sends the then unnamed Knock Out® Rose to CP for testing. Since its introduction, The Knock Out® Rose quickly became the best selling new rose on the market.

the war years it had incredibly successful trials in all areas of the US. The name was adopted the day Berlin fell to the Allied Forces and the ‘Peace’ rose greeted delegates to the first United Nations meeting in San Francisco. AARS named ‘Peace’ its only 1946 award winner the day Japan surrendered. Other popular Star® Roses and Plants/Conard-Pyle AARS winners that were “firsts” in their own right include Portrait, the first award winner created by an amateur (1972) and Bonica™ (Meidomonac), the first landscape shrub rose to receive acclaim from the AARS (1987). Carefree Delight™, the latest landscape shrub rose to win an AARS award (1996) is close to being a breakthrough because it is so totally maintenance free. Still another popular AARS award-winner (1965) is the Mister Lincoln, still considered one of the finest red hybrid teas of all times. More recently, The

Knock Out® Rose won the award in 2000 and has set the standard for disease resistance and floriferousness in roses.

More Than Roses...

While the emphasis for many years was on roses, Star® Roses and Plants/Conard-Pyle always offered other quality plants. Antoine Wintzer, a hybridizer from Alsace Lorraine, did much of the pioneering work in scientifically hybridizing cannas in the US around the turn of the century. These exotic plants figured prominently in the earliest Star® Roses and Plants/Conard-Pyle catalogs. More recently, in 1970, Star® Roses and Plants introduced the Blue and China Hollies, generally considered one of the best ornamental plant introductions of the decade and perhaps the century. Breeder Kathleen Meserve created a family of hollies that combine the hardiness of the American Holly with the rich glossy leaves and large bright berries of the English Holly.

Meidiland® Roses were introduced in 1988. Also this year, Star® Roses and Plants/Conard-Pyle establishes rose production in California and container nursery production in Maryland.

1999 2007

CP enters biogenetics with a joint venture working with test tube plants.

The Knock Out® Rose ‘Radrazz’ is introduced to the trade and becomes

an AARS winner in 2000.

CP opens new corporate headquarters and state of the art greenhouses for research and development in West Grove, PA.

2010

Drift® Roses are introduced.

2008

Conard-Pyle returns to roots of delivering the best plants for American gardens.

1993 2012

CP launches new housebrand, Star® Roses and Plants in an

effort to collectively promote all product lines.

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Other Firsts And More Ahead

Star® Roses and Plants/Conard-Pyle has had a century of firsts. It was one of the first on the east coast to become a container production nursery. It introduced the first climbing rose (Mme. Gregoire Staechelin -- 1928) to win “The Gold Medal of Bagatelle” award in Paris. It

also introduced the first rose suited to both garden and greenhouse (Sonia) and the first roses (Sunblaze®) to fit between traditional floribundas and true miniature roses.

To maintain its tradition of innovation in its second 100 years, Star® Roses and Plants/Conard-Pyle has introduced The Knock Out® Family of Roses and The Drift® Roses, both breakthroughs in rose breeding. The company is also involved directly in breeding perennials and woody plants

through an investment in and close collaboration with NovaFlora, a creator of new genetics. It continues to bring new varieties of roses and plants to the public. And, as always, it continues to look for innovative ways to beautify the American landscape.

Introduced to the market in 2007, Drift® Groundcover Roses are a cross between full-size groundcover roses and miniature roses. From the former they kept tough-ness, disease resistance and winter hardiness. From the miniatures, they inherited their well-managed size and repeat-blooming nature.

In 2010, Star® Roses and Plants/Conard-Pyle launches a new look for The Knock Out®Family of Roses which includes a branded pot and tag, and coordinating marketing materials.

now offeringRoses, shRubs & peRennials

intRoducing our new brand

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2 0 1 3Star® Roses and Plants