Many of our fellow plant people have the misconception that Herb and I are trained horticulturists.  Not so!  Any knowledge that Herb and I do have has been self taught.  We are avid readers and researchers and spend a good deal of the winter investigating new plants that interest us.  Time is far too valuable in the gardening season to do much reading.  Our typical gardening season begins in January with seed planting and ends in November with garden cleanup and sticking of late season cuttings.  We do have the added advantage of having degrees in science and a background in Latin, which certainly helps with plant nomenclature! 

Herb recently retired from Lafarge in Whitehall.  He worked in many departments there (laboratory, operating and marketing) and ended his career as Special Projects Manager.  He still consults within the cement industry.  I worked for Sacred Heart Hospital in various capacities from lab management to office management.  I then worked for Biochem ImmunoSystems as Hematology Technical Service Manager.  Point Phillip Perennials opened part time in 1996 and full time in 2000.  Fortunately neither Herb nor I consider running Point Phillip Perennials to be "work".  Let's hope it always remains as much fun as it is today!

We have lived in Point Phillip since 1970 and raised our four children here.  Our kids now reside in various parts of Pennsylvania. We have 7 grandchildren (and 2 more due in September), including 11 year old triplets!  Last spring the triplets started helping with the business. (This ought to be interesting!)  Most of the people in our area first knew us as Point  Phillip Honey, which has existed since 1975.  We still retain a few hives and sell honey at the nursery, but the bulk of our time and energy is devoted to the nursery.

We do much of our own propagation.  I grow a large variety of  plants from seed every year and Herb makes cuttings from many of the plants in our gardens.  We maintain two acres of display gardens at the nursery.  In addition to providing other gardeners with ideas, these gardens are also used as a source of both seed and cutting material.  The gardens are also used to display new plants that are being offered in the nursery.  The gardens are our best sales tool.  When a customer asks, "What does that look like?"  We can often answer, "Would you like to see it in the garden?"

We both are involved in many garden related organizations.  The two organizations that I work closest with are the Hardy Plant Society, where I serve as Vice President, help run seed workshops and do the nomenclature for their seed catalog, and the Ridge and Valley Unit of The Herb Society of America.  Herb's greatest involvement is as a member of the advisory board of the Henry Schmieder Arboretum at Delaware Valley College in Doylestown.

Happy gardening and come visit!

Kay