Burpee Back On Track After Detour

To recapture its early luster, the company that introduced iceberg lettuce and the Big Boy tomato has returned to its roots.

Since becoming a family business again six years ago, the W. Atlee Burpee & Co., venerable purveyor of flowers and vegetables, has refocused on breeding new varieties for the home grower instead of farmers, the previous owner’s emphasis.

“In order to go to the future well, I’ve had to go to past traditions,” President George Ball Jr. said.

For home gardeners, he said, “the big question is, ‘What’s new?”’

For Burpee, new varieties such as the round Roly Poly Zucchini and the yellow African Queen impatiens, as well as heirloom seeds and plants, have pushed the company from third place to No. 1 in both catalog and retail sales, said Ball.