We started Farris-Seaman Plants in 1979 as a husband and wife team with a hobby greenhouse in our back yard in Portland, Oregon. Our team consisted of David, who tended the business full time, and Nancy, who worked for 26 years as a landscaper at a local shopping mall and helped with the plants on weekends. We sold primarily at Portland's outdoor Saturday Market.
Over the years, we've grown house plants and cactus, and now perennials, herbs, and hanging baskets. Along the way, we began making Christmas wreaths and created a mail-order wreath business. We started selling our plants at local farmers' markets. In 1994, we found 3 acres 30 miles southwest of Portland. It is beautiful, flat land which now houses 2 greenhouses, a shade house, and rows of benches covered with perennials. With the move to this property came Nancy's retirement from the mall, and our adoption by Odo, our customer-friendly tuxedo cat, the Sales Rep. Rye, our Australian Shepherd, and Gunther, the Papillon, have long been known as the Marketing Department. Our company is now complete. We have our nursery, a place to work together.
We ask ourselves how big we want to be. Do we want to hire employees? What part of the work do we want to do ourselves. The answer is clear. We want one of us to take the cuttings and sow the seeds, one of us to pull the weeds and water the plants.
The element of our business that has never changed is that we, husband and wife, are the business. One of us will greet you at the nursery, helping you find the right plant for your garden. Being small isn't just a good way to start, it's a good way to be. We invite you to visit us in Newberg, Oregon. If you come, please take a moment to speak with the Marketing Department and Sales Rep.
— Photo Gallery —
Odo waiting for his next customer
Sales Rep, Odo, looking for something to do
Rye, a member of the marketing department, shows up for work
The staff awaits the arrival of their boss
Odo calls to order their weeking staff meeting
Attempts at the annual staff photo
