Walter Jessel, master plant breeder, passed away in 1999, but his legacy still inspires our current breeding efforts. After observing a chance dwarf mutation in his cut carnation hybridizations, Walter made some additional crosses and backcrosses which resulted in the first generation of potted carnations. Further breeding led to a whole line of potted carnations with better flower form, a longer shelf life, greater disease resistance and a host of other less obvious improvements.

We'd like to think Walter would be proud of the progress we have made in further improving and expanding our potted carnation line. We think he would also be as excited as we are about the new direction our breeding program is taking to develop Dianthus cultivars for both the pot and outdoor container market.