World War II took Len Parker from his love of horticulture. He had just graduated Cornell University with a degree in horticulture. In battle he fought in the front lines as an artillery spotter. Between fighting he took notes of the advanced European methods used in horticulture.

In 1948 Len and his wife Bea scraped up enough money from war savings and selling plants grown in his home garden, to lease a bankrupt greenhouse.  Working day and night, they were able to build the business and expand. They bought up properties in New York, Puerto Rico, Florida and finally in New Jersey. Money was very tight. It used to be that long distance calls were very expensive. Therefore, Parker used surplus U.S. Army homing pigeons to send orders back to his wife in the office.

The business struggled through the early years. Ingenuity, creativity and very hard work kept the business alive.

In the early 1970's their sons Rich and Steve Parker joined the business. Rich graduated Texas Tech University and Steven graduated Syracuse University. Following their parents lead, they both brought their wives into the business. Vicki and Jill Parker both had design experience and training. Rich began growing the Interior Plantscape end of the business & Steve the Wholesale & Retail.

Their first and most important accomplishment was to carefully select a strong unified team of horticultural experts who would grow with the company and help achieve it's goals. Next, a strong training, motivational and retention program was developed. To this day over 160 employees have been with the brothers over 15 years!

The next secret was to develop a quality control and customer service program so proficient, that we have a higher customer retention rate than anyone in the industry. Over 200 letters of "thank you for an excellent job" have been sent to Parker from Fortune 500 Companies.