Conard-Pyle Co.

The Conard-Pyle Company of West Grove, Pennsylvania was a large horticultural enterprise that specialized in the cultivation and hybridization of roses. It was founded in 1897, and established a large magazine-based advertizing campaign and mail order business. According to a Company history, Conard-Pyle can take credit for several "firsts" in commercial horticulture in the United States, particularly in the development of new varieties of roses. The Company is best known for its famed Star Roses, most notably the world-famous Peace Rose. The Peace Rose was "provided to delegates from around the world as they met in San Francisco on April 25, 1945, to form the United Nations" (Thomas p.1).

The Conard-Pyle Company was founded in 1897, but can trace its roots back to 1874 when Charles Dingee (1825-1911) and Alfred Conard (1835-1906) started Harmony Grove Nursery. Charles Dingee was a former dairy farmer and Alfred Conard was descended from a German Quaker farming family. Dingee and Conard originally specialized in fruit trees, but soon began producing roses at the request of Mrs. Dingee (Conard-Pyle Company, History, p.1). Despite their success -or perhaps, because of it - Dingee and Conard had a falling out in 1892 that ultimately ended their partnership. Dingee continued his operation of the Dingee & Conard Company until his death in 1911.

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