About Centerton Nursery, Inc.

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About Centerton Nursery and the Blew Family

How the Blews got to North America as best we can tell is two Hessian brothers arrived in 1778, hired as mercenaries by the British. Once here, one brother defected. After the war both brothers stayed in the colonies. Each raised families that carried the name to present day, but the family division remained and we lost track of one another. The name’s spelling, “Blew”, is likely an aberration occurring at the time of emigration from Europe.

Here in my America, the Blew family became from a line of ship builders traced back to Revolutionary War times. My great, great, great, great grandfather, Lehman Blew (b. 1820) built a number of homes and oystering boats still in use in the Mauricetown, NJ area. My great, great uncle, William Hall, designed the first assembly-line boat building factory in the world. So I suppose it was for posterity that my grandfather, Ray Blew Jr., together with brother, Donald, built a boat, the “Lehman Blew”, when Donald was only ten.

My grandmother’s side (Marlene Crowe-Woodruff Blew) were Saxons originating from Fordwich, a tiny town near Canterbury in the Kent Kingdom of southeast Britain. That would make them of Germanic descent and they were probably involved in shipping and farming. They arrived here in 1639, first settling on Long Island, New York, where they purchased a 1700 acre tract of land from Native Americans located around the now trendy and very expensive Hamptons. (If anyone should know what happened to the transfer of that property, please inform them of a serious ancestral oversight as I was inadvertently left out of the will).

In the 1960s, Ray traveled throughout Latin America managing production and processing facilities for a multinational food corporation. He dragged my Dad and Aunt Jill along and they spent a good deal of time in Ecuador, a small country located on the northwest coast of South America. Ecuador (translation “equator”) is bordered on the north by Columbia and the south by Peru. It was the epicenter of Incan culture from the early to the mid millennium. It is rich in history and natural resources. Half of all animal and plant species in the world live in Ecuador. Its diversity includes the Amazon basin in the east, the highest mountains in the western hemisphere (the Andes, to 23,000’) and an agriculturally productive plantation zone straddling its Pacific coast. Ecuador is the world’s largest exporter of bananas, as well as shrimp. The Galápagos Islands, 500 miles seaward, belong to Ecuador. My Dad spent all of his high school years in Ecuador and got a degree from the American College of Quito. My Aunt did much of her schooling there, too.

Ray and Marlene purchased Centerton Nursery in 1975. Dad came onboard in ‘76. The nursery had several small greenhouses on 9 acres of leased land and no employees. Evergreen Azaleas were the first crops grown. Our first employee, Rosie Belle Clark, stayed sixteen years, returning to her Georgia birthplace to care for an aging mother. We think of her often and phone one another on holidays.

In 1980, it was implied that retailers might sell color items in seasons other than spring. (At the time, this suggestion was shocking). Nevertheless, we made a natural progression into summer flowering shrubs, then, at the prodding of a single but trusted customer, pioneered large-pot herbaceous perennials (now known as the BlewLabel® Perennial), another project for which we were coined “Absolute idiots! Who in their right mind would ever buy perennials in large pots?” Today, there are millions of customers apparently not in their right minds.

On average, a small parcel of contiguous land was purchased every 3 years to a prevailing total of 230 acres. Just over half is in use by Centerton. Another 25% is in use by BlewLine Nursery, a sister company. Greenhouse area is currently slightly over 2.2M square feet. Most greenhouses measure 31’ by 600’, putting them among the largest overwintering structures in the world. Current production is approaching two million finished plants per year. We created and own half a dozen or so registered trademarks and an even better number of patents. There are 80 employees working 9 to 12 months of the year. Employee backgrounds are diverse from many nations. Four languages are spoken daily: English, Spanish, Mixture and Foul.

Centerton is a place of firsts, each stirring local, regional and sometimes national commentary. Among them, we designed and built the world’s first mobile potting machine. (Local commentary on the first machine: “That’ll never work.”) We’re also responsible for building the second, third and fourth mobile potting machines in the world.

We designed and build the first electronic pruning apparatus. (Comments: “It’ll hurt the plants.”) Growers worldwide now come to see this machine in action.

We engineered and built the first gothic style greenhouse which have since evolved it into the largest overwintering structures in the world. (“Plants won’t grow properly in houses that big.”) Other nurseries around the nation are now copying this style and our neighbor nurseries borrow the master jig.

We created the first system for testing and marketing of easy-care Roses. (“Nobody’s interested in that.”) Out of this study came Hasslefree® Roses and gardeners that aren’t interested are buying them in droves. We work closely with the fine folks at Star® Roses and Weeks® Roses, who generously help us with data, stock and product line upgrades in this ongoing project.

We created the first broad line of hardy, everblooming Daylilies. This became the Happy Ever Appster® Daylily line. (“They won’t be able to do much with a name like that”) It is our fastest growing line. We receive calls from around the world for this product and in spite of its name like that we haven’t been able to keep up with demand.

Centerton is now owned by Ray, Marlene, Denny (my Dad), Donald (my brother), and me. Both my brother and I have been working here since childhood. Donald began at the age of three. After graduating from Delaware Valley College in 2001, he began working in our production department. I graduated from Penn State in 2003 and I am fully involved in many facets of the business. Amy, my sister, graduated from Loyola Marymount University in 2006. During the early Winter of that year, an opportunity arose: we had a vacancy at the post of sales manager. With an open mind, she dived head-first into the position and has excelled.