Bachman's, Inc. - Minneapolis, MN

Penniless 24-year-old Henry Bachman arrived in Minneapolis in 1882 speaking only German.  In 1885 he started his business on four acres of farm land in Richfield.  Surprisingly, a carnation house built in1924 vastly outproduced the vegetable fields in terms of profit and Bachman’s emphasis shifted towards the floral market.  The color that has become identified with Bachman’s was first chosen by Henry’s son, Albert, when a paper salesman presented him with three choices.  Albert chose the one no one else wanted…purple, for precisely that reason.

The Bachman family and the 125-year-old family-owned Bachman’s, Inc. have been active and generous with the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum (MLA) and its Foundation from the arboretum’s early years in the 1960s.