Bluestone Perennials Information

Bluestone is a family owned and operated business founded in 1972. We grow and ship over 3 million plants a year nationwide. We are located in Northeast Ohio close to Lake Erie. Bluestone Perennials was started in two small rented glass houses in Mentor, OH in 1972. Richard Boonstra had a vision that the new plastic cell-packs and soil-less potting mediums were a natural fit with mailorder marketing and sales. He and his wife, Patti, and their two teen-aged children set their feet on a path that would become their life’s work. They shipped 400 orders that first year from a card table sized office set up in the potting area. Three years and larger rented facilities later, sales were good enough for Rich to devote himself full time to Bluestone. In 1978, the Boonstras purchased a vegetable farm on 47 acres in Madison, OH. The big farmhouse was in sad repair, but the land was good. They set about fixing up the house, and for the first 15 years, the office occupied half of the house. That first year Bluestone sold vegetables, mums, pumpkins, and, oh yes, perennials. Every year saw growth and more greenhouses.