Daughter of world-famous plantsman William Flemer III, Heidi Flemer Hesselein is a 4th
generation nurserywoman who was raised at Princeton Nurseries, once one of the
largest wholesale nurseries in the US. She caught the horticulture bug at an early age.
After earning a B.A. in English Literature at Middlebury College in Vermont, she moved
to San Francisco to work for several nurseries, while becoming a California Certified
Nurseryperson.
After her marriage to Richard Hesselein (also a 4th generation Nurseryman), they moved
to New Jersey to join Princeton Nurseries, where they worked for many years. In 1998,
they started their own nursery, Pleasant Run Nursery, in Allentown, NJ. A New Jersey
Certified Nursery and Landscape Professional, Heidi gained her knowledge of a very
broad range of woody ornamental trees and shrubs while working at Princeton
Nurseries, and expanded it further at Pleasant Run Nursery, which grows a diverse range
of perennials, grasses, tropicals and woody ornamentals.
She visits other nurseries and botanic gardens whenever possible, to stay on top of the
constantly changing field of horticulture. She and her husband have raised 4 children at
the nursery, and many hours have been spent expanding the gardens around their 18 th
century farmhouse. Their property is also home to many family pets, including a pair of
English Labradors, Sammy, the office cat, various poultry, peacocks, doves and
miniature donkeys.
Heidi is a member of IPPS, the Woody Plant Conference Committee, The New York
Hortus Club, Metro-Hort, several State Nursery associations, the Perennial Plant
Association, the Hardy Plant Society, and APLD. She has spoken at the Perennial Plant
Conference, Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, the NJNLA Tradeshow, the Delaware Nursery
and Landscape Association, Frelinghuysen Arboretum, The Hortus Club, and the New
Jersey ASLA winter meeting, as well as several Garden Clubs.