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Shopping Cart No Items in your cart. Site Highlights · 2008 Garden Hero · RFN Exclusives · On Sale at RFN · New Products · Bestsellers · Rare Plants Resources · Account · Advanced Search · Customer Service · Shipping Information · FAQs · Newsletter · Order A Catalog · Printable Order Form · Downloads Useful Information · How To Plant · Visiting RFN · Driving To RFN · Our Guarantee · USDA Zone Map · Your Hardiness Zone · Our Staff · Links Contact Us RareFindNursery.com 957 Patterson Road Jackson, NJ 08527 732-833-0613 support@rarefindnursery.com |
| Our Staff Our staff consists of a small group of dedicated enthusiasts who care a great deal about growing great plants! Their backgrounds and interests may be varied, but their commitment to excellence and passion for what they do is not! | ||
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HENRY 'HANK' SCHANNEN, Proprietor, rhododendron collector and hybridizer. In his former life (BR-Before Rarefind), he was a marketing specialist and co-founded a multi-million dollar market research company. He has a BS from Rider University and an MBA from Rutgers University. Hank is a 1997 recipient of the Gold Medal of the American Rhododendron Society, and currently served as Chairman of the ARS Research Foundation, and is a former Board member of the Rhododendron Species Foundation. We call Hank the "walking rhododendron encyclopedia" and he is a frequent and entertaining lecturer on the subject of rhododendrons. Hank also collects Japanese maples, hollies and magnolias. RON RABIDEAU, General Nursery Manager, has a BS in Plant and Soil Science from the University of Massachusetts, and has participated in four plant and seed collection expeditions: China (Spring, 2000), Tibet (2002), Arunachai Pradesh, India (2005), and the Altai Mountains, Siberia (2007). A rhododendron and daylily hybridizer since 1987, and member of the American Rhododendron Society, Ron puts his passion for new plants to work seeking out new and noteworthy plants. JASON AUSTIN, Production Manager, joined us from a prominent perennial grower, and is a graduate of Delaware Valley College with a BS in Ornamental Horticulture. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of native plants and perennials. One of his passions is carnivorous plants, and we have added a wide selection of these unique plants. When browsing through these meat-eaters, keep a sharp eye on your small dogs (just kidding!). He lives at the Jersey Shore so he can surf at 5 am and still make the nursery at 8 am. ANNE HAINES has a BS in Horticulture from Rutgers and an MS in Entomology from the University of Florida. She has worked for several nurseries including Princeton Nurseries, and ran her own horticultural book company, The Book Tree. She is both our "Shipping Diva" (we shipped over 8,000 packages last year!) and our "Inventory Goddess" - no small job when you consider we carry 2,500 plants in multiple sizes. With excellent plant knowledge, she also helps in sales, and is an expert on the many woody plants we carry. JERRY VAN DE SANDE, Garden Curator and Propagator, has been a rhododendron grower and propagator for many years. He holds a BA in English from Rutgers, and taught for over 30 years. His retirement "job" is with RareFind where he does much of the propagation and runs seminars on the subject. A. WILLIAM 'Bill' SMITH joined us "part-time" four years ago. His experience in the "University of Life" is very diverse, including a teaching degree in English and History from Glassboro State College. He operated Rainforest Orchids for 25 years, and was a national orchid judge. Bill collects a broad range of plants, including bamboo, daylilies, magnolias, Japanese maples and witch hazels. He keeps reading rhododendron books and will soon be an expert in that genus as well. He is a key sales person, helps keep our inventory up-to-date and is now our chief seed grower. IRVING 'Irv' J. PAULUS joined us three years ago as our office administrator and comptroller. He manages our books and keeps us up to date on all those things that the rest of us hate to do-we would rather be doing plant stuff. Irv is a retired executive with a BS in Economics from Wheeling, and an MBA in Marketing from FDU, whose plant knowledge is still growing. He has eased our organizational growing pains by expertly keeping our office procedures current-for example, he made us get rid of the shoe box in which we kept the accounts, and moved it to QuickBooks!!! K-9 COMPANIONS: Hank's daughters never met a dog or cat they didn't want to rescue. Over the years we have had five dogs and four cats in the "rescued" category. Nemo has passed away and we are now down to two dogs, Inga and Gretchen, who take offense at the thought of a deer jumping the fence. After 10 years we have not had a deer track on the property. The dogs are kept penned when visitors are here, but at night they earn their keep by roaming our 11-acre, electric-fenced property to insure that deer stay on the other side. When we hired Anne Haines we also hired her strange looking little dog "Mo" (also a rescue). Mo faithfully (obsessively?) follows Anne everywhere, and we've even caught her packing plants for shipment! We can't forget Eli, Jason's black Pug who is guilty of "terminal cuteness." He loves strutting around as a barn dog two days a week. | ||