Two North Creek Newbies!

Mike Knox, Research & Development Manager

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Brigitte Crawford, New Products Manager

Mike Knox, Research & Development Manager and Lancaster County native, came on board this spring and has been hard at work reorganizing, planting and maintaining the 60,000 sqft of trial, demonstration and habitat gardens that make up North Creek’s Living Laboratory. Most recently, Mike has completely revamped our side-by-side sun and shade trials. As North Creek’s R&D Manager, Mike will oversee the planting and maintenance of all display and trial gardens and assist in the inventory and maintenance of our R&D collection.

After completing his degree in horticulture at Penn State, Mike pursued his interest in sustainable agriculture. It was through the World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) program that he learned about fruit and vegetable crop production, cut flower growing and the practices and principles that foster the biodynamic farming model. This education was later employed at working farms such as Phillies Bridge, Tait Farms and Buck Hill Farm. Prior to joining North Creek, Mike was the R&D Gardener/Grower for the extensive side by side trial gardens for GreenLeaf Plants® in Lancaster, PA.

Mike's Stats:

Favorite Book: One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey by Richard Proenneke
Favorite Flower: Meadow species including Amsonia, Veronicastrum and Vernonia
Favorite Place to Unwind: Catoctin Mountain Park in Cunningham Falls State Park, Thurmont, MD
Hobbies: Camping, woodworking, fishing, hiking, playing clawhammer banjo and spending time with his family and very adorable dog, Ollie.

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Hailing from Chippewa Falls, WI, Brigitte Crawford is North Creek’s New Products Manager. She is responsible for maintaining strong relationships with our breeder network and procuring samples for trial and evaluation.

Brigitte’s undergraduate (UW River Falls, ‘07) and graduate (North Carolina State University, ‘13) studies were focused on horticultural sciences. She expanded upon her education as Research Intern under Jim Harbage & Alan Petravich at Longwood Gardens. She has also served as Production Research Intern at Ball Horticultural Company and Production & Marketing Intern at C. Raker & Sons, Inc.

Brigitte's Stats:

Hobbies: Cooking, quilting and entertaining her cat Stella.
Fun Fact: Brigitte cannot whistle.
Claim to Fame: Brigitte’s largest pumpkin, grown for the ’03 Nekoosa Giant Pumpkin Fest, weighed in at an impressive 604.5 pounds!
Favorite Food: Cheese, but that goes without saying - she grew up in America’s Dairyland!

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Together, the role Brigitte and Mike play in New Products and Research & Development are the keystone of North Creek’s mission – to propagate and market plants that develop the relationship between people and sustainable outdoor environments. We feel it is our responsibility to offer the industry plant material we can firmly stand behind. As you’ve come to expect and trust, and with thanks to Brigitte and Mike, these selections will be evaluated for ornamental appeal, cultural adaptability, habit, hardiness and pest & disease resistance.