Sifting through family records after her sister's death, Julia Frost Yake of Indiana came across a 1936 photograph of the two girls standing by a mailbox showing off their father's Burpee seed mail,order catalog. Yake, who grew to love gardening as her dad did, sent the century,old seed company the black,and,white photo, along with a 1999 snapshot of Yake standing beside a mailbox and holding a modern,day Burpee catalog. "It's 63 years later, but I still use and prefer Burpee seeds," she wrote in an accompanying letter.

Just one of thousands of letters received annually by the Warminster, Pa.,based W. Atlee Burpee & Co., the correspondence was a staff favorite for years. Today, thanks to a successful Burpee Web strategy that includes blogs and Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds, the Yake sisters are part of the Burpee customer experience. Their images and story have inspired other loyal customers to share family gardening anecdotes and traditions.