Grower Kurt Bluemel, Known As ‘Grass King,’ Dies

Nursery owner Kurt Bluemel died of cancer on June 4 at age 81. The Maryland-based wholesale grower propagated and popularized ornamental grasses and was a known as the Grass King.

A resident of Baldwin, Md., Bluemel had nurseries in Baldwin and Crisfield, Md., and a third in Orlando, Fla.

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Bluemel is a native of what is now the Czech Republic, and he started his career as a plants apprentice in Switzerland. There he gained a knowledge of Alpine perennials and ornamental grasses.

He came to Baltimore County to work for a commercial perennial grower he had met in Switzerland. Family members said he carried his first grasses from Europe in a suitcase.

In addition to his wife of 38 years, Hannah, survivors include a daughter, Catherine Bluemel Betz; a stepson, Erik Weinstock; a stepdaughter, Kirsten Forte; six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. A son, Andre Bluemel, died in 1976.

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Read a full obituary at the Baltimore Sun’s website.

Source: The Baltimore Sun

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