Schmidt is the founder of J. Frank Schmidt & Son Co. of Boring, Ore. He and his wife Evelyn, who last year celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, started the nursery in 1946 on a 10-acre plot. Today, the nursery extends to nearly 3,000 acres and grows some 400 varieties and cultivars of trees on six farms for sale throughout the United States, Canada and abroad.

It was Schmidt's interest from the onset to produce superior trees. Over the years the company has been responsible for the introduction or joint introduction of 33 patented, trademarked or registered cultivars, probably the most widely known being Acer rubrum Red Sunset, which has become the top-selling red maple in the country.

The company also grows some conifers and specialty ornamental trees that are harvested as balled-and-burlapped trees. A container operation serves the western market, but the company's main product remains bare-root trees. Over the years, Schmidt perfected the practice of growing them in the field, budding superior selections to produce outstanding cultivars, storing them without damage, and shipping them inexpensively to markets locally and thousands of miles from Oregon.

His many charities
Business success aside, it's Schmidt's altruistic nature and promotion of the industry that his friends and fellow nurserymen say set him apart.

"He's recognized as the outstanding nurseryman in Oregon and probably the entire country," said Jack Long of J&L Nursery Co. in Silverton, Ore., "but his charities and his contributions to the industry are truly exceptional."

In 1986, to recognize the 40th anniversary of the company, Schmidt organized the J. Frank Schmidt Family Charitable Trust, which gives thousands of dollars annually to horticultural research through the Horticultural Research Institute and private grants. He established the trust with proceeds from the sale of the original 10-acre nursery site, in his words, "to give back to the nursery industry and to the Oregon community." In addition, thousands of dollars are donated annually to local charities, hospitals, youth organizations, medical research and other nonprofit organizations.

Over the years, Schmidt has been a strong supporter of community college education, serving on the board of the Mt. Hood Community College Foundation and providing financial support for programs and scholarships. When Clackamas Community College, in bordering Clackamas County, made a commitment to develop a first-rate production horticulture program, Frank Jr. and the family foundation were quick to pledge a lead gift. The gift will cover the cost of building a teaching laboratory and inspire other growers to lend their financial support.

Most recently, a gift of 24 acres of land from the J. Frank Schmidt Family Charitable Trust brings the Landscape Plant Development Center closer to its goal of developing stress-tolerant landscape plants. Harold Pellett, executive director of the nonprofit Minnesota-based center, said the gift of Willamette Valley farmland will help speed up the center's research and selection processes by giving researchers the opportunity to establish a site in a mild climate for growing hybrid progeny.

The trust provided the lead nursery industry gift for the establishment of the Oregon Garden Project, a public garden that will showcase Oregon's horticultural diversity.

"J. Frank Schmidt Jr. is a true visionary," said Art Anderson, president of the Oregon Garden Foundation. "Here's one example where his vision benefits all of us. When leaders in the Oregon nursery industry started the fund-raising campaign to build the Oregon Garden, he stepped forward as the first major contributor. At that time three years ago we had only an idea and a vision -- not even a garden design or a site!"

In a move unprecedented in the industry, in 1971 Schmidt set up a separate nursery for the benefit of his employees. Jointly owned by the Schmidt family and key employees, Northwest Shade Trees grows a broad line of large-caliper shade and flowering trees, conifers and specialty ornamental trees, all B&B-harvested, large-caliper specimens. The operation is complete with its own management and employees and an impressive catalog. More than 35 employees of the company participate in the joint venture.

"This gives them a sense of ownership and partnership in the nursery business," Schmidt said. "Ours is a family company, so this is a way of letting the employees have something of their own."

It is truly a family business. Frank Jr., who is chairman of the board, is joined in the operation by his son, J. Frank Schmidt III, president and chief executive officer, and a daughter, Jan Schmidt Barkley, executive vice president. Another daughter, Jean Webster, lives in Fresno, Calif. Two grandsons attend college and during the summers are employed at the nursery. Frank Jr.'s wife, Evelyn, is still active in the company and in the early years ran the office and sometimes drove a tractor.

But it was his father who gave Schmidt his start. Frank Sr. was a noted plantsman and was president of the Oregon Association of Nurserymen in 1938. He and his wife, Edna, instilled a love for growing nursery stock in all four of their children, and all established their own successful nurseries in the area. J. Frank Schmidt & Son Co., Don Schmidt Nursery, Femrite Nursery and Weedin Nursery are scions of Frank Sr.'s influence on his children.

The nursery grew in post-World War II with the growth of the country and the demand for trees. Schmidt expanded his nursery, acquiring nearby property in the deep soils and moderate climate of the region and established a rigorous research program to produce new nursery stock and test them before release. He carved a niche for himself by perfecting mass production of bare-root shade and flowering trees from budded cultivars. The nursery grows more than 400 named tree cultivars. Many of these cultivars can been seen on the property in the J. Frank Schmidt Jr. Arboretum, which was established in 1986 to showcase the company's introductions and tree product line.

"He gets on a tractor and plants it himself," a company employee said. "His rows are straight, too, just like everything else he does."