The Center was founded on a record of success. Established in 1990 as a 501(c)(3), the Center is the brainchild of Executive Director Dr. Harold Pellett. Dr. Pellett served as a professor of Horticultural Science for over 36 years at the University of Minnesota.

Dr. Pellett's plant research and breeding at the University of Minnesota produced over 25 shrub and tree varieties and earned him numerous awards for his contributions to the field of landscape horticulture.

The Center was designed to realize the great potential in plant breeding. In his years of research and breeding, Dr. Pellett demonstrated the tremendous potential to develop superior landscape plants, yet he recognized one serious problem - there was a lack of resources devoted exclusively to researching, breeding and developing new landscape plants.

Dr. Pellett envisioned an organization that would organize and focus the scientific research and resources in universities and arboreta.