Colleen is the founder of Songbird Seed Co., a seed company devoted to the cultivation, preservation, and appreciation of sweet peas.

What started as a personal fascination with the sweet pea became a deeper study of their history, varieties, cultivation, and extraordinary diversity. Today, Colleen grows hundreds of sweet pea varieties each year, selecting and sharing seeds that she finds particularly beautiful, unusual, and worthy of being grown again.

Her work is grounded in the belief that growing sweet peas need not be complicated, and that there is so much to be discovered in paying attention.

She publishes a bi-annual periodical The Sweet Pea: A Garden Companion, and is the founder of the American Sweet Pea Society.