From A Corner Shop In Norfolk To The UK's Largest Rose Grower

Whartons Garden Roses is one of British horticulture's great success stories, a family business that grew from a modest rented nursery in post-war Norfolk into the largest wholesale grower of garden roses in the United Kingdom. Spanning nearly eight decades and three generations of the Wharton family, the story of Whartons Roses is one of determination, craft, and an enduring passion for the world's most beloved flower.

Humble Beginnings: John Wharton and the Post-War Vision

The story begins with John Wharton, who first learned his trade working for Morse Roses, a well-established nursery near Norwich. It was there that he developed the horticultural knowledge and love for roses that would shape the rest of his life. Ambitious and entrepreneurial, John eventually struck out on his own, renting a small set of greenhouses and a corner shop in the market town of Harleston, in Norfolk's Waveney Valley.

The early business was a balancing act of practicality and aspiration. In the corner shop, John sold fruit and vegetables to make ends meet, while on the nursery he cultivated tomatoes, cut flowers, and the roses that were his true calling.

The Second World War, however, brought John's fledgling rose enterprise to an abrupt halt. With food production a national priority, ornamental horticulture was largely set aside. John was obliged to concentrate on food crops, but, with characteristic foresight, he secured permission to retain a small stock of propagating material, keeping his rose varieties alive through the difficult wartime years.

A New Beginning: Whartons Nurseries Ltd, 1947

When peace returned, John was ready. In 1947, with his preserved propagating stock and years of accumulated expertise, he formally established Whartons Nurseries Ltd, setting the business on a professional footing. The post-war years brought renewed public interest in gardens and home life, and demand for quality roses grew steadily. John proved equal to the moment, steadily expanding the nursery's production and reputation across the region.

Growth Across the Generations

Over the decades, the nursery grew from a local enterprise into a nationally recognised name. John's son Robert Wharton took over the running of the business, carrying forward his father's commitment to quality and specialist knowledge. In time, Robert's son Paul Wharton joined the family business, representing the third generation to tend the rose fields of Norfolk.

Today, the business is run by Robert and Paul together, a continuation of the family tradition that John started more than seventy-five years ago.

The Waveney Valley: Home to a Rose Empire

Whartons' nurseries are rooted in Norfolk's Waveney Valley, close to the Suffolk border, a landscape of gently rolling farmland and rich agricultural soils well suited to rose growing. The business operates across three production sites and, at any given time, has field production covering over 60 hectares of land. Around 1.5 million roses are propagated each year, with as many as 3 million plants in field production at any one time.

The scale is remarkable, yet the business retains the character of a specialist family nursery, employing 50 full-time staff, many of whom possess highly specialised horticultural skills built up over years of hands-on work.

The Production Process: Four Years in the Making

Growing a rose at Whartons is a patient, painstaking business. It takes almost four years from first planting to the moment a rose reaches a garden centre shelf.

The process begins with land preparation. Because roses are sensitive to soil-borne diseases, Whartons requires a minimum ten-year gap between successive rose crops on any given piece of land, which means the nursery regularly exchanges land with local farmers to ensure suitable growing conditions.

In the second year, rootstocks are planted in early spring and then budded in summer, with scion wood taken from the desired mother variety carefully grafted on. Keeping the newly budded plants free of weeds is critical to their development. By autumn, the growth above the new bud is cut back to encourage establishment.

In year three, the budded roses flourish, flower, and are lifted in autumn for grading and trimming. Potting then begins, continuing through winter and into spring, with cold storage used to extend the available season.

By year four, the potted roses are set out on growing beds. Depending on variety and timing, they are either ready for despatch or allowed to develop further until their buds are on the cusp of opening. The roses are then picked to order, carefully prepared, and packed for delivery to retailers across the country.

A Range Built for Every Garden

Whartons supplies a comprehensive range of over 300 varieties, covering bush roses, patio roses, climbers, ramblers, shrub roses, and standards. Plants are available as bare root stock or in pots, catering to the full range of retail customers from specialist garden centres to supermarkets.

The nursery stocks several well-known branded rose collections, including Home Florist Roses™, Flower Carpet®, Precious® Roses, and Peter Beales® – World Leaders in Classic Roses. New varieties are rigorously trialled before inclusion in the range, with Whartons working closely with rose breeders from around the world to identify the best performing, most beautiful, and most disease-resistant plants.

Whartons also participates in the prestigious Rose of the Year trials, established in 1982, which pit varieties from international breeders against one another in growing conditions spanning Aberdeen to Hampshire, Northern Ireland to East Anglia. These trials, judged by both amateur and professional horticulturalists over two years, help identify the finest roses available to British gardeners.

Community, Sustainability, and Looking Ahead

Beyond commerce, Whartons has maintained strong ties with the communities of Norfolk and Suffolk. The nursery has opened its rose fields to the public in support of local charities, including St Elizabeth Hospice, allowing visitors to experience the extraordinary spectacle of millions of roses in full summer bloom.

Sustainability is also an increasing focus, as the nursery looks to combine its specialist production methods with responsible land stewardship for the decades to come.

From John Wharton's wartime corner shop to a 60-hectare family enterprise producing 1.5 million roses a year, the history of Whartons Roses is a testament to the enduring appeal of the rose, and to the generations of skilled hands that have nurtured it in the fields of Norfolk.

As the business passes further into the capable hands of the third generation, the story of Whartons looks set to bloom for many years yet.