A New Chapter at Fibrex Nurseries

Fibrex Nurseries could have closed with the retirement of its owners but a new team have taken on the pelargonium business. I’ve been out to see how they are faring.

The staging packed with vibrant colours, sunshine through the glasshouse roof warming the air and the scent of thousands of pelargoniums, if I’d closed my eyes I could well have believed I was back at the old Fibrex Nurseries, somewhere I had visited and written about numerous times.

In fact, I was at the new Fibrex on a site in the tiny village of Pensham near Pershore. The family business, originally started more than 40 years ago, was sold last year to Ed Boers and his partner Laura Whiley and relocated from its former Pebworth base.

Ed has a background in horticulture having worked at his parents’ farm producing vegetable, herb and bedding plants for the trade under the Gardeners’ Kitchen label. Laura had previously been in banking and not for profit organisations.

Knowing they wanted to work together and to have their own business, the chance to buy Fibrex came about via a friend who knew the old team were looking to sell.

While the National Collection of Pelargoniums was given to the RHS and distributed among its gardens, the couple took on nearly 1,000 pelargonium varieties ranging from stock plants to recently taken cuttings. Part of the sale deal saw the old Fibrex team continuing with propagation until the business changed hands in September.

“They were about twenty per cent there with the cuttings,” says Ed. “The moment the stock plants were here we were taking cuttings from day one.”

Although he grew up surrounded by growing for bedding and hanging baskets, Ed still had a lot to learn about pelargoniums and spent one day a week throughout last year at the original site, trying to absorb as much knowledge as possible.

Even so, they are still getting to grips with plant names and identification – easier when the plants are in flower and nearly impossible when faced with just leaves unless it’s one of the variegated varieties.

“Although it’s such an established business, in some ways it feels like a bit of a startup for us,” says Laura.

What has helped is the continuing support of sisters Angela Tandy and Ursula Key-Davis from the old family firm who are freely offering advice and helped the couple set up.

While they are currently busy propagating and dealing with on average 300 mail orders a week with the help of two members of staff and Laura’s parents as volunteers, they have plenty of plans for the firm.

Eventually, they hope to resume Fibrex’s presence at flower shows, such as Malvern and possibly even Chelsea. They are also excited to explore other uses for pelargoniums, including in cooking and for wedding flowers. In the meantime, they’re looking for ways of reducing hand watering, and are trialling peat-free composts (they are currently 40% peat-free) and hope to have that in place for next year.

The public will get their first chance to see the new nursery at an open event next month. Fibrex will be open from 9am to 5pm from Friday May 3 to Monday May 6 with plants for sale. From then, the nursery will be open on the last weekend of every month during the summer.

Taking on a business with the pedigree of Fibrex was always going to be a challenge: “We’ve been blown away by how many people knew Fibrex and the reputation that comes with that,” says Laura.

“We’re definitely learning but I get the feeling that you will never learn it all.”

Judging by my visit, they’ve made a very good start.

For more details about Fibrex Nurseries and their open days, visit the website.

You can read about more of my nursery visits here.

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