Five minutes with …
Andrew Lee of Tamar Valley Roses
Andrew Lee and his sister Megan are second generation flower growers in the Tamar Valley in northern Tasmania. Meg and Andrew’s parents, Helen and Peter, established the family farm in 1978 growing a mix of flowers and then fairly rapidly began to focus on roses.
In 1997 Meg followed her passion for flowers into retail floristry, completing a floristry apprenticeship and establishing Tamar Valley Roses’ first retail store, which today is one of Launceston’s largest florists.
Meanwhile Andrew went to university, gaining a PhD in science and working as an engineer before returning to the business in 2001.
Today he and his team tend 70,000 rose bushes across about a hectare of greenhouses. They are soon to produce a million stems per year, a significant achievement in an industry dominated by tough competition from imported flowers.
With Mother’s Day coming up, we had some questions to ask Andrew when we caught up with him recently.
What’s special about the Tamar Valley?
We’re very proud to be Tasmanian producers and wouldn’t be anywhere else but the beautiful Tamar Valley, where perfect climatic conditions allow for production and picking all year round. We only need to heat our greenhouses from mid-May to September and the rest of the year the climate here allows roses to grow in the perfect ‘not too hot, not too cold’ temperatures of the area. Other areas of Australia are just too hot for rose production and this is the reason the Tamar Valley and Northern Tasmania are home to many other flower growers.
How many people do you employ?
We employ 17 people now and pick all year round, with a bit of a lull right in the middle of winter when the days are very short.
Do your kids help now too?
Yes, we have the third generation working on the farm now. My wife Jodie and I have two teenage sons who work in the weekends and school holidays, and our daughter will help when she is a little older.
How many types of roses do you grow?
We have 58 varieties in production, which include spray roses and single stem roses.
Do you grown any other flowers?
Yes, we grow gerberas as a bit of a sideline, which are growing in popularity right now, especially the Pomponi variety which look a little like a pompom or a small dahlia.
What are the trends you are seeing in roses at the moment?
There’s a big trend towards colour right now. Even at Valentine’s Day this year, we saw a huge demand for coloured roses rather than the traditional red, with a 50-50 split between red and colours. Earth tones are really popular – colours like coffee cream, cappuccino, and soft pinks. I’m also the Australian agent for the French rose breeder Meilland, and we run an extensive R&D program developing new cut rose varieties specifically for Australian conditions – so some exciting new colours have been coming in this way.
Where do your roses end up?
Roughly 50 per cent of our roses go to the markets on the mainland, and 50 per cent are sold in Tasmania – into florists, into Meg’s shop, and into Hill Street stores state-wide.
What’s your biggest challenge?
It’s our cost base. Australia is dominated by imported flowers – about 90% of flowers sold in Australia are imported from Kenya, Ecuador and Columbia, where labour rates are much lower and prices are therefore very low. We compete on price but we also compete extremely strongly on quality and freshness – a stem from Kenya might be three or four weeks old by the time it reaches the end-buyer in Australia, whereas our roses are ultra-fresh – if they’re picked on a Monday they’re out for delivery to Hill Street by Wednesday, so you have far greater longevity in the vase. Additionally imported flowers are fumigated and dipped in Round Up for biosecurity reasons which is of course not ideal, and another reason to buy local!
And what sort of bouquet will the mums in your life be receiving for Mother’s Day this year?
My mum Helen will be receiving a bunch of Florence roses. They’re a beautiful pinky-cream with some green. Mum actually named this rose and it’s her favourite. My wife Jodie loves a deep, bright pink rose, so that’s what I have planned for her.
Hill Street will be featuring Tamar Valley Roses for Mother’s Day. Please have a look at these beautiful blooms here and make Mum’s day with some stunning locally grown roses.
