Becoming a Horticulturalist With Rosebie Morton

#035 - Horticulturalist and founder of The Real Flower Company Rosebie Morton shares her small business journey. Her driving ambition is to supply people all around the UK with scented flowers.  And she now sells both to trade and consumers. With her mother and grandmother both being horticulturally-minded, Rosebie's love and enthusiasm for scented flowers began at a very early age. Aged four years old, she remembers the scent of roses when walking around her grandmother's garden. Many years later, she married a farmer and decided that she wanted to bring scented garden roses back to the cut flower industry. So she started growing six different varieties in her mother-in-law's walled garden. In 1995, she began selling the roses at New Covent Garden Flower Market. Then after 12 months, switched and sold direct to florists. And she also started growing other types of flowers and herbs. Due to the limited UK growing season and her desire to make roses available all year round, she investigated growing flowers in the Southern Hemisphere. And in 1998, she travelled to Kenya and planted hundreds of rose plants. Back in the UK, four years later, she started growing her roses in polytunnels to protect them from the rain. In 2003, she began selling direct to consumers via the internet. And now, as well as online, The Real Flower Company sells to consumers from their two London flower shops, offering same-day delivery in the capital. Rosebie discusses the impact of the pandemic, the importance of effective branding and how she uses social media to promote her business. She also shares her 'why' and her thoughts on sustainability. Listening to this episode, you'll hear how passionate Rosebie is about the flower industry and scented roses in particular. At the end of the podcast, you'll discover her practical tips, which I'm sure you'll find very inspiring. Show notes are available on the My Small Business & Me website: https://mysmallbusinessandme.com/episode35