Roses of the Fens

Today a wholesale rose nursery, the Wisbech Plant Company was founded in the Cambridgeshire Fenland Town of Wisbech by "Bill" Tysterman in 1933. Bill, who hailed from the Netherlands, was then 23 and started his business as a general plant nursery before they decided to specialise in roses only.

Later they were to breed six roses of their own, the most well known being Doris Tysterman, and though it was Bill who took the create for breeding them it was actually, according to the family, his son, Brian, who bred them.

We are fortunate to have five of the six roses they bred. Their roses being:

Doris Tysterman - ia a hybrid tea rose, that was named after Bill's wife and has tangerine flowers that have a pleasant fragrance. It was introduced in 1975 and grows to about 90cm by 60cm.

Dutch Gold - got it's name as a result of winning a Gold Medal at The Hague. A hybrid tea rose with golden yellow flowers, that has a strong fragrance, it was bred by crossing Peer Gynt with Whisky Mac and grows to about 105 by 75cm.

Fragrant Delight - was bred by crossing Chanelle with Whisky Mac and is a floribunda rose that produces a strong fragrance from its orange-pink flowers. Introduced in 1978, it grows to about 105 by 75cm.

Julia - is a hybrid tea rose that was also known for a short period of time as both the Pashley Manor Rose and the Chocolate Rose, having been found growing there in 2006 by Peter Beales. Originally introduced by the Wisbech Plant Company in 1976 as Julia's Rose, who had named it for Lady Julia Clements. They had bred it by crossing Blue Moon with Dr A.J. Vehage. Growing to about 105 by 90cm, it has unusual cream, caramel and peach coloured flowers.

Sandringham Centenary - was introduced in 1981 to celebrate the centenary of the Sandringham Flower Show. It is a hybrid tea rose that they bred by crossing Queen Elizabeth with Baccara. Growing to about 120 by 75cm, it has mildly fragrant orange-pink flowers.

Topeka - is the only one of their roses that we don't have, due to it having not been grown for the retail market for some time in the UK. Named after the family's the home, it is a floribunda rose, that was bred by crossing Vera Dalton with an unnamed seedling.

Today the business is based on North Bank in Wisbech and is run by Bill's grandchildren, Edward and Ben, and despite a major fire that caused £1,000s of damage to their nursery, continues to provide roses to retail outlets.