By Verity Snaith, of Sydney Wildflower Nursery
From the moment you hear the crunch of gravel under your feet and soak in the tapestry of green on display, a visit to Sydney Wildflower Nursery is more than just a shopping trip. It's an opportunity for revival, nestled in the heart of suburban Heathcote.
Celebrating its 40th year this spring, Sydney Wildflower Nursery has been in the Rose family for generations. Beginning as an offshoot of John Rose’s landscaping business, Forest Native Nursery was first established in Duffys Forest in 1973. Son and owner David Rose recalls growing up in the business.
“I worked in the nursery as a teenager. In the school holidays I used to get in the truck and drive to Canberra and Melbourne with my father, I just had that desire to be really involved since I was a little kid.”
Working weekends for a bit of pocket money, he remembers how intertwined the family business was with his home life.
“Where we lived we had no public transport, and we were too young to drive so the nursery kept us entertained. Our parents normalised working hard and we were lucky we had a business we could work in at home. We literally grew up in it.”
All those native plants the Rose family were growing had to go somewhere, and in 1983 David’s mother, Penny, noticed an ad at Ryde TAFE for a piece of land being leased in Heathcote.
“My father loved native plants, he was passionate about native gardens. No-one was doing them at the time, but my mum was the decision maker. We had 10 acres of plants growing in Duffys Forest when she saw the ad at TAFE and decided it would be the perfect place for a native plant nursery.”
It was Sutherland Shire local, John Brett, who offered up the land for lease in Heathcote. He had a vision to green and beautify the suburb and bought the land at 9 Veno Street because it was nestled between two national parks. John loved the serenity of the area and Penny jumped at the opportunity to establish a second native plant nursery in southern Sydney. Staff member Phil Congdon moved south to open the Heathcote nursery in 1983, where it remains today.
Still helping his father in the northern Sydney nurseries, David honed his plant knowledge. He would drive the sales van around showing stock, taking orders, and getting to know what retailers wanted from their plant suppliers. Following a gap year abroad in South Africa, David returned to Australia in 1991, right before a devastating storm tore through northern Sydney.
“That storm wiped out the production nursery – it decapitated every plant, every pot was smashed. We lost the lot.”
Seeing the devastation that wiped out his parents business overnight, David deferred his studies to lend a hand to rebuild the nursery. He started working under his father as an assistant manager at the production nursery which relocated to the south coast and using the extensive plant knowledge he had from growing up in the nursery, he helped grow the business again from the ground up.
In 2005, David purchased Sydney Wildflower Nursery in Heathcote from his parents. Alongside a team of dedicated and knowledgeable staff, he has taken the nursery from strength to strength, creating a plant lovers paradise in suburban Heathcote.
“As soon as you drive in and feel the crackle of the gravel and the crunch of the pebbles, it just transports you. You could be in the country somewhere. People just love coming here – there are no hard surfaces so you feel like you’re on a bush walk as you wander around all these beautiful plants.”
“The additions we’ve done including the rainforest and pond creek bed, and the display gardens, means people can wander for hours in this small little suburban nursery.”
Part of the appeal in coming into the nursery isn’t just to see the staff and the plants, it's the experience of wandering around. You’re surrounded by nature – there’s parrots, cockatoos, frogs, lizards - it’s a haven not just for the wildlife but for the people who visit and work there.
“Anyone who has had the pleasure of coming here realises it is a pleasure. It’s actually really dangerous because you walk in and just want to buy everything. The experience of rejuvenation is why they keep coming back, and what more people probably need to experience.”
What does the next 40 years of Sydney Wildflower Nursery look like for David?
“There’s a really big future for native plants, especially with climate change and global warming. I’d love to see the nursery expand again with independent, satellite nurseries across suburban Sydney. A lot of independents were knocked out when big retailers hit the industry but that’s changing. People want what we offer – the widest range of quality plants that aren’t available in other nurseries, alongside knowledgable staff who have a passion for native plants and sustainable green spaces.”
