The Cut Flower Podcast

Fragrant Blooms and Flourishing Dreams: Ed Boers Introduces the World of Fibrex Nurseries

• Roz Chandler / Ed Boers • Season 1 • Episode 105

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Text Agony Aunt Roz with your Cutflower Questions.

Hi, I’m Roz, and welcome to another episode of The Cutflower Podcast! Today, I’m thrilled to have a very special guest, Ed Boers, joining me. Ed has had an incredible journey this year, stepping into the world of Fibrex Nurseries and saving a much-loved family business. If you’re curious about the beauty and versatility of pelargoniums or dreaming of creating your own blooming paradise, you’ll love this episode!

Episode Summary

In this episode, I sit down with Ed Boers, the passionate owner of Fibrex Nurseries. We dive into his remarkable story of taking over the renowned family-run nursery, known for its exquisite pelargoniums, ferns, and ivies. Ed shares his journey from a childhood surrounded by plants to becoming the driving force behind revitalising this specialist nursery.

We talk about everything from his background in plant propagation to the challenges of moving an entire nursery operation, and even some tips on caring for tender perennials like pelargoniums through the winter. Whether it’s the scent of a pelargonium bouquet or the joys of running a family business, Ed’s enthusiasm is infectious.

Plus, we explore the growing trend of container gardening and how pelargoniums are the perfect fit for balconies and urban spaces. With insights into marketing strategies, the power of Instagram, and Ed’s plans for 2024, this episode is packed with inspiration for plant lovers and entrepreneurs alike.

Key Takeaways

  1. Pelargoniums 101: The difference between pelargoniums and geraniums, and why pelargoniums are such a versatile, superior plant for bouquets, containers, and more.
  2. Winter Care Tips: How to protect tender perennials like pelargoniums from frost and make the most of their cutting potential.
  3. Building a Niche Business: Ed’s approach to preserving Fibrex’s legacy while expanding its reach through mail order and social media.
  4. Growing Trends: The rise of container gardening and how pelargoniums are ideal for small urban spaces.
  5. Inspiration for Entrepreneurs: Insights into managing a family-run business, staying authentic on social media, and balancing passion with practicality.

Resources Mentioned & Links

  • Fibrex Nurseries: Visit fibrex.co.uk to pre-order pelargoniums and other plants. Dispatch begins March 2025.
  • Follow Fibrex on Instagram for updates: @fibrex_nurseries
  • For more gardening inspiration, explore Urban Herbs on Instagram.

Thank you for tuning in! 


Roz (00:07.202)

I am delighted to welcome Ed Boas. Is that how you pronounce your surname?

Ed Boers (00:15.645)

Ooh, my mum pronounces it that way because I think she's a bit posh, but is actually bored. Yeah, we're not evil so it's fine.

Roz (00:21.022)

I'm definitely not posh, I've got some pigs. So there they go. To our podcast today, Ed has been a little busy this year and we're so happy to bring Ed as a guest on our podcast now. Please tell our listeners about you, Ed. Obviously I've researched you quite a lot and I found you on Gardens Kitchens. And obviously I knew what was going on with Fibrex, having visited Fibrex Nurseries and having bought some Pelagoniums last year.

 Ed Boers (00:40.839)

Yeah.

Roz (00:49.27)

So I knew things were happening and I knew it looked like it was going to close at one point. And yeah, you've saved it. Come and tell us your story. 

Ed Boers (00:59.024)

Yeah, well, my background, I'm third generation grower, Dutch, through and through. So I was brought up on a nursery, but my parents did things a little bit differently. They were propagators of young, vegetarian herb plugs. My old man, he was in the commercial growing years ago, and then changed to supplying retailers, mainly garden centers with vegetarian herb plugs.

and they're still doing it today. So I started off very young really, learning the trade. My background was mainly maintenance. I moved into irrigation, found a bit of a passion for that and things, how things work, creating systems. And then it moved kind of like into the feed and spraying area, so I had a bit of background in that. I kind of fell in love with biocontrol, so friendly bugs, deterring bad bugs.

So that was really my background. My sister was running the company up until a year before COVID. And then I took over. She left to have a son. So I took the company through COVID, which like anybody, it was a nightmare of a time. I mean, I think we were, 90% of the business is to trade. So we obviously shut down that on the first lockdown. And then we moved all of our staff over to the mail order and it went from a few hundred parcels a day to...

few thousand days. It was a nightmare but we learned a new business overnight. So that was quite an interesting time obviously survived through COVID and we did well out of it but I think I was always wanting to do my own thing at some point and you know GK is a family run business and this is probably why I loved Five Rec so much because it was another family run business and it was a very specialist nursery so I'm not.

Roz (02:17.842)

Yeah.

Roz (02:40.952)

Yes.

Ed Boers (02:41.94)

finally got put in touch with Fibrex. I don't think they were advertising to sell the business. You know, they'd obviously got on their website that they were shutting down. So I guess I met their criteria for when I was introduced to them and then the offer was made to me and I couldn't really resist it and here we are today.

Roz (03:02.762)

So yeah, I mean, they've obviously retired at Fibrex and really specialist and very niche. And I think a product that's actually increasing in value now that people are getting more aware of it. And I found that just by talking to my groups and talking to people that the use of Pelagoniums, for instance, now and certainly scented is all about the foliage. For us as growers, it's all about the foliage and using that foliage in bouquets and using it kind of in everything we do and just the scent of it.

 Ed Boers (03:11.828)

Yeah, yeah. 

Ed Boers (03:24.34)

Yeah. 

Roz (03:31.554)

foliage that has a scent I think people have just clued into, honestly. 

Ed Boers (03:33.628)

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. And it's, it's interested because, you know, I wasn't really aware of the sentence up until a couple of years ago. And there is no, and they are amazing. I would have almost put it in the herb category, but it's not as pelagonians. And I know zone artics and zonals are really good for bouquets as well, because they've got the longer stems, I presume that suits you guys. So

Roz (03:43.742)

Yeah, me neither, me neither.

Roz (03:57.731)

Yes.

Ed Boers (04:01.124)

Yeah, the centers interest me and we do about 70 different types and I definitely want to build that range for fiber X moving forward. Sentence are the ones that really interest me through and through.

Roz (04:12.886)

Yeah, and me too. And yeah, I was really saddened to read, obviously the fire bricks were going. And then I thought, oh my God, this is a highly respected nursery. It specializes in Pelagoniums, as well as ferns, ivies, geraniums, all sorts of things. And it was due to close, wasn't it? In September 23, and they were retiring. I mean, they've traded for over 50 years. And it was lovely when I went over there and I just thought, oh no.

Ed Boers (04:31.678)

Yeah.

Ed Boers (04:35.453)

Yeah.

Roz (04:39.358)

And as they say, you've come along to save it. Have you moved it all? What's the current situation? Where is it and what does it do?

Ed Boers (04:46.296)

Yeah, so I've been doing a day a week for them up until September to learn the backbones of the business to get a better understanding of what was going on. And then we moved the site from Pebworth over to Purshaw in September. So moved all the bench systems, all the stock. So from the 1st of September, everything was virtually there. And obviously, I've been setting up for winter coming really up until this point, busy taking cuttings.

 know, plant care, obviously winter time's quite a nerving time for pelagoniums because they're, you know, because they can all die. Tender perennial, yeah, so, you know, we've been flat out winterising the nursery up until today.

Roz (05:19.106)

tender.

Roz (05:30.25)

Yeah, I mean, exactly that. We put pelagons, they're tender perennials, basically won't take, I don't think temperature's under minus five. Last year I had mine out in the tunnel, they all died. This year I'm definitely not doing that. They, I've bought them indoors already and they're in my study on the floor. I mean, you cannot move in there because there are pelagons all over the floor. Not quite sure, this is very practical. There must be a practical solution, but it is a tender perennial and I think we kind of forget even in a tunnel.

Ed Boers (05:35.258)

Yeah.

Ed Boers (05:45.509)

Yeah.

Ed Boers (05:49.28)

I'm sorry.

Roz (05:58.498)

go down like last year below minus five you'll lose the lot. So it's kind of like yeah.

Ed Boers (06:01.693)

Yeah.

Ed Boers (06:05.392)

Yeah, it's, you know, we've been frantically getting heating sort of for the greenhouse. And as you know, the first frost real frost came in on Friday. So it was, it was a nerve wracking time, you know, I had extra heating in there, I was going above and beyond to try and keep the heat up. But I think it was just because it's the first frost we've dealt with as a as a new company. And I don't want to kill the plants just yet.

 Roz (06:14.231)

You did?

 Roz (06:27.447)

Yeah.

No, absolutely not. I mean, look, it's like looking after babies. I mean, the brilliant thing about Pelangoniums, okay, they're tendiprenials and we have to be aware of that. But once we're aware of it, we can cope with it. But the second thing is they're great at taking cuttings from they're great at dividing and make it I mean, it's a great plant.

Ed Boers (06:45.388)

Yeah, it's, you know, we've been, I've got I've got us Rangiro doing one day a week with the previous, the previous owners, they're helping me over the next year. So they've been busy taking cuttings for me whilst I've been getting everything ready for winter. And the abundance of cuttings is unbelievable. And for some reason, I've seen more growth on the pelagonians over the last month as the temperatures have been getting cooler than I did in the summertime. Because for some reason, they do go over the summer when they're when the heat really does get high.

 Roz (07:10.594)

for some reason they do go.

 Ed Boers (07:15.008)

they shut down and they just close off, which benefits us because it's less watering. So autumn and spring is the time where they do most they're growing. So yeah, cuttings wise and abundance at the moment, especially with the ivy leaves there, you know, they split off really well. So yeah.

Roz (07:20.692)

Yeah.

Roz (07:34.262)

And who are you selling to now? Direct, do you sell direct through your website and you're selling into trade as well? How are you handling your market?

 Ed Boers (07:41.368)

So no trade is direct to the consumer via mail order and 80% of the business is through our website. There is no other sales channels plan to set up on Facebook and Instagram, that sort of thing. But it is all direct through the business, the business website, which, which I think is amazing to have that much traffic come through directly to the website is, is amazing. You know, my, my

Roz (07:50.606)

Thanks for watching.

 Roz (07:55.883)

Yeah.

Ed Boers (08:05.536)

Previous job is through Amazon, eBay, other retailers. So to have 80% of the traffic coming directly to the website just shows what a great product it is because people are specifically coming to you for that product.

 Roz (08:18.798)

They're looking, they're searching in Google for Pelagoniums and there aren't that many growers who are specialist and niche in the UK, let's be honest about it. So they'll find you and it will be, I'm a marketeer, my background's marketing. So it'll be all about visibility, both website and Instagram, basically in building up your Instagram portfolio. And once your people start to know of you and order online and get more product and you get more visibility, then they'll know that's what you do. So yeah.

 

Ed Boers (08:21.823)

Yeah.

 

Ed Boers (08:25.748)

No, no that's not-

 

Ed Boers (08:43.924)

Yeah. And I think that's, that's my job for the next year really is to try and push it on social media, try and try and reach out to the younger generation a little bit more. Because there is a huge market there. Like you said, Pelagonians, I think are getting bigger and bigger every year. And it's a, it's a specialist plant. You know, it's not your standard bedding plant. You know, it's, it is, I like to call it a superior.

 

Roz (09:02.05)

Thank you.

 

Roz (09:11.946)

Well, I think it is. I mean, if you walked in my study now, you'd definitely think it was. You'd think you hit a jungle, number one, and number two, still the scent. But I mean, they're a weird plant because they don't really have a dormant season, but they have a dormant season in the summer because they don't really like the heat. They're still growing in the winter, but not really. So they're kind of kidding you. They're kind of going, hello.

 

Ed Boers (09:13.567)

Yeah, yeah.

 

Ed Boers (09:18.313)

Yeah.

 

Ed Boers (09:28.053)

Yeah.

 

Ed Boers (09:32.492)

Yeah, yeah, and you've got some of the pelagonians that still think that they're back in South Africa because they start flowering now and don't actually flower in the spring and summer, they've not really made the change. And Ursula's been telling me that that's happened for years. So yeah, a very unusual plant, but you know, versatile because they flower from early spring and as long as you're deadhead, they flower all season. So you do get a great crop out of them.

 

Roz (09:43.979)

Yeah.

 

Ed Boers (09:58.1)

But there's so many different things you can do with Pelagonia. You know, you've got your regals, which great for outside can be rained on, your zone artics, your scented as you know, great for bouquets, the miniatures, they're so versatile, and there's so many different varieties out there. It's, it's exciting.

 

Roz (09:58.38)

Yeah.

 

Roz (10:13.334)

Yeah. And I think container gardens as well as becoming a big thing. Um, and it wasn't, I don't think, and I had some on my podcast last week and we were talking about container gardening and we were talking about balcony and balcony living and living in urban situations and those whole containers and balconies and they're made for Pelagonians. They are absolutely made for it. So it's kind of like start that as your main. I mean, what we do in the summer to get them growing is we don't plant them individually. We put them in massive, great big pots.

 

Ed Boers (10:30.974)

Yeah.

 

Ed Boers (10:41.824)

Yeah.

 

Roz (10:42.09)

and we leave them there and then in winter we dig them all up and bring them indoors and put them in smaller pots. So it's kind of like, so we know they grow really well in containers. So it's kind of like it has versatile use.

 

Ed Boers (10:46.056)

Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

 

Ed Boers (10:51.264)

Yeah.

 

Yeah, I mean, we, me and my partner Laura went on holiday over to Italy and they're everywhere. You know, all I see now is Pelagonians this last year, all I see is Pelagonians. Before that it wasn't so much, but you know, they are everywhere, especially the ivy leaves for containers and you know, off balconies. Yeah, they are everywhere. And I'm surprised more people don't know about them because I'm sure you see Pelagonians on a day to day basis around the country. You know, they are

 

Roz (11:02.624)

Yeah, that's right.

 

Roz (11:19.574)

people have got confused with Pelagoniums and Geraniums. Go on then what's the difference?

 

Ed Boers (11:23.588)

Oh, I can see one. It you said it earlier on, it's pelagons attend a perennial geraniums are hardy perennial, you know, you will kill your pelagons in the winter, whereas hardy geraniums you won't geraniums are probably more on the bedding side, I would say if I had an opinion, pelagons aren't there, they're a completely different breed, you know, and I think a lot of people can kill their pelagons because they mistake it for a geranium. Don't get me wrong.

 

Roz (11:41.686)

Yeah.

 

Ed Boers (11:52.832)

there's a lot of them that look very, very similar. But they are completely different. I think once upon a time, up until the late 1700s, they're all under the same name. And a French man, he split them basically, because there was such a difference. But I think America still classed Pelagonians as Geraniums. So there is a little bit of confusion. So it's trying to spread the word that Pelagonians are in a different category to Geraniums.

 

Roz (11:55.278)

Woof, yeah.

 

Roz (12:20.202)

Yeah, yeah, I think so. I did quite a lot of research in the beginning saying, well, are they geraniums and a type of geranium? And they're not even in the same family. So it's kind of like, that's it.

 

Ed Boers (12:28.376)

they've got the same seed head, you know, so I can understand why people would think that but you know, if you get into it, you can you can definitely tell the difference. But I mean, let's face it, would you class ascended Pelagony as a Pelagony if you didn't know what you're talking about? There's a difference.

 

Roz (12:47.166)

No, I don't know. Yes, very difficult. So what's your favourite Pelagonium then? I've got one.

 

Ed Boers (12:49.584)

You know? Yeah.

 

Ed Boers (12:55.86)

My favourite would be, I mean I love the scented through and through, it's definitely something that I want to push, but size sunburst is one of the scented but it's a bit of a standalone, very different to the rest, very stand-up plant with green curled leaves and golden rims and lovely mauve flowers when they do flower, but it looked like a mini bonsai tree, so a little bit quirky, probably not the biggest seller but yeah, size sunburst definitely.

 

All that you.

 

Roz (13:26.652)

So I go for a very normal one like is it Rosetta? Something like that.

 

Ed Boers (13:30.927)

Yeah, Attu of Roses. Yeah.

 

Roz (13:32.694)

our roses that's that would because it's just so scented it's not even just a little bit it's like

 

Ed Boers (13:38.052)

Yeah, yeah, but I think I think that's probably one of the most popular products that we sell is Atter of Roses and you've got Lord Butte which is one of the Regals, Tone and Tosin's a popular one, yeah, they're scented all through and through definitely.

 

Roz (13:53.558)

I mean, we do quite a lot of marquee weddings, and we have in terracotta pots, we have traditionally put pelagoniums all down the middle of the tables as the scented plants. And we interspersed them with rosemary, and the whole marquee will smell. If you put them there the night before, by the time you get to the day, the whole marquee will smell. And that's the whole point. It's like, let's take it back to an English country garden and let's have some scent. And it's, yeah, I think a brilliant plant.

 

Ed Boers (14:02.365)

Oh no.

 

Ed Boers (14:13.356)

Thank you.

 

Ed Boers (14:17.333)

Yeah.

 

Roz (14:21.278)

I'm very jealous of you running flybrecks, I'm really jealous.

 

Ed Boers (14:24.264)

I tell you what, when I walk through the greenhouse and I'm going through the scented section, it's amazing. And another one with a size sunburst, it's a real strong lemony smell, so if you've got them in a doorway somewhere, well, yeah, it's amazing.

 

Roz (14:36.678)

Yeah right back door just as you come in after a hard day. So what's been your biggest challenge? This is quite a big leap for you so what's your biggest challenge now going forward do you think?

 

Ed Boers (14:39.09)

Yeah.

 

Ed Boers (14:46.206)

Um...

 

I would say remembering all the names because it's ridiculous. And I'm a dyslexic. Ursula and Angela, the previous owners, they were dyslexic. So there's some real questionable spellings on the nursery. So yeah, definitely the names and you know,

 

Roz (14:57.327)

Oh gosh!

 

Ed Boers (15:07.696)

I really tried to do my homework memorizing them at night time, but I just can't until I start dealing and handling the plants. There's just no way I can learn until I'm on the job. So yeah, remembering the names is definitely my biggest challenge. Yeah, yeah, I just, I just spell it how it sounds and then I can say it. But obviously when I cross reference it on the computer, it could be under the name.

 

Roz (15:15.757)

Yeah.

 

Roz (15:22.306)

You'll have to make up some sort of song or something, you know, like...

 

Roz (15:34.09)

think that's the whole thing about naming plants and all the Latin names. I couldn't pronounce half of them and I'm not dyslexic and I look at it and there's no chance.

 

Ed Boers (15:39.716)

No, no. Yeah, I tried to learn that when I was younger and I just gave up on that.

 

Roz (15:47.31)

I'll go, oh that lovely one that smells of roses, that's fine. It's quite funny, like we walk around the farm sometimes when we're doing farm days or retreat days or something and someone will say to me, so what is that Dahlia, Ros, you know, we'll be looking at a Dahlia. I'll say it's pink. I'll say, right, I'll say it's pink, it's got a long stem. I actually don't really mind what it's called. It kind of does a job, but I think, yeah, it takes, I mean, I don't think I'd ever know them all, so it's like, I mean, there's something like, I don't know, over 10,000 Dahlias, there's no chance.

 

Ed Boers (15:49.533)

Exactly.

 

Ed Boers (15:59.197)

I'm out.

 

Ed Boers (16:05.108)

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

 

Roz (16:15.758)

So I can't remember what I planted, the plant label's gone.

 

Ed Boers (16:19.079)

You've got apps for that now anyway. Yeah.

 

Roz (16:20.906)

Yay. So what's been your biggest learning to date? What have you learned the most coming over to this new business madness?

 

Ed Boers (16:31.164)

My biggest learning to date, I would think it's probably the whole move of the business has been my biggest learning to date. I think I was very naive to think that I was going to move the whole business and the stock, the benches, get them billed, get the heating in within a month. It's been...

 

It's been three months now and I'm about 90% there. So I think the biggest learning curve is things taking a lot longer than I thought they were going to. And the vast amount of cuttings and the care that's needed for them has been my biggest learning curve for this side of the year as well, especially the fact that I've had so much other stuff going on. And I'm doing very lucky to have Ersi and Angela to help me out. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to do it without them.

 

Roz (17:22.882)

What's the distance between the two sides?

 

Ed Boers (17:26.372)

I think it's about 11 miles. It's not far. And we're near Pershore Haughts Port Cultural College, so it's not that far. It's nicely tucked away though.

 

Roz (17:28.182)

Oh, so it's fairly close, so that, yeah, so it's not far, so you've...

 

Roz (17:37.982)

Yeah, yeah. Is it open to the public or just web sales?

 

Ed Boers (17:41.936)

It is we are so old fiber X used to be open to the public or, you know, all through the growing season, I think with us trying to concentrate on the mail order, we're going to do the end weekend of every month, starting from May. So the May bank holiday will be our opening weekend for the public. And then it will be every, every last weekend of the month following that until August time, just to try and condense it.

 

Roz (17:46.775)

Yeah.

 

Roz (17:56.652)

Yeah.

 

Roz (18:00.916)

Right, okay.

 

Roz (18:07.694)

Yeah, because you're running when you have people visiting and you also have mail or you have two businesses.

 

Ed Boers (18:13.684)

Yeah, exactly. And you know, and Firebrex did really well with people coming on site. And I don't want to stop that. I just think this next year is so important for me to really be hands on and learn the business. I need to be spending my time concentrating on that. And don't get me wrong, I love customers. I love people coming to the site to have a look. I love showing off the premises. I just have to be specific on when I can do that.

 

Roz (18:20.181)

Yeah.

 

Roz (18:26.05)

Yeah.

 

Roz (18:35.042)

Yeah.

 

Roz (18:39.23)

Yeah, that's quite clever. I will make a visit. I'll come and have a look. Because that's how I learned about Fibrex. It was complete. I mean, they're not particularly close to me, but not that far away either. And it was complete. I was on my way somewhere else. And I thought, oh, I'll just pop in and have a look. And that was it. My boot was full. I was on my way home. So it was like, yeah.

 

Ed Boers (18:52.171)

All right.

 

Yeah. Haha.

 

Ed Boers (18:59.596)

coming out of lords. Yeah, you know, and five breaks, they've done very well. They, they, you know, they do a lot of talks. They do a lot of classes. And this is something that we as a business still want to continue. But we would look into starting that from later on next year. Again, I just want to spend my time learning the business and being extremely present.

 

Roz (19:21.002)

Yeah, yeah, it's a whole new business, isn't it? Yeah.

 

Ed Boers (19:24.84)

Yeah, yeah. And don't get me wrong, I've got a lot of background in propagation of young plants is where my expertise is. You know, it's a different product, and I know every product is different. So hence why spending the time and really learning it will benefit me and everybody.

 

Roz (19:32.855)

Yeah.

 

Roz (19:44.022)

Definitely. And who's your inspiration? Who do you think about when you get out of bed in the morning and go, right, it's going to be frosty tonight, we better get out there and get some heatings on and get some bubble wrap? Well, who's your inspiration?

 

Ed Boers (19:49.596)

Oh yes.

 

Ed Boers (19:55.559)

I think thinking about telling myself to get out of bed is probably my old man, you know, I've spent years, yeah, a lot of winters worrying about plants. So I think my inspiration would probably be my parents and probably my partner's parents, my partner Laura, her parents, they work so well as a team and

 

Roz (20:02.421)

Yeah.

 

Ed Boers (20:18.528)

you know both sets of parents they've always wanted to work together and they work really well and have a great relationship and so my inspiration is that and to have that with Laura you know Laura will move across she'll run the back end of the business because she's very clever like that and I want the same thing and Fibrex has given me the opportunity to be able to have that moving forwards so yeah I'd say well yeah I love it yeah I don't you know

 

Roz (20:28.819)

Yeah.

 

Roz (20:42.931)

Yeah, lovely family business. Yeah.

 

Ed Boers (20:47.368)

you probably work harder than a lot of other businesses being family business. You do, but you do what you love, don't you? And I love it. Exactly. Yeah. It's probably quite hard to pull myself away from that sometimes where Laura's very good at pulling me away occasionally. Um, it's getting that balance, isn't it?

 

Roz (20:52.902)

Yep. Yep, seven days a week. 24-7. Yep.

 

Roz (21:08.062)

Yeah, definitely, because it's all consuming. I mean, literally, I could work seven days a week. And those people who know me probably think I do work seven days a week. And mainly I do. The only way I don't is if I have to go out somewhere, or if I've booked to do something, it means I can't do it. So physically, you can't, can you? But if you're at home and I'm on the farm, I'm thinking, oh, I better get out there and put those eucalyptus. Oh, I better go. So it's your ability.

 

Ed Boers (21:10.858)

Yeah.

 

The end.

 

Ed Boers (21:23.846)

Yeah, yeah.

 

Ed Boers (21:31.172)

Yeah, yeah. I'm used to being about two minutes away from the nursery, whereas right now I'm about 20 minutes away, so it has stopped me from just nipping over there so much. So it's probably quite a good thing actually.

 

Roz (21:39.918)

Oh, that's better.

 

Roz (21:46.038)

Yeah, 100%. So just three little questions. What would you what would you do? This I was finding this really interesting. I ask a lot of people this. What was your childhood dream job? So when you're at school, what were you going to be when you grew up? A chef? Because it's funny, did you? Because most people you would never have gone to a careers person said I want to go into horticulture, they'd probably thought what? Want to do some gardening? Or do you want to do some plants? They never kind of got it. They're getting it a bit better now.

 

Ed Boers (21:59.448)

a chef. You know, I trained to be a chef.

 

Ed Boers (22:08.852)

Yeah.

 

Roz (22:14.666)

But horticulture was something you never did as a child.

 

Ed Boers (22:14.672)

Yeah.

 

No, I always thought it was an old person thing to be fair when I was younger. Yeah, Volvo, yeah Volvo driver. Yeah, I was never interested when I started on my parents nursery, it was a part-time thing whilst I pursued my career in chefing which lasted for about five years. But yeah, I mean I love cooking, I still love cooking now. We're a family of cooks so yeah chefing definitely.

 

Roz (22:21.58)

Yeah, people who drive Volvo's and wear hats.

 

Roz (22:46.466)

Chef is quite creative, in fact, Chef isn't that far away from propagation. It's kind of like a bit of a recipe. I'm kind of like quite creative. So I can see there are parallels there.

 

Ed Boers (22:52.272)

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I can spend hours taking cuttings and dissecting plants, but you know, and I can do the same in the kitchen with a glass of wine, some music on the background, very similar.

 

Roz (23:04.49)

Yeah, absolutely. So if you won the lottery, what would you do today? You've just been given 100 million.

 

Ed Boers (23:14.488)

I think if you asked me that 10 years ago, it'd be a very different answer. I'd be buying property and living away the whole of my life. But I think now on give me a new lawnmower and some gardening equipment, you give that option to Laura, it would be a, there'd be a long list.

 

Roz (23:32.254)

Yeah, I mean people have asked me in the past, I don't know. I'd probably just expand even further. Like I wouldn't give up work, it's kind of a bit odd.

 

Ed Boers (23:37.916)

Yeah, no, my passion's growing, my passion's pelagonium, so I wouldn't give that up at all. I don't think I'd ever want to stop working really, I enjoy it, it's who I am.

 

Roz (23:50.57)

Yeah, me too. So what next? What's your 2024 got for you?

 

Ed Boers (23:57.036)

Um, like I said earlier, I want to be present on the nursery. I want to focus all my time. Laura's going to move across to the company at some point who free me up from the back end side of things. I want to learn the products through and through try and push into the younger markets slightly and Instagram different sales channels. I don't want to forget what Fiverex stands for and

 

Roz (24:16.424)

Instagram then.

 

Roz (24:20.3)

Yeah.

 

Ed Boers (24:25.416)

you know, I want to do the business justice by supplying quality products to people. You know, I would rather supply quality product than grow the business by 30% and not supply that quality product. So just be present, enjoy the moment and look into doing, you know, probably start doing some talks and tours and stuff later on next year.

 

Roz (24:39.255)

Yeah.

 

Roz (24:49.162)

Did a podcast with somebody all a few months ago, a company called Urban Herbs. So they're very similar to you, but obviously they do herbs and you do pedicone, so very niche in what they do and you're very niche in what they do, you know, the same way. They're very successful. They started really small. They've become more and more successful. They do it all through mail order. They do exactly what your model you're doing. Have a look at it. It's an interesting one. They have big Instagram following.

 

Ed Boers (24:54.333)

Are they right?

 

Yeah.

 

Ed Boers (25:15.156)

Uh, yeah.

 

Great name. Yeah. Yeah, I look into them.

 

Roz (25:19.582)

Yes. Have a look. Honestly, I'm sure we'd be more than happy to talk to you, but his Instagram is amazing. And he's managed to get lots of followers. And the thing about Instagram, I mean, I work really hard at my Instagram. And I'm posting daily, I'm doing a real a day. That's basically it's lots of consistency and lots of hard work. So I've already done one today. So it's kind of like, I know.

 

Ed Boers (25:27.047)

Yeah

 

Ed Boers (25:36.981)

Bye!

 

Ed Boers (25:43.496)

Yeah, do you know what? It's, it's, Fibrex has great products. It's got a great following as it is. It's having the confidence to put a camera up next to my face and do a little video. I know, and I've been practicing on the nursery and once I've done one, I'll be absolutely fine. Yeah.

 

Roz (25:54.082)

Go with it.

 

Roz (25:59.638)

You won't care. I don't care. Honestly, I am what I am. It's authentic, it's integrity. I don't think about what I look like. I don't watch them back again. I've got reels of me in hospital, you know, and I look dreadful, absolutely dreadful, but that reel got more views than anything else I've ever done. So it's actually not about what you look like. It's about just getting on with it, just going with it and just going, I am what I am, I'm full of integrity.

 

Ed Boers (26:20.277)

Really?

 

Ed Boers (26:25.571)

Yeah.

 

Roz (26:29.366)

that's fine. I'm in my dungarees, I'm in the middle of a muck pile in the field and I don't care. So it's about they follow you because of your honesty and your real, not because of what you look like, if that makes sense.

 

Ed Boers (26:35.222)

Yeah.

 

Ed Boers (26:42.832)

Yeah, yeah, I agree with that. It's coming and it's gonna happen. I'll do it.

 

Roz (26:46.43)

I want to see more. I want to see more. I've been nagging you. Well, Ed, it was lovely to have you on today. Thank you very much for joining us. I will come down and visit you. I want to see your progress in this next year. And then let's, and where do they order that? Which website do they order from and when is it available to order?

 

Ed Boers (26:57.024)

Thank you.

 

Yeah, you're more than enough.

 

Yeah, come down one of you.

 

Ed Boers (27:08.076)

So firebreaks.co.uk, we are open for pre-orders right now. We started from September. We've got plenty of stock available. We are dispatching the first week of March at the moment. So yeah, get your orders in. Got a couple of deals coming up through Christmas time, but yeah, order now because it does go crazy from February time next year.

 

Roz (27:19.682)

Good.

 

Roz (27:28.342)

Yeah, brilliant. Lovely. I am very excited for you. I'm very excited for the product and getting it in more people's hands, because I adore it. So, but a relatively new one. So we just got to get it out there more visibility. So thank you very much.

 

Ed Boers (27:36.522)

Amazing.

 

Ed Boers (27:41.176)

yeah you know the name the names been around for a long time the names that everybody knows by blacks and there's what they do so we were starting on a winning streak or at it you know

 

Roz (27:50.706)

100% yeah definitely thank you very much Edward I really appreciate it.

 

Ed Boers (27:56.32)

Thank you, I really appreciate your time, thank you.