Sussex flower grower on a mission to get people to support British

For the past ten years fourth generation grower Ben Cross has spread the message that “British flowers rock”, seeking more support and recognition for homegrown blooms.

The qualified marine biologist and NFU member came back to work at his family business, Crosslands Flower Nursery at Walberton near Arundel, in 2011, concerned at the number of nurseries being lost to development.

“Flowers are a £2.2 billion industry in the UK but over 90 per cent of flowers are imported,” he said.

“I didn’t want us to go the same way.

Ben Cross sorting flowers (Image: NFU)

“When my great-grandparents started in 1936 there were thousands of nurseries. Now we’re one of the last larger growers left in the UK, specialising in producing alstroemeria.”

The business began under the government’s Land Settlement Association scheme, set up during the Great Depression of the 1930s to resettle unemployed workers from struggling industrial areas. The Cross family has been growing flowers at Walberton since 1957.

“Originally, we were market gardeners, growing many different crops,” said Ben.

“Then with the birth of the supermarkets the public became used to having what they wanted all year round whatever the season, such as blueberries for Christmas.

“Alstroemeria seemed a good crop to grow as it was available all year round, at a time when the supermarkets still wanted to buy British.”

Ben, who runs the nursery with his father David, said the microclimate around Walberton made it an ideal location for the plant. The South Downs protect the area from colder weather during the winter and its proximity to the South Coast keeps it cooler during the summer. Soil and light conditions are ideal as well.

Ben with his dad David (Image: NFU)

Sustainability lies at the heart of the business. When heat is required, it comes from a biomass boiler fuelled by locally produced wood pellets. Ben and David do not use herbicides or pesticides, relying on natural predator controls such as encarsia to tackle whitefly.

The plants are grown, peat-free, in soil under natural light, and fewer than five per cent are replaced every year. Many of the plants are 30 years old and still producing stems.

Once picked, the stems are not frozen but chilled if required and only stored for a day or two before they are delivered to customers, minus the plastic sachets of plant food supplied with supermarket flowers. More than 70 different varieties are grown to ensure the nursery can supply the full colour range all year round.

Alongside offering deliveries nationwide through direct sales, Crosslands Flower Nursery also supplies farm shops, cafés and restaurants that support sustainability.

The plants are sorted into two grades, premium and posy, Ben’s floral version of wonky veg. This has reduced wastage, no longer throwing away stems that didn’t quite make the top specification.

And recruiting and retaining a local workforce is part of the ethos at Crosslands Flower Nursery.

Ben works with local colleges, including going in to talk to students once a year and offering apprenticeships and work placements.

“When I was growing up, there were about 20 people working here and now there are just six of us,” said Ben.

“I would like to employ more people but unfortunately, due to the economic situation, we can’t.

 “If something of quality can be grown here more sustainably, why import it from abroad? We can produce more but we need help, support and funding to do so.”

Ben launched his British Flowers Rock initiative in 2014 (Image: NFU)

Ben launched his British Flowers Rock initiative in 2014, beginning with a talk to a local horticultural society.

Since then, he has delivered more than 600 talks to garden shows, festivals, RHS clubs, the WI and many others. Bookings are already coming in for 2025. He also leads tours of the nursery and participates in the National Gardens Scheme.

One of Ben’s objectives is to achieve clearer labelling in supermarkets.

“By law, food has to be correctly labelled,” he said. “Customers know a lot about where it comes from and how it was produced.

“If you are buying eggs you know if they are free range, barn or cage, but that’s just not the case with flowers. If you are buying an Easter bouquet there’s no information about where the flowers are from, what chemicals were used, how long ago they were picked, where they were packaged.

“Wouldn’t it be great if flowers were included in the Buy British button that supermarkets are now introducing?”

The NFU has long campaigned for improved provenance labelling of cut flowers in retailers and florists to enable the public to greater recognise which flowers are home-grown.

The organisation also published its Horticulture Growth Strategy to increase horticulture production last spring.

Key issues raised in the strategy include sustainable energy supplies, access to skilled labour, productivity investment, supply chain fairness and a range of other critical support necessary to create growth in the sector.