Year in Review: Manawatū flower farmer on love, family and freesias

Manawatū flower farmer, Martin Wilson runs the business with his wife Jennifer.

The Country looks back at some of the biggest and best stories of the past 12 months, including readers' favourites, news events and those yarns that gave us a glimpse into rural lives and livelihoods across the country.

Originally published April 7.

Wilflora flower farmer Martin Wilson is used to his blooms bringing joy, and sometimes romance, to others, especially since his farm is the setting for his own love story.

Working in a small team and surrounded by flowers all day, with row upon row of iridescent blossoms and enchanting aromas wafting through the air, Wilfora is the perfect setting for a love story.

And for Wilson, it was.

“I actually met the love of my life, Jennifer, right here on the farm,” he said.

“She started working here when she finished her studies in 2003.

“Surrounded by flowers, working side-by-side all day long, one thing led to another.”

Wilson said the couple now run the business together.

“I couldn’t do it without her support.”

Wilson is a specialist freesia and mixed-cut flower farmer at Wilflora, which is in the Manawatū-Whanganui region.

The farm was initially purchased by his parents and he said he was proud to continue the family legacy.

“When my father first purchased this block of land in 1973, it was completely bare. He started the farm as a grow-your-own veggies garden until the flower crops were established.”

For Wilson, blossoms are in the blood. His mother was a florist and he spent his childhood days lending a hand on the farm.

“Back then, the farm operation was very small, we only had two or three staff working on the farm so I always helped after school,” he said.

“It has always been a part of who I am. We live and breathe the flower industry.”

The farm has expanded rapidly over the years and what began as 4500sq m of greenhouses has now more than doubled.

Wilson said he wouldn’t want it any other way.

“I love working in the greenhouse. It can be a miserable day outside but as soon as you step inside, it’s warm and you get an overwhelming scent of flowers.”

Wilson said the greenhouses operated at an optimal temperature, so were warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

Even more greenhouses are on the cards, as he hopes to expand the business into his very own flower empire.

“We are in full expansion mode, we have a team of eight staff members to help with our operations.”

New Zealand’s wholesale flower industry that Wilflora supplies to utilises the Dutch auction system, which is used to sell flowers across the country.

The Dutch auction starts with a high asking price and incrementally lowers until a bid is placed to buy.

Wilson said Wilflora sold its flowers at United Flower Growers Auctions every Monday, Wednesday and Friday throughout the country.

“This is where wholesalers, florists and flower resellers participate in the auction to purchase flowers,” he explained.

“Our partners have the chance to bid on the flowers that we send to auction in the consignments freighted overnight.

“They get sold early the next morning and in the afternoon.”

The way the auction system worked was like “sudden death,” he said.

Martin Wilson is a specialist freesia and mixed cut flower farmer.

“If you want the flowers, you have to press the button and make your bid - otherwise you’ll miss out.”

With prices fluctuating regularly, Wilson said it was important to establish good connections with partners to ensure the best sales.

“Our products are perishable, so you need to have trust from the buyers.”

With more than 10,000sq m of greenhouses growing flower crops in the soil, crop rotation is not a possibility, and so the risk of soil disease increases.

To control this, Wilson has established a deep soil steaming drainage system with a large network of drainage pipes, allowing for the best-quality flowers to be grown.

“We needed to build a huge network of drainage pipes under the flower beds, the area we needed to trench to grade was 7000 metres long,” he said.

“This was no small task, having to complete trenching in between the change of crops.”

He purchased a Kubota excavator for the trenching.

Wilson said people initially questioned why he’d need one for the farm but once the draining operation was finished, he bought another one for bigger jobs around the property.

“Farmers are now asking to hire it because it’s been so useful.”