In This Issue
Sell-off cash is critical to WGC's survival
Treadstone Products enjoys success at GCA conference
Make hay while the sun shines, says GTN Bestsellers
Vitavia greenhouses bring life to the garden
Horticultural Rising Stars have until Friday 22nd February to enter
Saddle up for Garden Re-Leaf Cycle Ride
Klondyke brings outdoor living to life at showcase event
The Pot Company offers unique range of Chinese Water Jars with exclusive discount
RHS celebrates half a million members
Tong raises £10,000 for children's cancer charity
Brian's lifetime in horticulture is just what doctor ordered
Get your own copy of GTN Xtra
Choice appoints Terry Maywood as non-executive chairman
Warmer weather set to ignite garden product sales
Veg-2-Grow sales start to pick up
Just the spark for growing media sales growth
Good recovery for plants after snow
HTA announces important diary dates for 2019
New Spring Fair Portfolio Director to take up role in re-edit year
Year of the Nasturtium and Carrot
The best of last week's
Caulders buy two centres from Dobbies
New Marketing Manager for LOFA
And the winners are….Glee at Spring Fair New Product Showcase winners confirmed
E.P. Barrus continues expansion with new warehouse
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All the latest news from the world of garden centre catering
Going for gold – Casual Dining’s Innovation Challenge Awards boasts record entries
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Brian's lifetime in horticulture is just what doctor ordered

 

As Mr Fothergill's trials manager Brian Talman celebrates 60 years working in horticulture, he muses how his working life could have been quite different if he had not heeded the advice of a family-friend doctor.

 

"As a Surrey teenager I passed an engineering exam in 1959 to become an apprentice, but because of my asthma the doctor said a factory environment would be bad for me and I would be better working outside.”

Brian noticed local seed company Nutting & Sons of Merstham was advertising for a trials assistant, so he applied for the post, was taken on a five-year apprenticeship, at the end of which and while still a teenager, he was appointed flower seed manager on a six-month probation.

 

"Although I was never told the company was satisfied, I suppose it must have been because I stayed until 1983,” laughs Brian.

 

During that time the company moved to Cambridgeshire. In 1983 Brian was approached by Chicago-based Ball & Co and invited to set up a British trial ground, which he managed until 2002 when he decided to set up his own plant company Talman's Plants Nursery, which in turn led to him working with Mr Fothergill's.

 

 

In the early days of this association, Brian grew all Mr Fothergill's plants at his own nursery because there were no facilities at the seed company's Kentford, Suffolk, base. Through the years, Brian has supervised the development of the Kentford trial and the installation of state-of-the art greenhouses. 

Mr Fothergill's commercial director Tim Jeffries takes up the story.

 

"We know how fortunate we are to have Brian running our trials, which several independent experts have told me are the best of their kind in Europe. His plant knowledge and understanding and his growing skills are unparalleled. He is a key member of our specialist horticultural team.”

 

Brian Talman is more modest. He simply says: "I can honestly say I have loved every minute of the past 60 years. While every day may have its challenges, every day I work with plants is a joy.”

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