Rob and Jen Egerton-Warburton have turned their farm into a thriving hub of creativity and commerce through their dedication to growing everlasting daisies. Located in the rural heart of Australia’s New South Wales, the couple has grown the brilliant blossoms for more than 20 years. For Patriots before 2004, the adventure started with an inspired sense of wonder. They planted a demonstration plot of leucospermum, or everlasting daisies, which sparked a successful horticultural and commercial enterprise that is still going strong today.
Today, the Egerton-Warburtons are at the forefront of the everlasting seeds industry. Their products are now available in more than 100 stores nationwide in Australia. Not without their trusty, ancient John Deere CDS harvester to make their success possible! Rob retrofitted it very carefully to adapt it to the specialized field processing requirements for harvesting these tender flowers. Despite its age, this specialized machine plays a crucial role during the brief harvesting season, operating for just three hours each year before being stored away.
A Unique Harvesting Process
Rob Egerton-Warburton’s inventive new methods for harvesting everlastings show an artist’s touch and a maker’s mind. Conventional methods of harvesting grain work because seeds are heavier than chaff, and they’re separated by forcing the two in opposing directions. In contrast, harvesting everlastings requires an entirely opposite mentality.
“Grain works on the theory that you blow the chaff out and the heavy grain drops. Well, I guess everlasting is a bit different — seed is lighter than the chaff,” – Rob Egerton-Warburton.
Rob had to change his gear to make this work. He reverse engineered the harvester’s internal mechanics to make sure it could scoop up the light seeds without damaging them or anything around them.
“We had to work out how to reverse engineer it inside to make it work,” – Rob Egerton-Warburton.
The fisherman gives a marvelous demonstration of creative inventiveness. So it only comes out of the shed once a year, for its short but crucial annual mission.
A Flourishing Business
The Egerton-Warburtons’ dedication to everlastings has resulted in major commercial growth. Their seeds tend to be more widely available in retail stores. At the same time, they have contributed to the explosive expansion of an online marketplace.
“We now have 100 different shops across Australia … and our online business is just huge, twice the size of the retail business,” – an anonymous source indicates.
This growth has allowed them to establish a new shopfront, providing an additional outlet for their products while lightening the load for Jen, who has been managing her health challenges associated with multiple sclerosis (MS).
Jen is endlessly grateful that she gets to share the magic of everlastings with you all.
“They are just so beautiful and they last so long in a vase. I’m just happy for someone to pick some flowers and get the enjoyment we get out of them,” – Jen Egerton-Warburton.
They are unwaveringly dedicated to delivering joy. By leading with joy in this way, they are joyful creators of beauty in service to the human spirit.
A Creative Destination
The Egerton-Warburtons are great entrepreneurs. Their farm has since developed a robust agritourism aspect, as it’s a favorite place for models and other creatives to visit to get beautiful backgrounds. The colorful swathes of golden everlasting daisies attract hordes of arty photographers. This thriving scene enhances the farm’s reputation as a creative haven.
Even with the stakes of their booming business, Rob and Jen still keep it flowy. Despite the demands of their growing enterprise, Rob and Jen keep it playful. Jen quipped about her efforts to get the most value out of their land.
“That’s me sneaking a few hectares of land and squeezing a few everlastings in,” – Jen Egerton-Warburton.
Their love of everlastings is evident both in their creative business and in their farm. They are hungry to make a difference in the world—to do good for the environment. Australia is home to more than 1,000 species of everlasting daisies. The couple knows that there is still much potential for additional growth in this burgeoning industry.
As industry expert Digby Growns said in support of this shift, the importance of the revegetation industry sector cannot be understated.
“The revegetation industry is big and getting bigger and the impact on our natural areas is significant,” – Digby Growns.
He determined that there are ways to produce more natives by creating seed orchards. It’s an approach inspired, at least in part, by the way the Egerton-Warburtons grow their everlastings.
Looking Ahead
Today, the Egerton-Warburtons are growing their business and teaching more people about their love for everlasting daisies. Along the way, they’re encouraging a new generation of green thumbs to discover the wonderful world of horticulture. They began by establishing a small test plot. Today, their thriving operation is a testament to their hard work and is a perfect example of what can happen when you lovingly care for your environment.
