From Oregon to Brittany: primrose nursery in France celebrates 90th anniversary

A primrose nursery in France that started life halfway across the world, and today supplies plant lovers internationally, is celebrating its 90th anniversary. 

Barnhaven Primroses is an English-run nursery based in Plestin-les-Grèves in Brittany, but started life in Oregon, in the USA in the depths of the Great Depression. 

A rich history 

It began when out-of-work concert pianist Florence Bellis used her last five dollars to order some primroses from English seed company Suttons. 

“As wild primroses native to the UK and Europe do not grow in the States, the yellow, red and white flowers seemed like an exciting distraction from her precarious circumstances,” said Jodie Mitchell who runs Barnhaven Primroses today.

Florence sowed the seeds, grew thousands of flowers and started to attract visitors to her garden who were keen to buy the plants. 

In 1936, she founded the nursery and spent the next few years producing hybrids by hand, in new colours such as blues and pinks, and with larger flowers. She called these Silver Dollar primroses. 

Florence expanded the company to include mail order, and shipped seeds around the world. 

“You could say that the work she did contributed to the genetic origins of most of the primroses you can find for sale in garden centres all over the world today,” said Jodie.

Upon retirement in 1966, Florence turned down offers from commercial seed companies, and sent her stock of seeds to two faithful customers in the UK, Willie and Sylvia Sinclair, with the message “Yours to keep or kill”. 

They carried on the nursery in Brigsteer in the Lake District, developing the collection and producing new plants. 

When they retired, primrose-lover Angela Bradford took over. Looking for cheaper land with good growing conditions, she moved the nursery to Brittany, where she and her husband had spent holidays. 

From the new location on a Brittany farm, she continued hybridising and shipping seeds all over the world.

When she retired in 2001, Lynne and David Lawson took over. The British couple had moved to the village of Plouzélambre in Brittany in 1991 with their three children, with a dream of turning an old cafe into a holiday home. 

The Lawsons moved the nursery just a few miles away to Plestin-les-Grèves, where it is located today. 

They expanded the business from mainly seed sales to also sell plants at prestigious plant fairs in Paris and abroad. 

The couple also expanded the nursery’s offerings, adding a big auricula collection, hellebores and cyclamen.

In 2011, their daughter Jodie and her husband Rob joined them to help run the nursery. They officially took over in 2019, not realising the huge challenges that were on the horizon. 

Challenges 

Both Covid and Brexit had an impact on the business. 

“Covid hit the nursery at the same time as Brexit, cancelling two years of plant fairs that were a major source of income,” said Jodie. 

The business also lost all its plant and seed sales to the UK because of Brexit, which hit the nursery hard, as British customers made up 40% of its online sales. 

“Excessive paperwork and regulations made it impossible to export,” said Jodie. 

A change in regulations means it is now possible to ship seeds and plants with a limit of 2kg to the UK, but plants require a phytosanitary certificate and monthly nursery inspections. 

Sales to the US were also stopped for three months due to President Trump’s European tariffs, and the French postal service scrambling to implement the new measures. 

Looking to the future 

The nursery continues the work of founder Florence Bellis, using the same traditional methods of hand pollination she used a century ago. 

Today, it holds the French National Plant Collection for primula, and welcomes volunteers and trainees, to pass on decades-worth of skills. 

Looking to the next generation, in 2025, former trainee and local Frenchman Robin Jaffré joined the business, and is now helping Jodie to run the nursery. 

Each owner has brought their own creativity and interests to the nursery, expanding its collection to over 400 species and thousands of varieties. 

And each has held true to Florence Bellis original mission of producing colourful primroses that could be shared around the world.

“We have inherited a heavy and precious burden and we are committed to safe-guarding the work of all the people that have gone before us and to ensure that the genetic plant heritage is not lost,” said Jodie.

“We are also aware of the importance of maintaining some of the rarer species that are disappearing from the wild with the impact of climate change and ecological damage. 

And will the nursery still be going strong in another 90 years?

“We hope to continue to produce beautiful plants for many years to come and wish that one day we will be able to pass Barnhaven’s magic wand on to the next generation.” 

You can visit the nursery during its spring opening hours, find it at specialist plant fairs or order online www.barnhaven.com Special open-day events will take place on February 28 - March 1; March 7-8 and May 30-31, 2026