Get to know our supplier: Taylor's Bulbs

The best thing about bulbs? They can be planted in spring and autumn depending on the variety you’re growing. For gardening fans, it’s an ideal gardening activity to keep you productive all year round. As they’re relatively simple to grow, it’s a great way to get little ones involved in gardening too. They’ll have fun checking on the growth progress each day, and the numerous varieties of flowers available to grow means it’s endlessly rewarding.

At Dobbies, we’re lucky enough to offer you the best quality spring and autumn flowering bulbs, all thanks to our wonderful supplier Taylor’s Bulbs. With top quality and the environment at the forefront of everything they do, we’re excited to share more about our lengthy, ongoing partnership with them.

Who are Taylor's Bulbs?

Established in 1919, Taylor’s Bulbs are a fourth-generation family-run business based in South Lincolnshire. As well as growing and supplying flowering bulbs and other planting products to garden centres and nurseries across the UK, they also import bulbs from around the world. This makes them one of the largest bulb companies in the UK.

The business started when Otto Augustus Taylor was unable to return to his job in London during the First World War and instead started growing flowers to make money. He became one of the pioneers of the bulb and flower growing industry in the UK. Now, Otto’s great grandsons, Adam and Sam, are directors for the business. They work hard to illustrate the progressive thinking and bright prospects of Taylor’s Bulbs. For example, their Quality Assured programme means that each bulb and plant grown is trialled first to see how it performs in differing weather conditions and compost types. The individual bulbs are given a unique stock code so the team can track it through its life cycle. This ensures that every bulb supplied from Taylor’s that ends up on Dobbies’ shelves are the best quality for our customers.

Taylor’s farm over 750 hectares of land, of which 150 hectares are daffodils – a springtime favourite and a slight signature flower of the business. Each summer, an excess of 3,000 tonnes of daffodil bulbs passes through the yard at Taylor’s. They have an award-winning daffodil display each year at Chelsea, where they showcase the many different types and forms of daffodils they grow. That’s right – daffodils aren’t just yellow! The daffodils at Taylor’s range from white with pink, yellow, yellow with orange, large flowers, double flowers, and smaller flowers.

For their daffodils, Taylor's have won over 30 RHS Chelsea Gold Medals to date. They have plenty more impressive accolades. In 2024 they were honoured with the Royal Warrant of Appointment to be official bulb growers for His Majesty King Charles III, and they’ve been voted supplier of the year by UK Garden Centre Association 6 times.

Environment & sustainability at Taylor’s 

One of the reasons we're proud to work with Taylor’s Bulbs is their commitment to reducing their environmental impact. The business is constantly aiming for the most sustainable growing practices. Taylor's work hard to lower their carbon footprint through solar energy and recycling, as well as giving back to nature through the protection of local wildlife and pollinating insects. The main goal is leaving the nursery in better condition for the next generation of growers.

In 2023, Taylor’s added 1544 solar panels to the roofs of their buildings, which helps produce 538MWh of clean energy every year. This contributed to a fall in their electricity consumption and over 30 tonnes less CO₂e used. They’ve also swapped all their lighting to LED to further reduce their environmental impact. Overall, their carbon footprint has reduced by 14.3% across 2023/2024 compared to 2022/2023.

To cut down the use of inorganic fertilisers, Taylor’s plant cover crops and field margins to help naturally add nitrogen to the soil. Over 2022/2023, Taylor’s planted 15 hectares of cover crops.

Additionally, over the last 5 years, they’ve planted thousands of native trees and shrubs to help combat flooding and soil erosion, as well as help attract more wildlife and boost biodiversity. To provide additional habitat and food for beneficial insects and birds during the winter months, Taylor’s drill wildflower and bird seed mixture around the outside of their fields once a year.

The history of Taylor’s and Dobbies

Taylor’s Bulbs have been supplying our stores with their top-quality flowering bulbs throughout spring and autumn months since 1984. They're the reason we’re able to offer gardening enthusiasts, both young and old, such a splendid variety of bulbs year after year. They’re always producing new varieties for customers to grow, keeping each gardening season interesting.

We've truly valued our partnership with Taylor's for over 40 years. Their knowledge and dedication to supplying quality spring and summer flowering bulbs has helped us bring vibrant colour and seasonal beauty to our stores, and to our gardens, year after year. To support our 160 year celebrations, we were lucky enough to collaborate with Taylor’s to create 3 heritage bulbs, designed with special branding and packaging. Each bulb has a rich story and heritage to tell.

Find out more about each of them below:

Bowden lily (Nerine bowdenii): First introduced to the UK in 1903, this bright pink lily is fantastic for late summer or early autumn colour and can be planted in borders or pots.

Regal lily (Lilium regale): Introduced in the UK in 1910, it’s famous for its large trumpet flowers. Its great fragrance makes it a fantastic cut flower.

Lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis): Native to and grown in the British Isles for centuries, this fragrant, white, bell-shaped flower looks best for borders. If planted and left, it’ll naturally spread and bloom year on year.

We’re excited to continue growing this collaborative partnership and relationship with Taylor’s and can’t wait to see what the future holds!

Learn more about planting and growing bulbs

Planting and growing bulbs is one of the easiest and most rewarding gardening activities. Tulips, dahlias, and lilies are just few of the hundreds of flowers that can be grown from bulbs. Many of these can be planted in either pots or garden borders, making them ideal for weeks of colour whether you have a spacious garden or cosy balcony.

Taylor’s supply many different bulb growing products, including bulb gift bundles, Little Seedlings Grow Your Own boxes, and curated collections of different bulbs to give maximum impact in your displays.

Find out how to grow some of our favourites:

Begonias 

Once risk of frost has passed, begin growing your begonia bulbs in a pot outside.

Fill a 30cm pot with bulb fibre compost.

Plant 3 bulbs per pot, shoot side up, just under the surface of the soil.

Water the soil regularly, keeping the pot in a warm bright area.

Dahlias 

Start growing your dahlia tubers in a pot. You can either keep them displayed in the pot or transfer them to the ground once the risk of frost has passed.