The beginning 1901
The history of Unwins began in 1903 when William Unwin sold his first sweet pea seeds under the company name W.J. Unwins Ltd. However, the story actually began two years earlier, in the summer of 1901 in Histon, Cambridgeshire. One evening, after choir practice, William showed two of his fellow choristers around the many rows of his sweet peas. He grew them to send as cut flowers to the London Flower Market at Covent Garden Market.
William was soon hybridising sweet peas, and offered large flowered varieties in a wide range of colours. In fact, one popular sweet pea variety lead to William’s success was ‘Gladys Unwin’. Interestingly, this sweet pea variety is beautifully named after his daughter. This pink, frilly, scented flower proved to be more stable than his competitor Cole’s. They had a similar variety called ‘Countess Spencer’. William went onto develop this variety even further by creating it in almost every colour apart from yellow.
A Family business
In 1914, William’s son Charles joined him in the business. Charles went on to become one of the leading sweet pea breeders of the 20th Century. Together, both William and Charles bred over 250 hybrid sweet peas. They also moved from creating plain coloured varieties to those with ‘stripes’ and ‘flakes’. Charles’s favourite – a salmon pink variety named after the Unwins family friend Frances Perry.
William’s second son, Frank, had a particular interest in gladioli. He became as well known for his breeding work with gladioli as Charles did with sweet peas. The men soon became general seedsmen, offering a wide range of flowers and vegetables. The family not only bred sweet peas and gladioli, but also dahlias, tomatoes and culinary peas, among many others.
In the late 1950s, the Unwins decided that they would supply their seeds in full-colour seed packets to gardening shops and garden centres. By this time, Garden Centres were relatively new as previously people went to the markets to buy their plants. Until then, Unwins only sold their seeds through a mail order service. The venture was a great success, and was responsible for the steady growth of the company for many years to come. By the 1960s, W.J. Unwins Ltd became one the largest horticultural seed merchants in Britain. They sold seeds under contract in many parts of the world.
Now you know more about the history of Unwins, let’s tell you about Unwins today…
Unwins: Today
Today, Unwins still have a large share of the UK amateur seed market. The Company’s breeding work still continues, especially in sweet peas. It has the largest annual sweet pea trial than anywhere else in the world. Sweet pea seeds, like many other flower seeds, are produced commercially around the world. Countries include the United States, Eastern Europe, Malta and Continental Europe, although very little is now grown in Great Britain.
Each step of the operation is performed by hand, from sowing, through to “roguing” (the elimination of off-types), harvesting and sorting. Seed is hand-picked into an apron-pouch and emptied into clearly-labelled sacks. On arrival at Unwins’ premises in Cambridgeshire and prior to packing, the seeds are tested for quality of germination and vigour.
Before packing the seeds into their individual seed packets, most seeds are stored in a special chamber. This chamber has an environment of 20% relative humidity and a temperature of 20°C. The seed is sealed in air tight foil sachets. Each seed sachet has its own micro-climate. This seed stays in perfect condition until the seal is broken by the gardener who is intending to sow the seed.
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