“Let the beauty of what you love,

be what you do.”

Rumi

It’s February, and we all know what that means…you guessed it; it’s the month of LOVE! I love love! Love is patient, love is kind…love requires all the work and care of a well-cultivated garden – you feed it, you water it, you sit and talk to it sometimes…no seriously, it is the result of careful, deliberate effort and teamwork. Love really is a beautiful thing.

You know what else is beautiful? Flowers! And with Valentine’s Day upon us, what better way to embrace the romance and celebrate, than with a beautiful bunch of locally grown and cultivated roses?! Have I got a treat for you today!

Welcome to The Bigger Picture; a blog that is all about building NETWORK and CONNECTION. Each month, I feature a woman in small business within my community with the sole purpose of showing support, building solidarity and sharing stories of passion.

I am so fortunate to be surrounded by incredible small businesses in the South West run by mums in their spare rooms or out in their gardens and they each have a unique story to be told; a BIGGER PICTURE to be discovered.

As you read this feature, the theme I want you to ponder is the idea of labouring with love; to work hard in your chosen field, to feed it with all the passion and love you have, and hopefully, to reap the reward, knowing that the love you gave, will be transferred and felt by others.

What is that famous saying? “Love is the secret ingredient!” And it’s true. Love is the ingredient that enhances everything we do in life.

My feature for February is a local woman who, alongside her husband, has grown so much more than a beautiful garden. Based in South West Victoria, I am very pleased to introduce you to busy mum and talented green thumb, the lovely…

Margriet de Ruiter

Eumeralla Roses

Tell us about your business and what services you offer.

Eumeralla Roses grows and sells roses for the cut flower market. We deliver fresh, locally grown roses directly to florists in Hamilton, Port Fairy, Portland and Warrnambool. We have also started to supply our roses to florists in the Macedon Ranges and are looking to break into the Melbourne market as well. Apart from that we are considering opening our ornamental rose garden to the public as there seems to be interest – cars consistently slow down when they pass by our place!

Is there a story behind the name you chose?

The Eumeralla River forms the northern boundary of our property, so we named our business after it in honour of its significance for our region. I also think it sounds romantic and Australian, just like our roses.

Where does your inspiration come from?

When we bought our farm at the end of 2020, it came with a small established rose garden which the previous owner’s wife had created, mostly with cuttings taken from friends’ gardens, I believe. It contains many of the old classics, such as Charles de Gaulle, Eiffel Tower and the Pierre de Ronsard climbing rose, ringed by a pretty white Iceberg hedge. I realized I really enjoyed looking after roses, nursing them to their full potential and then reaping the rewards by cutting them and filling our house with their beautiful scent. It was a joy I liked to share with others and looking for work I could do from home, the idea for a rose nursery was born. We started planting in the wettest winter I experienced here so far, knee deep in mud, planting a few hundred bareroot roses, finding our way as we went. We have been adding to our collection every winter since and we now have well over 2000 rose bushes including nearly 500 different varieties. We played around with a few different ideas for our nursery, including selling potted roses. Unfortunately, I suffered a bad neck injury after a crash off my bike in late 2024, we decided to get into cut roses as the workload required less heavy lifting – and because life is too short not to do what you love!

What is your favourite part of your job?

I really enjoy being out there during the coolest moments of the day; early in the morning and just before dusk, picking the best, most beautiful blooms for my upcoming orders. And then later seeing them transformed by the hands of a talented florist into a stunning arrangement, in the window shop or online – it fills me with joy to have contributed to a thing of beauty. Also, there is nothing like the meditative act of deadheading spent blossoms of my rose bushes to clear my head. It always calms me down and brings a sense of peace – as long as I am wearing good leather garden gloves against those sharp thorns!

What do you offer your clients that no one else does?

We source our rose bushes from local rose growers; Treloars near Portland and Wagners just over the border in South Australia, so we can offer the widest choice of varieties of garden roses, enabling our customers to choose creatively and cater better for events and other occasions. And for florists in the southwest, we offer a local, quick and easily accessible alternative to metropolitan supply lines. If you need a particular kind of rose, for any occasion, you can just call or text me and if I can help you out – and most of the time I can – I will.

The final difference we offer lies in how we grow our flowers. Our roses are field grown and therefore seasonal, but unlike hothouse grown roses they offer more character, fragrance and diversity in colour and shape. Growing roses out in the open air poses its challenges – I watch heatwaves and heavy storms with nervous anticipation – but we believe growing roses more naturally like this contributes to their beauty, perfume and most importantly, a more sustainable future.

What’s the biggest thing you’ve learnt since starting your business?

Don’t be afraid to try something new. It will be hard work with a steep learning curve but it is so rewarding to see your dream materialize in something real and prove to yourself that you can grow a product others appreciate and enjoy. Imposter syndrome I have experienced all too often, always underestimating and undervaluing my skills and knowledge even in fields I studied for years. Coming from the Netherlands, the Australian attitude of having a go and others appreciating you having a go as far as you are “fair dinkum” was eye-opening and reassuring for me. With my husband’s support it gave me the confidence to create this business together. It is certainly no fairy tale! It’s hard work with lots of late nights and early mornings and plenty of stuff ups and disagreements. Working with my husband means plenty of arguments about pretty much all aspects of running our business 😊 But seriously, having the hard discussions about what to do next, what to invest in, what to try and what to let go, are really important to make your business grow and succeed. I advise to look for that sparring partner and sounding board when you are starting up your own business. So have a go and keep actively reflecting on what you are doing and what you need to do to achieve your goals – for me, the whole process is so rewarding and fulfilling. I get to work with beautiful flowers and lovely people every day from my own familiar and loved home and garden as the base. I’m very happy to have taken the leap and grateful to the local community for supporting us!

I spent several hours with Margriet in her garden in absolute awe at its size and scope. It truly is stunning. The variety of roses was incredible, all neatly tucked in and labelled and blooming in the golden glow of a summer evening. I just love the way Margriet talks about the joy she receives from her garden and how working alongside her husband gives her the strength and support to take risks; how the simple act of moving soil or deadheading roses can cultivate an appreciation for life and how that positive energy can be transferred to yourself, your partner and your wider community.

So, having been inspired by Eumeralla Roses, if you’re struggling to surprise your partner with a romantic gesture, here’s a date night idea for you. Get out in the garden; move your body, feel the sun on your face, talk together, grow something together, cook your harvest or treat each other to a freshly cut bouquet. It will look and taste all the better knowing that you created it together. It’s like I always say to my husband, “couples who garden together, stay together!” You heard it here first! I hope you get dirty this Valentine’s Day!

Edwina xx

If you are a keen gardener, or are in need of a beautiful bouquet to gift your loved one, jump onto the website and look what Eumeralla Roses has to offer. I can’t wait to hear when Margriet will be opening her garden for the public to visit, so for all FAQs, news, and information on stockists, give Margriet a follow (and your support) on her social media pages…

Website: www.eumerallaroses.com

Instagram: @eumeralla_roses

Facebook: Eumeralla Roses