Special Publications: October 08, 2025

Three-generation success:
SELWYN GARDENING GUIDE 2025 | 9
South Pacific Roses
Back in 1970s Christchurch, plantbuying
homeowners couldn’t buy in
bulk from big-box retail and instead
enjoyed more homely garden centres
in every suburb. However, all roses
sold there came from the North Island!
So in 1978, one man set out to change
this, and ripped up his own backyard to
plant it out in bush roses.
Not all businesses take off as planned.
Noel Wright’s son Glenn recounts: “Try
as he might, Dad couldn’t get those
garden centres to stop buying from up
north. So one day he threw the gates
open, put out a sign written on the back
of an old crate, and the rest is history!”
Noel expanded to the 10 acre nursery
on Shands Rd, and South Pacific Roses
still sells directly to the public from
here, as well as to Councils, resthomes,
and community and botanical gardens.
The family grows around 100,000 roses
annually, of about 300 varieties. Anyone
can order from the website, which is
a well organised riot of varieties and
colours.
3rd
generation
The Selwyn site is now run by Noel’s
children. Angela will greet you, offering
indepth knowledge and a great sense
for colour choices and coordination.
Paul is the Production Manager leading
all aspects of the growing, and Glenn
handles commercial customers.
Naturally, all their kids grew up
helping out. Now Glenn’s son James and
Paul’s son Taylor work fulltime in the
production crew, doing the heavy work
of lifting, pruning and potting. They
were surprised how little training they
needed – James says of his childhood:
“I was learning without knowing”.
And Noel? Well he now runs the North
Island operations, in Kāpiti. Turning
80 this year, he is officially semi-retired
but every morning puts on his boots
and overalls and heads outside. He also
visits Shands Rd once a month, keeping
a watchful eye.
The Shands Rd site welcomes
customer walk-ins. You’ll quickly see
that it remains very much a downto-earth
operation – unlike some
contemporary plant nurseries, there’s
no slick shopfront here! What you
receive is great service from the
three-generation family who grow the
roses, in the place where the roses are
grown… and whether he says it or not,
I bet Noel’s pretty proud.
1st & 2nd
generations
– with 4th
in the wings
Friendly welcome: Glenn Wright
South Pacific Roses
780 Shands Road, Prebbleton
Open 7 days / 03 349 6458
www.southpacificroses.co.nz
PLANT ROSES NOW!
Candy Crush Red Corsair Best of Friends
We have 1000’s of beautiful
roses ready to plant for colour & fragrance
• Standard roses • English roses • Climbing roses & much more
780 Shands Road
Phone: 03 349 6458
Open 7 Days
www.southpacificroses.co.nz