It was in 1919 that the Government set up a number of smallholdings for returned servicemen of the First World War. One of these Crown Colonies was at Holbeach in Lincolnshire.

Otto Augustus Taylor, as a result of being gassed in the war, was unable to return to his occupation in London.

He applied for one of these new holdings and was successful. With his wife and two sons, Stanley and Percy, he moved to the new settlement with a house and 4 hectares of land.

He soon realised that working the holding, as a small-scale version of the neighbouring farm was unlikely to provide a living for his family.

He decided to grow flowers and bulbs and became one of the pioneers of bulb growing in this country.  Otto died in 1946 having seen the business grow considerably with the help of his two sons.

By 1968 the family owned some 120 hectares of prime Lincolnshire silt and the nursery facilities had been expanded.

John, Roger and Brian had joined their father Percy, and uncle Stanley.

O.A. Taylor & Sons Bulbs Ltd was formed by the younger generation to supply bulbs to nurseries and garden centres.

With the retirement of their father and death of their uncle in 1982 the management of their father’s business passed to the three brothers.

In 1985 the company was awarded The Royal Warrant as Bulb Growers to Her Majesty The Queen.

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother’s Warrant followed this in 1991.

The firm also incorporates the Gold Medal winning Walkers Bulbs as a specialist division.

Garden Centre Association ‘Associate Member of the Year Award’ – This is an award that is voted for by all 160 members of the group.

In 2009 Taylor’s Bulbs celebrated their 90^th anniversary!

Adam takes up the reins of sales and marketing for Taylors Bulbs with Sam heading up horticultural and agricultural operations.

GIMA Awards ‘GIMA Supplier of the Year 2013 & 2014

The British Ornamental Plant Producers’, Certification Scheme was been designed for use by growers and packers of ornamental horticultural products and by growing media producers. The objective is to ensure that customers can have complete confidence in both product and service when dealing with BOPP Certificated suppliers.

Garden Centre Association ‘Associate Member of the Year Award’ – This is an award that is voted for by all 160 members of the group.

GIMA Awards ‘GIMA Supplier of the Year 2016

In November 2019, to celebrate 100 years of Taylors Bulbs, the company arranged for all of their full time employees to go to London for a celebratory lunch at The House of Lords followed by a tour and then an evening visit to the theatre.

In early 2023 we commissioned our 1544 solar panel installation at our site in Holbeach, Lincolnshire. This will save around 125 tonnes of CO²e per year and produce approximately 538 MWh of electricity annually.

In March 2023 Adam and Sam Taylor presented Di Beales, Sue Venni, Kevin Haynes and John Taylor with the Royal Horticultural Society Long Service Award. These are to recognise working in the horticultural industry for 40+ years.

In May 2023, Taylors Bulbs received their 30^th Gold Medal at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. This was also the companies 28^th consecutive Gold Medal at Chelsea.

In summer 2023, we replaced and updated an old building at our farm with a new 895 sq metre grain conditioning facility. The new building is capable of storing 2000 tonnes of grain.