In 1949, fresh out of the army and Cornell's School of Horticulture, Fred Edmunds, Jr. leased 40 acres in Wilsonville, Oregon, and started a garden rose nursery. He'd grown up around roses. His father was curator of the Portland International Rose Garden. And Fred had already connected with many of the leading rose nurserymen of the day, including Charlie Perkins of Jackson & Perkins, who offered Fred a job. Fred turned him down to build something of his own instead.

Those early years were lean. Fred grew roses under contract for J&P, mailed bareroot roses to customers himself, and worked nights piloting the Boones Ferry across the Willamette River, right up until Interstate 5 was finished in 1953 and the ferry was retired.

In 1961, Fred and his wife Wini moved the growing operation to a 50-acre former dairy farm with rich soil and strong irrigation. They incorporated as 'Roses by Fred Edmunds, Inc.' and increased production over time to 90,000 roses a year. As each of Fred and Wini's four children turned 12, they went to work in the fields - cleaning budwood, hoeing, grafting buds, and tying budding strips. No formal interviews. Just 'here's the work, get started.' At the end of each summer, the money they'd saved went straight to school clothes, a lesson that made more sense years later than it did at the time.

Fred and Wini built lasting friendships with rose breeders around the world and often hosted them in Portland, where they could see their varieties tested in the Washington Park test garden and previewed in the nursery fields. Over the years, Fred worked with many renowned rose breeders and Roses by Fred Edmunds introduced numerous new varieties, including several All-America Rose Selections winners. Fred also served three terms as president of the American Rose Society.

Phil Edmunds first joined the family business in 1972 with his wife, Kathy, for a few years. He returned for good in 1981 as production manager, running crews through every phase of growing and shipping. He immersed himself in the mailorder trade, attending industry conventions and building relationships that would shape the company's future.

In 1992, Fred and Wini retired and Phil and Kathy purchased the business. Fred spent much of his retirement happily driving his tractor through the rose fields. Under this new leadership the company was renamed Edmunds' Roses, much of the production was shifted to a California grower, and the business was modernized for the internet age. In order to retain connection to their roots, Phil and Kathy kept rose testing locally in Oregon and retained a number of in-house rose experts to provide customer service to their expanding customer base.

In the early 2000's the business experience some challenges that were difficult to recover from. That's when Dick Zondag, a longtime friend from years of industry meetings, stepped in to purchase Edmunds' Roses. He was determined to preserve the quality, service, and reputation that the Edmunds family had built.

Under stewardship by the Zondag family, Edmunds' Roses remains a leader in plant quality, selection, and expert packaging of bareroot and potted rose plants. Along with the same commitment to customer service that the business has always valued. Phil still buys plants for his own garden and is grateful that even after more than 70 years, the Edmunds name continues to stand for care, continuity, and a love of roses.