It was in 1840 that the late James Cocker - great, great grandfather of the present senior partner, Alec J. Cocker - quarrelled with his employer about picking fruit on a Sunday. At that time he was Head Gardener on the Castle Fraser estate and told his employer that he would gather fruit on Saturday night, no matter how late but never on a Sunday. As a result of this, he left his employment and came to Aberdeen in the following year, 1841, and started a nursery business.

At the outset the business catered mainly for forest trees and herbaceous plants and as the business prospered we had to move several times to larger acreages until eventually in 1960 we purchased the farm of Whitemyres. The decision was then taken to specialise in rose growing and in 1964, with the introduction of the Plant Patent Rights Act, the breeding of new varieties of roses was undertaken.

We have bred several outstanding varieties such as "Silver Jubilee", "Alec's Red", "Glenfiddich", "Remember Me", "Gordon's College" (a.k.a. "Braveheart") many of which have won numerous National and International awards over the years. New outstanding varieties are still being bred and introduced, many of which have been commissioned by clients for personal, corporate and charity purposes. You can view and order these along with over 290 other varieties on our website. The policy of the Cocker family through the years has been to grow and supply roses of real quality, and this still continues today.

     Alec M Cocker (right) with Jack Harkness
 

In 1976, in recognition of the quality and high standards achieved, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II granted Alexander M. Cocker of James Cocker & Sons the Royal Warrant as Suppliers of Roses. The following year the rose now known as "Silver Jubilee" was bred by Alec Cocker. By kind permission from Her Majesty the Queen, he was allowed to use the name in celebration of her 25th year as monarch on the British Throne. "Silver Jubilee" was to become the world's number one selling rose for many years, but unfortunately he did not live to see the worldwide success of his rose as he passed away in November 1977. The Royal Warrant was then granted to Mrs Anne G. Cocker, wife of the late Alec. In 2008 the royal warrant was passed on to Alec J Cocker the present senior partner. Being granted a Royal Warrant is a notable achievement of which the family is rightly proud.

During the months of July and August you can come and see our rose beds in full bloom, which are situated at the front of the new offices. Today, the family business is run by Alec Cocker.