Visiting the FlowerTrials is like visiting a multiple-day-pop festival on a country-size scale. OK, the Netherlands is not as big as, say the United States or China, but four days of crossing the land to visit all the floral stages that were so well prepared, trying not to miss anything important, was quite a challenge. Therefore, this report is far from complete. Just some highlights that are definitely worth mentioning.
Getting a FOMO Feeling
Four days of FlowerTrials are too few, and the days are too short! This is where plants meet people. No fewer than 59 pot and bedding plant breeders presented their latest innovations, creative concepts, and an astoundingly wide range of varieties that will never ever fit into your garden, not even if you owned Neverland, Graceland, and Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort.
And how about that constant FOMO feeling? Indeed: 'fear of missing out'. Every breeder, every stage, looked as promising as the previous and the next will be just as beautiful. So, restricted to a few highlights, let's visit some breeders in the 'Middle Region' and some in the 'South Region' of Holland. Sorry, Germany, next time we go east.
At Koppe Begonia
Koppe Begonia wants growers of the world to know that their plugs are bigger and better, which guarantees faster and more certain results. Their slogan for this FlowerTrials 'Size Matters! ... for our roots' leaves no room for doubt.
In the leaf Begonias, the spotlight was literally on Koppe's own take on the celebrated polka dot plants, here named Begonia Spotlight.
Koppe presented some new and refreshed product lines in the flowering range, like the Begonia Sweeties and Hailey series. Remarkable was the introduction of the Begonia Hailey Yellow®.
At MNP / Suntory
As always MNP / Suntory went big with a fantastic show garden, more of a jungle, actually. Despite the fact that most of the show was indoors, their motto 'No matter the weather' stood firmly for their plants.
This breeder is known for building strong brands that stand out from the crowd, like the famous Sundaville®.
There was also a brilliant Surfinia® passage built to enchant the visitors, marking its 2 billionth sold plant; which is absolutely unique.
MNP / Suntory puts a lot of work into creating top labels. And they want to show the world that their plants are truly distinct in quality and variety like the Soirée® novelties showed.
At Royal Van Zanten
The visitors at Royal Van Zanten were warmly welcomed to its garden through a corridor of mums. This should get you straight away in the right mood.
Inside the greenhouse, a nice overview was presented of RvZ's vast assortment of pot plants — such as the Aster Showmakers® and contemporary Chrysanthemum Jellyfish® series — and cut flowers — such as Charmelia®, the famous brand of spray Alstroemerias and a wide assortment of Limoniums and spray chrysants.
Next to its own show breeder Royal Van Zanten co-hosted the shows of Greek breeder Marathon Plants with uniquely-colored Anigozanthos plants and Danish Hibiscus specialists Graff Breeding, showing an excellent assortment of their HibisQs®.
Floritec
Floritec has opened a new show greenhouse near the Naaldwijk auction of Royal FloraHolland. The FlowerTrials was an excellent moment to come and see the developments of this breeder whose DNA has always contained a close collaboration with partner growers.
The journey of Floritec continues inventing new lines of Santini chrysants. Next to its popular series like Ellison, Rossi, and Maverick, this breeder introduces the Santini Miller series that promises a large color family, firm long-lasting stems, and very quick cultivation. In other words: perfect for the retail market.
At KP Holland, Perla Nova & Hi Breeding
Breeder KP Holland showed once again to be a specialist in top-notch Curcuma and Spathiphyllum.
Next to that, the room was filled with their guest, grower Perla Nova, who showed several varieties of Hydrangea from Hi Breeding and a few of their own. Especially one from their own hand caught the eye. What a huge flower! Incredible.
At HilverdaFlorist
Plenty to see at this top-class breeder, who presented a shipload of beauties in many flowering plants and cut flower ranges.
The visitors walked through the outdoor garden adoring the strong and three cheerful lines of Gerbera pot plants, branded Garvinea® Cheeky (small), Sweet (regular), and Majestic (double-flowered).
And what about the colorful Picture Perfect Dianthus series? This definitely sends a message to a younger audience making the carnation pot plants also work for this segment
Some amazing novelties by HilverdaFlorist included never-before-seen flowers like the green Echinacea Jealousy, the huge Scabiosa Virtuoso® Dali, and the extraordinary leafless Gerbera Marimo Green and Dark.
At Sakata & Van den Bos Flower Bulbs
At Sakata, wonderful Lisianthus took the stage together with a wide range of flowering garden plants, like their star-quality Platycodon Astra.
Bulb grower Van den Bos Flowerbulbs has a corner of its own presenting totally cute Freesia pot plants and wonderful fragrant Roselily plants.
The Future Looks Promising
Who said we've seen everything in horticulture already? No way! There's so much beauty coming in the months and years to come. Watch out for all these wonderful new plants, flowers, concepts, labels, and series. Stay tuned.
