Peonies dominated French Mother's Day

The Mother's Day mood was not over in the second half of March 2018. On May 27, French Mother's Day was celebrated and for many, the sales were for most higher compared to last year. The reasons mentioned were the mild weather and no public holiday on the Thursday in advance of the holiday. At the auction, SICA Flower Market, the quantity of peonies was very high.

But more happened the second half of March 2018. Horticultural Lighting Conference took place, rose grower Bob Andersen sounded alarm on global warming, UK nursery Royal Parks supplied plants for Royal Wedding of Harry and Meghan, United Selections started planting their new Naivasha showhouse, Erfgoed celebrated 60th anniversary and Dummen Orange opened their new breeding facility Elite in Rheinberg.  

Below the complete overview:

Mark Hodson, Turcieflor:

French Mother's Day: 'Gardens in perfect order for strong sales'

While many European countries celebrated Mother's Day last week (May 13), preparations for French Mother's Day (May 27) are in full swing. At Turcieflor, a French alstroemeria breeder and grower of several pot and garden plants, they are working around the clock to meet the demand, and according to....

CAN (NB): Extreme flood causes plants in nursery to swim

A flood due to heavy rain caused a lot of damage in Southern New Brunswick last week. In this area Scott’s Nursery Ltd is located. The 6-acre greenhouse grows several bedding plants, potted plants, seasonal crops and perennials and more. During the flood some plants were swimming. The water raised in the.....

Horticultural Lighting Conference:

"LED in greenhouse horticulture not yet fully developed"

LED lighting in the greenhouse horticulture has been in full development in recent years. Nowadays hardly a day passes without new insights, discoveries, and developments in lighting. After the first European edition of the Horticultural Lighting Conference in Eindhoven in 2017, it was high time to meet up.....

Bob Andersen, Mount Elgon Orchards:

Rose grower sounds alarm on global warming

"I have yet to meet a farmer who denies global warming. In Kenya alone, we have seen weather records broken every year for the past 5 years”, says grower Bob Andersen of Mount Elgon Orchards (The Elgon Collection), who grows roses on a 43ha farm in Kitale, Kenya. He sees the climate change as a very real.....

Royal Parks

Grower 'over the moon' about supplying plants for royal wedding

Royal Parks Nursery is a grower of bedding plants, which are shipped to various parks in and around London. Mike Jones, manager at Royal Parks, recalls how they were asked by the royals to present a list of plants they provide. The nursery sent it in, upon which it came back with a tick next to the plants.....

Kenya: United Selections starts planting in Naivasha showhouse

After a few months of hard work, United Selections announces the start of planting their varieties in a brand new location in Naivasha. "A special thanks goes to the flower business park and Panda flowers team. They were of great support during this period", says Christopher Makomere. "We transferred an.....

French importer looks forward to high Mother's Day sales

"The industry is more optimistic about this year's Mother's Day, and our sales are already around 15 percent higher compared to last year", says Stephane Maurice, director of MFresh. This French company imports its roses from Kenyan rose farm Black Tulip and sells it to wholesalers all over France. In this.....

Penstemon Pentastic develops healthy blush

"It seems like this new color was the missing part of the series", says Haim Rosenblum of Hishtil. The series in question is the Penstemon Pentastic and Blush is the new color that has been added. This Israeli propagator presented this color for the first time at the California Spring Trials last month and.....

One in three American adults bought Mother’s Day flowers or plants

Young adults, households with kids and residents of the American West proved to be key flower-buying groups for Mother’s Day 2018, according to an Ipsos consumer poll conducted this month on behalf of the Society of American Florists. The poll, which surveyed roughly 1,048 adults age 18 and older from the.....

Peter van de Pol, Plant Research Overberg (PRO)

Rosy future for new rootstock

The majority of rose plants used for professional cut flower production worldwide are grown on the Natal Briar rootstock. It was introduced by Dr. Peter van de Pol Sr. around 1985. Combined with his invention of top grafting quickly made it the standard in cut rose production. Today around 90 percent of.....

Europe: Market flooded with peonies

The peony peak is higher than usual this year. Peonies from countries like Italy and France are usually early, but are now later due to the cold weather. In turn, their season is overlapping with that of the Netherlands. The Dutch growers are working overtime to harvest the stems on time. Due to the heat,.....

How do you celebrate a 60th anniversary?

Generous donations to 60 good causes, one for every year they've been in business. That's what they're doing to celebrate their 60th anniversary at ErfGoed, the international leader in the manufacturing and installation of cultivation floors. The staff was asked to suggest socially involved and idealistic.....

Gilles Rus, SICA Flower Market:

Peonies dominated French Mother's Day

Busy days for French Sica Flower Market in the week before French Mother’s Day (May 27, 2018). The main reason for the increase is the big quantity of peonies, says representative Gilles Rus. Just when the holiday arrived, the peonies in the South of France were ready to be harvested. Even as the peonies in.....

new Elite location Dümmen Orange opened

"Our whole plant library under one roof"

A speech by the mayor of the local town, a proud CEO, suppliers and toasting with champagne. Those were the main ingredients needed to open the new, state-of-the-art breeding facility Elite in Rheinberg, Germany. Paradoxically, the opening was symbolized by an (orange) key closing the doors,.....