About ten years ago, the Jumilia variety was introduced, a white rose with pink edges. According to Peter Schrama (United Selections) and Koen Meewisse (J&K Rosa), this variety is doing very well in the Netherlands, and is currently the 3rd rose in terms of supply and cultivation area after the Red Naomi and the Avalanche. "The pink edge results from the addition of light. It is unique that a bicolored variety can be cultivated this well in the Netherlands. Traditionally, mainly red and white roses are grown here, the Jumilia is an exception. As the total cultivation area of roses in the Netherlands has decreased and the area of Jumilia has remained stable, Jumilia's share of market supply has increased." In this article, the men elaborate on this rose.
From left to right: Peter Schrama (United Selections) and Koen Meewisse (J&K Rosa)
The Jumilia roses are grown at J & K Rosa, among others. This three-hectare rose nursery was established by Koen. He comes from a family of rose growers; his father and grandfather have been growing roses since 1976. Koen himself has been in the business for almost 17 years now while his dog, Duc, faithfully follows him around the nursery. Three years ago, he started cultivating Jumilia, and currently, 2.2 hectares of Jumilia are in the greenhouse. According to Koen, specializing in a rose variety has its advantages. "This has allowed us to develop specific knowledge, and sorting is much easier than when you have a lot of varieties."
Koen and Duc
Thanks to his experience, Koen can tell a lot about Jumilia cultivation, for example about crop protection and lighting. Koen: "We want to cultivate as organically as possible and also use organic crop protection. Fortunately, the Jumilia is quite disease-resistant. Since we grow on stone wool, we can manage our cultivation more effectively than when growing in soil. This also means that don't have any problems with nematodes." He also mentions that lighting is very important for the shelf life of the roses. The Jumilia roses can stand for at least two weeks, usually two or three weeks. In exceptional cases even up to five weeks."
Jumilia roses in the J&K Rosa greenhouse
Breeding is also a specialized profession, and at United Selections, they are experts in it. They breed roses in Kenya, and the selections are then tested in the Netherlands, under Dutch conditions. The Jumilia is one of the results of their work. "Breeding roses is always a challenge. There is often little progress in the selection process because roses are inherently difficult to breed. You never know what will come out of it," says Peter. According to him, this is due to the complex DNA of a rose, which makes it difficult to develop better varieties. However, there is also some good news: next year, another selection will be selected for European cultivation, Peter reveals.
The Jumilia variety: white with pink edges
When the Jumilia roses are fully grown, the majority is exported with Germany being a major buyer, as well as Poland and Russia. Since J&K Rosa focuses on one rose variety, Koen has chosen to trade a large portion via the auction. "At the auction, there are good volumes available, which is an effective sales tool. Everything goes via Royal FloraHolland, and a transport company handles the logistics."
For more information: 
Koen Meewisse
J&K Rosa
[email protected]
www.jkrosa.nl
Peter Schrama 
United Selections
[email protected]
www.united-selections.com