FloraCulture International June 2023

HOUSEPLANTS

What do our customers really, really want?

GREENTECH

Horticulture's thriving tech, all under one roof

PLANT BREEDERS' RIGHTS

Providing a climateproof and resourceefficient industry

BIODIVERSITY AND SMART PLANTS

The magical interaction between flowers and their pollinators

Partners of FloraCulture International

FloraCulture International encourages the pursuit of joint activities in areas of mutual interest with national, and international societies, and organisations. Agreements have been reached between FCI and leading growers and trade associations worldwide. FCI is proud to work in collaboration with:

A busy month lies ahead

June is shaping up to be an eventful month in horticulture. Decorum, a Dutch alliance of flower and plant growers, will hold its annual Spring Fair on Wednesday, 31 May and Thursday, 1 June 2023. Event organisers have chosen the nursery of potted bulb grower H.L. Hogervorst in Noordwijk as the venue of choice. The event will give breeders, starting material suppliers, growers, wholesalers, garden retailers, and plant marketeers the opportunity to sample the sentiments in the trade and find out what will be hot this summer.

Meanwhile, preparations for the 11th Dutch Lily Days are well underway. The event, which runs between 6-9 June 2023 at 14 lily companies across the northwest of Holland, will bring together a cross-section of the Dutch lily industry and institutional stakeholders. Bringing a rainbow of colour are tried and tested lily varieties along with many new market entries.

Royal Van Zanten’s branch in Hillegom will host the event’s official opening on 6 June, which will coincide with the launch of a new range of pollen-free, single-flowered oriental hybrids selling under the Liber brand name and a new campaign to boost lily sales. Visitors of the Open Days will be invited to cast their ballot for their all-time favourite lily. Last year, OT hybrid ‘Touchstone’ by Mak Breeding topped the Dutch Lily League, an annual ranking of the top 50 of the world’s most appreciated lily varieties.

A remarkable journey into the world of the orchid, whereby millions of plants can be admired in ten days. That’s, in a nutshell, what awaits attendees of the 8th annual Orchid Inspiration Days (7-16 June 2023) with 11 participants set to treat their customers from home and abroad to the cream of the Dutch orchid crop.

The European bedding plant industry’s flagship event, FlowerTrials, will be back in bloom between 13-16 June 2023. More than 60 breeding companies in the Westland (NL), Rotterdam (NL), Aalsmeer (NL) and Rhineland Westfalen areas will open their doors at 20 locations. They will showcase their newest pot and bedding plants, cut flowers, perennials, herbs and gourmet vegetables and everything in between to growers, exporters, and buyers from across the world.

GreenTech will take place on 13, 14 and 15 June at the Amsterdam RAI convention centre. This premier trade exhibition will celebrate horticulture’s thriving tech scene under one roof. According to Mariska Dreschler, Director Horticulture at RAI, GreenTech looks forward to what she calls a ‘not-to-miss event for growers, investors and policymakers worldwide’. Page 36.

The UK and Germany will host their HTA National Plant Show, and spoga+gafa, between 20-21 June and 18-20 June, respectively.

Outside Europe, Kenya’s premier flower trade show, Iftex, will return to the Oshwal convention centre in Nairobi, Kenya, between 6-8 June 2023. The show’s tenth event will host a record 150 exhibitors from home and abroad and a strong contingent of pre-registered international buyers. The show floor will equally see the presence of first-time exhibitors, among which are several small and medium-sized enterprises that market their cut flowers through brokers instead of exporting them directly.

FCI Editor Ron van der Ploeg

CONTENTS

JUNE 2023 VOLUME 33 NUMBER 6

COVER STORY

16 BIODIVERSITY AND SMART PLANTS

The magical interaction between flowers and their pollinators

FEATURES

24 PLANT VARIETY RIGHTS (PVR)

Providing the essential foundation for a climate-proof and resource-efficient industry

28 SUNSHINE TECH

Converting the sunlight to increase greenhouse sustainability

32 BREEDING BREAKTHROUGH FROM AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND

Fairy Magnolia makes an excellent specimen shrub and can also serve as a quickly growing hedge

36 TECH TRADE SHOW

GreenTech’s Mariska Dreschler looks forward to an event not to be missed

FloraCulture International (FCI) is an independent trade magazine with the largest circulation for a world publication of its kind. FCI is published for the ornamental horticulture industry by the International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH). It is published 11 times per year worldwide.

Contributing writers: David Bek, Paola Cassiano, Pablo Costa, Martin Deasy, Jaap Kras, Hannah Pinnells, Ron van der Ploeg, Audrey Timm, Emanuela Truffo, Jean Vernon, and Rachel Wakefield. Contact: info@floracultureinternational. com. Address: FloraCulture International, Horticulture House, Chilton, Didcot, Oxfordshire, OX11 0RN, United Kingdom. Editor: Ron van der Ploeg, ron@ floracultureinternational.com Worldwide Advertising Office: Angie Duffree, angie@floracultureinternational.com. T. +31 6 403 277 35. Magazine designer: Rachel Wakefield. Cover image: Close-up of a large striped bee collecting pollen, Adobe Stock. AIPH ©2023 FloraCulture International magazine. All rights reserved. Publisher is not liable for the content of the advertisements. Photographs by permission of copyright owners.

Act now - Enter the AIPH International Grower of the Year Awards 2024

Time is running out for ornamental growers to showcase their achievements and enter the prestigious AIPH International Grower of the Year (IGOTY) Awards 2024 closes on 30th June 2023.

Established by the International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH) in partnership with FloraCulture International (FCI), the IGOTY Awards have been championing outstanding achievements in the ornamentals sector since 2009. They recognise best practices in horticultural production by the top ornamental production nurseries from around the globe, celebrating the expertise and energy they give to horticulture. The awards also stimulate and promote best practices by providing global attention to outstanding producers and promoting knowledge throughout the industry.

The awards comprise five categories:

• Finished plants and trees

• Young plants

• Cut flowers and bulbs

• Sustainability

• Inspiring business

Save the Date

Among these categories, only one winner will be crowned the ‘AIPH International Grower of the Year 2024’ and receive the ‘Gold Rose’ – the industry’s most coveted prize.

In January 2023, Brookdale Treeland Nurseries Ltd (BTN) was announced as International Grower of the Year 2023 and won the Gold Rose award. BTN is one of the largest and most respected growers of garden plants in Canada. With four farms in Ontario and one in British Columbia, they have a land base of more than 800 acres.

In an interview with FCI, BTN’s CEO Jeff Olsen said: “Personally, this is a highlight of my career and makes me so proud to be named IGOTY 2023 among such a prestigious group of companies. For BTN, this award validates the hard work that our team has been doing and motivates them to push further.

“We set a goal to win this award as a part of our Strategic Planning Process, as we knew how the recognition would be great for our business. I sit on many industry boards and always recommend applying to my peers.”

Candidates can enter the IGOTY Awards 2024 online, and entry closes on Friday, 30th June 2023. Judging will then take place by a panel of industry experts who will

assess the entrants on five key criteria; economic performance, innovation, market insight, sustainability and human resources policy. All winners will be announced at an Awards ceremony in January 2024 alongside IPM Essen. To find out more about the IGOTY Awards and to enter, visit AIPH's Event Page. For queries on entering the awards, please contact: events@aiph.org

The International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH) 75th Annual Congress will take place in Suncheon, Republic of Korea on 17-21 September 2023.

The programme outline is as follows:

17 September – Arrival of delegates

18 September – AIPH Expo Conference and tour of the 2023 Suncheonman International Garden Expo

19 September – AIPH General Meeting and industry conference

20 September – AIPH Green City Conference and Green City tours

21 September – Professional visits

22 September – Departure of delegates

Further details on www.aiph.org/ event/75th-annual-congress/

SOUTH KOREA

International Grower of the Year 2023 winners Brookdale Treeland Nurseries Ltd (BTN) from Canada.

IMPROVING THE MODERN CUT HYDRANGEA

Industry veteran, and former FCI publisher, Jaap Kras provides valuable insights into the genus of Hydrangea, its origins, and the breeding work in cut Hydrangeas, including many goals, in particular shelf life.

“Hydrangea, aka Hortensia, is a genus of nearly 100 species of flowering plants. Hydrangeas are native to East Asia (China, Korea, and Japan) and America, thriving in mostly mild to cold areas.

Most of the species are shrubs that stand 1-3 m. (3ft-3in) tall. Some are small trees, and others are lianas reaching up to 30m by climbing up trees. There are deciduous and evergreen Hydrangeas.

The widely cultivated temperate species are deciduous. The genus includes many cultivars that are commercially grown. I counted 42. The most important varieties are from Hydrangea macrophylla.

The word Hydrangea is derived from the Greek translation of ‘water vessel’. For gossip lovers: some say 'Hortensia' is a Latinised version of the French name Hortense honouring the French astronomer and mathematician Nicole Reine Hortense Lepaute. Others sustain that the plant is named after Hortense de Beauharnais, daughter of the French Empress Joséphine de Beauharnais. (By the way, this cannot be true because the plant was named before she was born.) Others argue the plant is named after Hortense van Nassau, daughter of Karel Hendrik Nicolaus Otto Prince of Nassau-Siegen, an explorer who travelled the globe. The attentive reader will understand that I prefer the last explanation as a born and bred Dutchman.

Hydrangeas produce flowers from early spring to late autumn, growing in flowerheads on a stem. Two types of flowers are small non-showy fertile flowers in the centre of the flowerhead and large sterile showy flowers with large colourful sepals. Plants in wild populations have few to no showy flowers.

Cut Hydrangeas dehydrate easily and wilt very quickly due to the large surface area of the petals. A wilted Hydrangea may have its hydration restored by first having its stem immersed in boiling water as the petals can absorb moisture; the petals may then be immersed in room temperature water to restore the flower’s hydration.

Breeders are well aware of the vase life issue of cut Hydrangeas and breed varieties with a longer vase life using interspecific breeding, crossing Hydrangea macrophylla with H. serrata, H. arborescens and H. paniculata cultivars.

Soil pH affects a Hydrangea’s colour. Blooms come in deeper shades of blue when the soil is more acidic. A more basic alkaline soil will result in pink-hued flowers, and a neutral soil will give way to purple/pinkish blooms.

In most species, the flowers are white. Hydrangea macrophylla is mainly used as a cut flower featuring blue, red, or purple, with colour saturation levels ranging from pale pink, lavender, powder blue, purples, Bordeaux, and deep blue.

Most Hydrangeas flower on one-year-old branches, but newer varieties from Hydrangea macrophylla also flower on older and new branches.

Hydrangeas are a very popular cut flower worldwide. The most important production countries are Colombia, with a production area bigger than 1,000 ha. (1 acres is 0,40 ha), China has more than 500ha; the Netherlands has over 100ha. Italy, Japan, Ecuador, Kenya, and the USA are also important cut Hydrangea producers.

I had the pleasure of receiving help for this column from Andrea Mansuino, former president of CIOPORA. He is also an internationally wellknown fourth-generation breeder of ornamentals. He owns Mansuino srl, which began breeding Hydrangeas in Italy 12 years ago. He developed a project cooperating with a research institute in Tuscany, Pescia-based CREA-OF.

The main targets of this programme, run by conventional breeding in San Remo and through biotech support in the labs in Pescia, are to improve the modern cut Hydrangea. Productivity, stem length, quality, flower size, shape, colour, and vase life are standard goals. Mansuino and his researchers are also looking at targets such as low requirements of cold for flower induction, drought tolerance and recurrent blooming. The idea is to obtain new varieties that can be commercially grown in warmer climates, targeting a ‘Mediterranean Hydrangea’- a tropical Hydrangea for countries such as Kenya, Colombia, and Ecuador. This breeding work is reminiscent of the ‘Mediterranean carnation’ that the Mansuino family developed in the last century.

Interspecific breeding is part of the programme. Trials are happening at partner farms in Kenya, Ecuador, Colombia, and China. A positive side effect is the development of Mediterranean and tropical cultivars of pot production. Due to global warming, the vision is timely, and the first varieties will be introduced under the brand name Azzura.H.”

White Heart Collective founder Kenny Nguyen grew up under the dark cloud of food and housing insecurity. He is dedicated to equipping minority entrepreneurs and business owners with the resources they need to provide for themselves and their families confidently. Kenny@withheart-co.org

‘THERE’S AN EMOTIONAL DISCONNECT BETWEEN END USERS AND LARGER SCALE COMMERCIAL PRODUCERS’

FCI had a great one-to-one with plant enthusiast and plant convention organiser Kenny Kiet Nguyen from Houston. We asked him what makes plant pals tick, about key customer behaviours and how the professional houseplant industry should position itself so that homeowners and gardeners get the most from their new plants.

It sounds like a good problem to have. Demand for all kinds of plants – but particularly houseplants – was already rising worldwide before the coronavirus pandemic, with its lockdowns and stay-at-home policies sending demand to outstrip supply by a wide margin.

Now, the industry needs to take an honest moment to discover the underlying buyer motives that drive plant purchases and perhaps ask themselves if nurseries have become too greedy during the plant craze. What worked? What didn’t, and what can be done to ensure the professional plant sector holds on to the newbie customers?

Instead of assuming what these customers want, we reached out to Kenny Kiet Nguyen, a self-acclaimed plant aficionado and co-founder of PlantCon International, to find out first-hand what the new generation of plant lovers are after.

The inaugural PlantCon International event happened at the NRG Center in Houston between 19-20 May, 2023. Nguyen explains that PlantCon aimed to unite plant enthusiasts worldwide for an immersive weekend experience, centralising the international plant community and facilitating connections between the hobby's many (sometimes distant) worlds.

FloraCulture International: As a member of the With Heart Collective, you are the driving force behind PlantCon International. Why PlantCon, and what can people find at PlantCon that they cannot find elsewhere?

Kenny Kiet Nguyen: “We want plant lovers to feel like they’re coming home when they come to PlantCon. Every attendee should feel like this is a special event and experience that was created just for them by people who understand them-- because we’re plant people, too. What makes PlantCon unique is our ‘cyclical reciprocity’ strategy that will allow us over the years to invest in growing an incredible, community-centric event that’s eventually completely free to the public. We want PlantCon to be so unforgettable, accessible, fun, and familiar that it becomes an annual pilgrimage for plant people.

This, in turn, creates immense marketing value for companies whose funding helps us kickstart the cycle: investing those funds into growing the resources we can provide for the community, drawing even more people out, which then creates even greater value for companies, which then allows us to provide more value for the community, which then brings out more people, and so on. Thus, creating a reciprocal cycle benefitting all parties as we grow every year.

Although this is only the first year of starting our PlantCon non-profit, we have a vision; and we’re determined.”

We all know how the pandemic fuelled a boom in home decoration, home gardening, and growing your own food, while the houseplant craze already began around 2017. And the USA is no different. Do you feel that houseplants have reached their peak popularity?

“PlantCon is created by hobbyists, for hobbyists. The houseplant industry received a sizable injection from the pandemic for sure. The combination of stimulus money in the US and being stuck in quarantine led to a LOT of online plant shopping from home. An overwhelming

AUTHOR: RON VAN DER PLOEG PHOTOS: MARITERE CASILLAS RICE

‘THERE WAS PANIC AND SPECULATION ABOUT THE PLANT HOBBY DROPPING ONCE NORMAL LIFE RESUMED, BUT I’M STILL SURPRISED AT HOW ACTIVE IT STILL IS’

amount of commerce took place in Facebook groups, where there was also the benefit of belonging to a community.

Fast forward to “back to work” or “back to normal”, and people are not relying on Facebook groups for social engagement and stimulation as much. There was panic and speculation about the plant hobby dropping once normal life resumed, but I’m still surprised at how active it still is. Large-scale nursery owners didn’t have to shut their doors by any means. Most growers who stopped selling were returning to in-person jobs. This is all to say that we probably reached the peak at the tail end of the pandemic, and we’re in a much more stable period now. Fluctuations in the plant market are much slower and less volatile.”

What explains the Millennial generation's long-lasting love affair for plants?

“The first time you see a new leaf on a plant that you’ve put lots of love and attention into, there is no feeling that compares to that. I think this feeling is why most of us fall in love with plants. It boosts your confidence, and you feel connected to nature and life. Each day is exciting because you get to watch that new leaf unfurl. The efforts of your labour are real, visible, and alive.”

But the pandemic and social media have led to unrealistic standards and massive quantities of consumption, am I right?

“The confidence that many built from successfully nurturing life felt insignificant when 50,000 other people were able to do the same (some better). Many felt the need to buy and own the hottest plants to feel visible

and significant in the community, especially when this community was the only social interaction they had access. Rarity was inflated by hordes of people seeking one plant that became famous from a social media post (this still happens, but on a smaller scale).

As the smoke cleared, I think many people realised how unhealthy this aspect of the hobby and community was and how empty it left them. With life resuming, many were able to break away from those distortions and return to the simple joys that initially made them fall in love with gardening.

People I know who have ‘left the hobby’ still love plants. Usually, it just means they’re less active in seeking plants, keeping up with trends, and participating in online communities. But the habit has still stuck!

A positive artefact of the boom is that the sheer volume of participants in the hobby led to the generation of more resources and information on plant care than we would have had in the next 3-5 years. This catalysing effect means it’s easier than ever for new plant parents to take up the hobby, especially when events like PlantCon now exist.”

PlantCon’s raison d’être is to “facilitate connections between the many (sometimes distant) worlds that exist within the hobby” can you elaborate?

“Well, you’d be surprised by the division that exists between houseplant people, orchid people, bonsai people, terrarium people, gardening people, and so on. Even though they’re all plants, their communities become very specific, which can severely limit accessibility to newcomers. It’s hard to participate in a community when you don’t understand a lot of what

'The peak at the tail end of the pandemic has probably been reached, and there’s a much more stable period now. Fluctuations in the plant market are much slower and less volatile.'

they’re talking about, so getting your foot in the door can be daunting.

Don’t get me wrong—it’s awesome that all of these ‘subgroups’ have such established communities. But their events tend to cater more to those with experience and expertise, leaving something to be desired by new and curious individuals.

At PlantCon, we want to make it easy and accessible for anybody to learn about anything they want by having trustworthy and qualified people to learn from. We want everyone to feel confident going into caring for new plant types, which encourages growth and overlap between all of these worlds.”

I appreciated your remarks about many distant worlds because this begs the question of how big the distance is between the end user/plant aficionado and the commercial plant growers.

“There’s an emotional disconnect between end users and larger-scale commercial producers. In the age of mass production and consumption, everyone is craving authenticity and personal connection. It’s important for consumers to see the personality and identity behind the brands they’re supporting—especially when many sell the same plants as one another.

The biggest sellers in the online houseplant communities are extremely visible and tap into trends because they directly participate as members of the communities they sell to. Large commercial growers don’t seem to have the same capacity to pivot onto trends. Part of that is because their distance from the community causes them to catch onto the trends more slowly. Also, implementation takes much more time in a larger/corporate operation.”

Can you give examples of misfits between what the professionals grow and what the end consumer requires?

“Although variegation in plants can be unstable, it hasn’t stopped varieties like Philodendron ‘Pink Princess’, ‘White Knight’, or ‘White Wizard’ from being mass produced in the US. This saturates the market, bringing prices down and making sought-after plants more accessible. That being said, I’m surprised that other variegated varieties that have also been considered rare for the past three years have not reached mass production yet, especially when some are voracious growers.

Nguyen: “Use your sales to be a better ally, don’t use your allyship to make better sales.”

Variegated Monstera deliciosa has been hot for years, and in my experience, the Aurea variegated variety especially grows like a weed compared to their Albo and Thai Constellation cousins. So, why aren’t Aureas being mass-produced when the care is extremely similar to the regular Monstera deliciosa that flood shelves today? Some people have waited years for prices to drop, so I know Philodendrons like Jose Buono, Ring of Fire, Paraiso Verde, and (fingers crossed) Caramel Marble would be a huge hit with those who don’t want to pay the current premium.”

With Heart Collective is a non-profit event and production team focused on creating inclusive spaces and opportunities for small, minority-owned businesses and their customers. Their mission is to provide educational resources and support in areas such as tax compliance, branding, marketing and more while fostering connections and promoting diversity within the community.

Plant enthusiast and PlantCon International co-founder Kenny Kiet

‘WHAT’S GOING TO BE TRENDY IS ETHICAL AND SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION. WE’RE TIRED OF SEEING FORESTS RIPPED TO SHREDS POACHING RARE SPECIES FROM THEIR NATIVE HABITAT’

How should the professional plant growing business position itself to better tap into the potential of the young generation of plant lovers?

“Everywhere people turn, someone is trying to make a buck off of them. Growing up in a world where our data is commodified and sold for billions of dollars annually for ad targeting is exhausting.

The young generation wants to stand behind a company that feels transparent, authentic, and connected. There comes a point in a company’s growth when it has the opportunity to make a decision on how to use the platform it’s been given. It doesn't feel good when people pour out their support for you and never see that money is going towards making the world a little less awful.

It’s a wonderful feeling to believe in a company and see them go on to use its platform to create a better world.

It’s nice to be able to support something that you know is good while getting the things you were going to spend money on anyways—like plants.

Oviedo (FL)-based Gabriella Plants is a great example of creating a feeling of personal connection behind a brand. Even though they are a large commercial grower, the owner, Shane Maloy, is still active in plant communities on Facebook. He responds to the community and can be seen as a real person. He’s tuned in and shares his authentic appreciation for the support of the community.”

When buying and nurturing a plant at home, what are the top three major challenges you and other plant end consumers encounter? And how can professional business help overcome these obstacles?

“The absolute top problem is caring instructions. If you already know how to care for a plant or provide an ideal environment, it doesn’t matter how the plant comes to you. The pros know what macro and micronutrients to feed, to have grow lights installed, and know what chemicals to use for pest control if needed. It would be great if companies enabled you to set your environmental parameters at any level of specificity, which could generate more accurate care instructions for you. (Humidity: Dry, Humid, or Normal OR Select exact %, Light: Low or High OR select the number of hours of direct/indirect light, Fertilizer: NPK level.) Nowadays, better resources are available online, but many are still Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) articles just written for ad revenue. In this case, click-ability is more important, so making care sound super easy is better than giving detailed and nuanced care advice. Influencers can also write the kinds of “care hacks” that sound catchy and shareable without ever doing more research and without caring if they damage someone’s collection from bad advice. So, care information is top challenge number one, two, AND three.”

According to you, what is hot in plants, what is out, and what will be trendy in the next year?

“What’s hot now is any pandemic-famous plant becoming mass-produced and available for much cheaper. It creates a ton of buzz in communities when

people have wanted a plant since the pandemic is released cheaply.

What is out is gimmicky plant care products that make bold claims with no scientific reasoning or evidence. People are becoming more confident in their knowledge and will call out bogus products. Tip: don’t use anything that says it’s providing your plant with vitamins... What’s going to be trendy is ethical and sustainable production. We’re tired of seeing forests ripped to shreds poaching rare species from their native habitats. No grower has made a commitment towards carbon neutrality that I know of, but that’s a brand I would pick first.

Unfortunately, the market only really cares about price at the moment. If a plant is cheap, it doesn’t matter how sustainably it was grown. I don’t think that thought even crosses a buyer’s mind.

The only place people seem to show any significant care is about the farming of peat bogs and the CO2 emissions released in that process. An alternative that people frequently use is coco peat, touting its renewable and sustainable properties. But, if the costs of coco peat and peat moss weren’t so similar, I think people would opt for the cheaper option, regardless of sustainability.”

How do you perceive the role of plant influencers?

“I frankly despise the effect that social media can have on hobbies. On the other hand, some AWESOME people responsibly research the advice they give or are very upfront about their expertise on a subject. Some make themselves authorities on a topic and often tell people things that they want to hear, like confirming dated myths or selling “care hacks” for clicks and likes. This is extremely harmful to plant parents who try these things and fail, then blame themselves.

Staged photos from social media are also insanely harmful because it creates false expectations about what is and is not possible. People will bring home a massive and mature plant originally grown in a greenhouse and make it seem like the plant was grown to maturity on their kitchen counter.

I implore plant influencers to use their platforms to break bad care myths, call out unrealistic portrayals, and help new plant owners understand that it’s not their fault that they’ve been fed bad plant care.”

‘I IMPLORE PLANT INFLUENCERS TO USE THEIR PLATFORMS TO BREAK BAD CARE MYTHS, CALL OUT UNREALISTIC PORTRAYALS, AND HELP NEW PLANT OWNERS UNDERSTAND THAT IT’S NOT THEIR FAULT THAT THEY’VE BEEN FED BAD PLANT CARE’

Tell us about your view on the challenges and opportunities for the houseplant and garden plant consumer market.

“Some great opportunities are helping people streamline their plant care, taking out the guesswork and saving time. I personally have all of my plants in deep trays with a highly aerated substrate (all particles are larger than 1/8” in diameter) so that I can refill the trays without worrying about root rot. This allows me to go for longer without watering, but it also means anybody can water my plants for me and not be scared that they’ll kill them. It works so well for me and others who have tried my substrate that I started selling it and have sold over 2,000 gallons to date. With so much superficial, outdated, and bad information out there, this creates a very easy opportunity to stand out. Being thorough and scientific about your product and how it works communicates that your brand values authenticity. It’s easy to make vague claims like “Never lose a plant to root rot again!” but it’s meaningful to explain scientifically how this is accomplished. Challenges are gaining the trust of consumers and not having them roll their eyes at yet another plant or plant product producer trying to sell them a miracle in a pot, bottle or bag.”

What would you say is the decisive factor when a consumer buys a plant?

“For more seasoned plant hobbyists, current market value is the main factor. Many will search online “buy/ sell/trade” communities to see what prices plants are selling for to ensure that they’re getting a good deal. Being one of the few people to own that specimen can also be a motivating factor. The last is whether the cost of the plant can be recuperated by propagating and selling cuttings. Nobody wants to buy a plant for $1,000 if it’s only going to sell for $100 by the time you’re able to take cuttings of it. For newer plant people, it’s just about what looks pretty in their space and would be happy with the environmental conditions that it would live in.”

Tell me about your background in the hobby plant market. How did that passion start and what are your future plans in the plant market?

“My mom loved gardening when I was growing up. I would spend time outside while she watered her garden, pruned her plants, or picked peppers and Thai basil to cook dinner. I was fascinated with the flowers that the mimosa tree would grow each year and how fragrant the plumerias could be when they bloomed. Helping her care for her plants became more of a chore as I grew up. It wasn’t until I started architecture school that I found my love for plants.

It’s not related to plants, but I also love community building and naturally gravitate towards bringing people together. I started a minority architecture student organisation at my college. I was president for three years, winning Chapter of the Year for our work on uplifting minority students in the profession and creating inclusive spaces within the predominantly white, straight, and male-dominated profession. I

was also the Vice President of my school’s Habitat for Humanity chapter during this time. I spent a few weekends each month building homes for low-income families to break generational poverty and housing insecurity.

Fast forward to the pandemic, when we all started doing school from home, I would sit and work for eight-hour stretches and get burned out. It wasn’t healthy. I hated bringing those same habits from the studio into my own personal space. With the pandemic in full swing, going to outdoor nurseries was my only safe activity. I’d go frequently when I needed a break and come home with tons of vegetables and herbs. We had adopted two rabbits then, so I started growing crops on my patio for my meals and the rabbits’.

It was incredible how many compliments I received from people walking by our balcony. I loved being outside and gardening, saying ‘Hi’ to my neighbours, and feeling connected to the world. Every time I started to feel overwhelmed, I would step out onto my balcony and admire the product of my love and labour.

I had a few houseplants at the time but never knew what they were. I joined a group on Reddit dedicated to plant identification (r/whatsthisplant). From there, I discovered a group called Take A Plant Leave A Plant which had an incredible and robust community of people who traded plants with one another. I learned about many different houseplants that way, received so many awesome cuttings, and made some relationships I still maintain today.

Someone in the group told me that there was a group on Facebook for plants in our area, so I looked it up and was sucked into the world of plants very quickly. I loved interacting with all of these people near me, but something was missing. I decided to start organising meetups outdoors so people could safely meet and have real social interaction. This perfectly aligns with my plant passion and my love for community-building, and it’s taken off into what you see today.”

In the PlantCon press release, you stressed that White Heart Collective is a queer-led organisation. How should the professional industry better unlock the potential the LGBTIQ+ community has as a consumer group of plants? “Back to my point about authenticity: show real, enduring, and visible allyship for the queer community. Even if you lose business because you upset bigots, homophobes, and transphobes for being an open ally, so much half-assed “allyship” exists in some obscure and unspoken form, and we can tell. It can feel almost insulting when a company alludes to allyship without any real substance. Commit to making the world better for minorities and underserved communities and follow through.

At the end of the day, every single company has a choice: stand for human rights or stand by while humans suffer.

You’ll be surprised by how many people are waiting for a queer-allied alternative to the companies that they shop from now.

Use your sales to be a better ally, don’t use your allyship to make better sales.”

One highlight of the Houston plant convention was the 100-vendor plant market and exhibition, featuring both national and local growers, offering a wide array of rare and hard-to-find plants for enthusiasts to indulge and delight in.

‘IT CAN FEEL ALMOST INSULTING WHEN A COMPANY ALLUDES TO ALLYSHIP WITHOUT ANY REAL SUBSTANCE. COMMIT TO MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE FOR MINORITIES AND UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES AND FOLLOW THROUGH’

Smart plants or the magical interaction between flowers and pollinators

Professor Robert Geneve’s in-depth treasure trail through the weird and wonderful world of plants was mind-blowing, presenting plant after plant, unravelling their trickery, flower morphology and incredible techniques to effect cross-pollination.

POLLINATION BASICS

First, it’s important to understand the basics of pollination, i.e., the process of transferring pollen from the stamens (male) to the stigmatic surface (female); commonly, the ‘vehicle’ used to do this is an insect, or sometimes a bird. Pollination can occur in two different ways. The most successful system is self-pollination, where a flower is pollinated with pollen within the same flower. Many of the pea family fall into this category. It’s successful but doesn’t generate much genetic diversity in the produced seed. And it doesn’t rely on a secondary pollination vehicle like an insect. Dicentra is another group of plants where the

The interconnectedness of everything in nature is astounding. Plants have evolved side by side with their pollinators creating intricate and fascinating relationships that benefit plants and their pollinating partners. During a special tHRive HRI (Horticultural Research Institute) webinar Professor Robert Geneve from the University of Kentucky gave such incredible insight that one will never look at flowers in quite the same way again.

flowers never open and are selfpollinated.

The more ‘sought after’ system is cross-pollination. At the risk of anthropomorphising plants, they have evolved to ensure that they are less likely to self-pollinate. Their flowers are pollinated by pollen from a different flower, usually from a different plant. This means the offspring have a higher degree of genetic variability, which is important to ensure environmental fitness.

And that brings us to the wild and

wonderful ways plants enforce or effect cross-pollination in preference to self-pollination.

SEPARATION TECHNIQUES

Some plants like holly (Ilex spp) have what are called dioecious plants. That means that they have female and male flowers on separate plants. The female holly flowers have stamen-like structures inside the flowers, but these are non-functional. So, the female flowers are always pollinated with pollen from a different holly plant,

AUTHOR: JEAN VERNON*

* Jean Vernon is an award-winning writer and author of the bestselling book The Secret Lives of Garden Bees. www.TheGreenJeanie.com

pollinators

affecting cross-pollination. Other plants like the chestnut (Castanea spp) are monoecious. This means that they have separate male and female flowers on

the same plant. In the chestnut example, there are many more male flowers than female flowers on the tree, and the flowers are physically separated to reduce the

chance of self-pollination. But there are other more dramatic examples of this, like the toad flower (Tricyrtis hirta) – if you look closely at the flowers, you can see that the stigma and stamens are physically separated so that when the stamens, which hang down, shed pollen it doesn’t usually reach the stigmatic surface within the same flower. The female parts are above the male parts, so pollen is brought to them by a visiting pollinator. These are separations in terms of their space or position, but some plants control the timing of when they shed pollen or when their stigmas are receptive, and indeed others separate in terms of time and space.

POLYMORPHISM

And then it gets even more fascinating. Some flowers have something called pollen presenters, which are additional flower parts, other than the anthers, that present pollen to the visiting pollinator. These virtual billboards, proclaiming a limitless buffet, are particularly attractive to the bees

that collect protein-rich pollen for their larvae. If you look closely inside Dahlia flowers, you will see rings of pollen presenters above the floral centre. This also occurs in most Aster flowers too.

Almost any insect visiting for a nectar reward becomes an unsuspecting pollinator. As the insect lands onto the proffered landing pad and probes the central flowers for nectar rewards, they are dusted with pollen. It’s a form of polymorphism where the plant exhibits different mechanisms within the flower to affect pollination. It’s something that famous evolutionary biologist Charles Darwin noticed and studied in Primula flowers. He described his

findings as heterostyly because the flowers, on closer inspection, had two different arrangements. ‘Pin’ – where the stigma was elongated and held at the throat of the flower above shorter anther filaments. And ‘Thrum’ - where the stigma was on a shorter stem with the anthers above on longer filaments. Together they create an insurance package for the plant that ensures

a good degree of cross-pollination. It’s an easy plant to examine and see such a highly evolved mechanism within the flowers.

EVOLUTION

The incredible adaptations in flowers tracked the success of the rise of insects as pollinators through the Cretaceous period. Unlike animals and insects, plants are immobile; they don’t move to find their mate; instead, they generally rely on flying insects to transfer pollen, sometimes over long distances, from flower to flower.

In effect, the plants employ the insects, and the payment is nectar and some protein-rich pollen too. The result rewards the plant with pollination and the pollinator with an easy food source. Plants literally filter out some pollinators with the shape and size of the flowers. It’s one of the most profound things to understand when choosing plants for pollinators. Different pollinators have varying lengths of tongues, proboscis, and mouthparts, and they can’t all access the nectar in the same flowers.

Some plants use adaptations in their flowers to attract specific types of pollinators. But even

within a pollinator group, there is often a wide variation in the morphology of their mouthparts.

FLORAL ADAPTATIONS

Just changing the shape of a flower can make a difference in how an insect interacts with it. If you consider the cone flowers (Echinacea spp), there are virtual dinner plates for many of our pollinating friends; the insect can alight on the landing pad and then walk around the cone probing each individual flower for its nectar. Many insects see in the UV spectrum, seeing a completely different petal colour, shape, and markings to what we see ourselves. Flowers adapted to be bee pollinated often have coloured nectar guides, marking the way to the nectary. Butterflies aren’t good at hovering and prefer flowers where they can land and feed on many smaller flowers, so open dinner plate flowers like daisies or racemes of many flowers, as in Buddleia, are excellent butterfly plants. And the long tubular flowers like those of Aloes and red-hot pokers are more likely hummingbird pollinated or attract the longer-tongued moths that can hover and feed.

Some plants like Delphiniums and Aquilegia have nectar spurs behind the flowers that have evolved with long-tongued butterflies, moths, or

hummingbirds as their pollinating partner.

Nectar glands are often at the base of long tubular flowers, so an insect or a bird must push past the anthers and stigma to get their sugar reward.

Nicotiana is a good example of a plant pollinated by long-tongued, night-active moths attracted by the evening fragrance.

FLORAL SCENTS AND FETID ODOURS

Most of us associate flowers with sweet floral perfumes. Plants like Polianthes have a rich, sweet fragrance, which is a pollinator attractant.

But the opposite extreme exists too. Some plants, namely the carrion flower (Stapelia spp) and skunk cabbage (Lysichiton americanus), produce a fetid odour that attracts carrion flies or dung beetles. These creatures are fooled into thinking the red-tinged flowers are rotting meat or worse and lay their eggs nearby for the larvae to feed on the ‘flesh’. In the absence of a food source, the movement of the grubs affects pollination, rewarding the flower but not benefitting the duped pollinator at all. This is also referred to as brood site mimicry, where the flower resembles and

smells putrid and appears to be a good place to lay eggs.

In addition to pollen and nectar, some pollinators visit flowers to collect resins. These have antibacterial and antifungal properties that help to waterproof and protect their nests. Others collect oils to attract a mate or to feed their larva.

NECTAR THIEVES

Early spring can be a tough time for pollinators, so plants with easyto-access nectar glands, like the hellebores, are very important for the early emerging bumblebee and solitary bee species. The nodding heads are virtual umbrellas offering open access for many species, and the flowers produce nectar generously.

Insects with shorter mouthparts that cannot reach the nectar deep inside tubular flowers chew holes above the nectaries to access the high-energy resource. This is quite common in spring when there is less diversity of floral forage for

early emerging pollinators, like the shorter-tongued buff-tail and white-tail bumblebees. Ants are also nectar thieves, stealing nectar without affecting pollination. Some plants, like Plumbago, have flowers that have evolved and adapted to restrict access by small crawling insects by using sticky trichomes to deter them.

OPENING TIMES

Other flowers have diverse ways that indicate to insects the position of the nectar when nectar is flowing and when pollen is ripe. Plants in the borage family have flowers that change from pink to blue following pollination, indicating which flowers are still rich with rewards and those where the food cupboard is bare. Other plants use different mechanisms for different insects, like the Rangoon creeper (Quisqualis indica),

EDUCATING THE END CONSUMER

Pablo Costa’s love for horticulture began on his family’s farm in Chile. He studied agricultural engineering at Santiago’s Pontificia Catholic University. After graduation, his first full-time job was at Sone Seeds, introducing him to ornamental horticulture and the unique niche of seed production in ornamentals. In 2007, he and his family moved to Canada. He joined Van Belle Nursery, where he now oversees the production operation of the Finished Plants Business Unit, shipping plants across Western Canada and the US Pacific Northwest.

“Growers put an awful amount of time, energy, and money into keeping their products as healthy as possible for the final customer. Ensuring that their flowers and plants are pests and disease free and that they have the balanced nutrition they need. The ultimate goal is to provide the consumer with gorgeous, sustainably grown plants with dropdead looks.

In doing so, one of the biggest challenges they face is the final consumer. The latter usually needs more experience and knowledge to recognise which insects are good (beneficials) and which are bad (pests). So, in the eyes of a consumer, whether beneficial or harmful, an insect in a plant is something bad.

Growers use biocontrols, biostimulants, and biofungicides to avoid and control pests and diseases. Regarding biocontrols, these are by the industry, the well-known predators or parasitoids, the beneficial insects that control, for example, mites or aphids in an ornamental plant crop.

Usually, growers have to spray chemicals at the end of the season. Not because the pest is taking over the crop but for purely aesthetic reasons. Before shipping their plants to the final consumer, they want to be sure there are no insects left (good or bad) in the plant.

DOING THIS NEEDS TO STOP! The pertinent question is how to educate gardeners and homeowners that beneficial insects are beneficial for the plant but also for the environment. They keep the plants pest-free for longer periods of time and can even be released in a controlled way while they are on the retail shelf, keeping them healthy as long as possible.

I believe that marketing departments have a role in informing and educating end customers through labels and QR codes. Also, it would be good to advise wholesalers on what can be done to keep dreaded pests under control and extend shelf life, free of truly “bad” insects.

The best example that comes to my mind is of a customer spotting a plant with some Addalia bipunctata, also known as the two-spotted ladybird, in it.

Ladybirds are efficient predators against aphid species; consumers will easily identify them as good insects. What can be done so that that same consumer also sees different species, such as Amblyseius andersoni controlling mites or the thrips controlling Orius laevigatus as good doers?”

which has scented white flowers attracting the attention of evening flying hawk moths, and red flowers that hang down for day flying bees and flies. The flower of Texas (Lupinus texensis), the blue lupin, when flowering en masse, uses colour signals to indicate which flowers are the most lucrative in terms of food for pollinating insects to visit. A white-centred lupin flower is the freshest and offers the pollinators rich rewards, whereas a red centre flower is aged and already pollinated. Horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) flowers use coloured nectar guides that change from yellow to orange as the flower ages. These techniques assist pollination and save the insects precious time and resources.

GUARDED TREASURE

Other plants make pollen harder to access, holding onto the prized protein until a pollinator (usually a bee) uses a technique called buzz pollination to release the golden dust. The insect vibrates at a higher frequency by detaching its wing muscles and vibrating its body instead of its wings. Bumblebees do this on tomatoes, which is why commercial tomato growers purchase bumblebee nests to use in their glasshouse production. Other flowers, like the snapdragon (Antirrhinum), have hinged flowers that specific insects can only access; this creates a selective

process that means only particular pollinators can get inside the flowers to effect pollination, filtering out insects that might enter to eat and leave without paying (pollinating).

BIGGER POLLINATORS

Of course, it’s not just butterflies, moths and bees that are pollinators. Some plants rely on larger creatures like hummingbirds and even bats to pollinate their flowers and have adapted mechanisms to suit them. Flowers like the bird of paradise (Strelitzia regineae) and the Jade vine (Strongylodon macrobotrys), have a hinged mechanism that is triggered when the bird or bat (respectively) lands on the flower. A lever mechanism is triggered that pushes the anther-laden stamens into contact with the pollinator so that it acts as a vehicle to move the pollen from flower to flower.

FLORAL ANIMATION

Plants that move or have moving parts have long fascinated young and old. But in addition to the more commonly known Venus fly traps (Dionaea muscipula) and sensitive plant (Mimosa pudica) there are quite a few other examples that relate to the flowers themselves. For example, mountain laurel

(Kalmia latifolia) flowers have spring-loaded stamens that jump out like an ambush when an insect lands. Once out, they drop pollen onto the visitor. Unlike the Venus flytraps and the sensitive plant that reset to pre-trigger stance, the Kalmia stamens can’t reset. But there’s another common garden plant, barberry (Berberis spp), where the stamens react to insects, moving towards them when they land. It’s called stamen irritability and is a positive movement designed to rub pollen onto the pollinator. The stamens reset after about 20 minutes.

DECEIT POLLINATION

The diversity of pollination techniques is simply incredible. Some flowers deceive the insect into visiting and offer no reward at all. One-third of the 30 thousand orchid species employ some form of this pollination deceit strategy, and some have exploited this to a high degree.

A basic tactic is a plant with flowers that mimic another plant’s flower, offering a rich reward and suggesting food when there is none. The floral features that can be successfully imitated include the flower’s colour spectrum, shape, form and even scent. For example, the butterfly vine (Mascagnia

macroptera) and Oncidium orchid flowers look similar to an insect, but only the Mascagnia offers a reward; the orchid still gets visited and pollinated by the duped pollinator.

In Begonia, the flowers use Bakerian mimicry, where the female flower mimics the male flower, but only the male flower offers a reward. The insect picks up the pollen from the male flowers and deposits it in the female flowers, which it visits to look for food.

Another technique uses pseudoanthers that look like anthers but are not. They attract the pollinators into the flower, but there is no reward. And then there is pseudo pollen, which can be seen in bearded irises; the iris beard is pseudo pollen and deceives the insects to visit the flower.

Another trick that some plants use is prey deceit. This can be seen in some orchids where the flowers resemble something else. So, the spider orchids have petals that are arranged in a way that resemble spiders and attract predatory wasps that are tricked into believing the flowers are prey. As they probe the flowers to lay their eggs, they inadvertently pollinate them. But possibly the most bizarre and cruel adaptations are the sexual

deceit tactics employed by flowers such as the bee orchids (Ophyrs spp) where the flowers are bee size, bee shape and really do look like a female bee. They attract the male bee, which attempts to mate with the flower affecting pollination. It is estimated that over 1,000 species of orchids employ sexual deceit.

FLORAL TRAPS

Some flowers, like the rosary vine (Ceropegia ampliata), actually enclose the insect, think escape room scenario, and as it attempts to escape, it facilitates pollination. Spathe (Spathiphyllum spp) flowers prevent beetles from exiting because the spathe is too slippery for them to grip. Flowers of Dutchman’s pipe (Aristolochia macrophylla) have an S-shaped floral tube where insects can become trapped. In arums, the female flowers are at the bottom in a restricted area, so when the insects become trapped, they drop pollen onto the female parts. Slipper orchids (Paphiopedilum spp) can attract hoverflies with floral spots, bumps, hairs, colouration, or scents. Spots on the petals mimic aphids, so the female hoverfly lays her eggs nearby the perceived food source and falls into the trap, pollinating the flower.

Sustainability,

The development of ornamental plant varieties with improved shelf life, pest, and disease resistance, end-use quality, heat and drought tolerance, and environmental performance play a vital role in creating a sustainable, resource-efficient horticulture fit for the new green economy. Plant Variety Rights (PVR) are in place to incentivise long-term investment in producing new varieties.

Climate change has always happened on Earth, as evidenced by a range of geological settings. Yet, the fast pace and magnitude of climate change occuring now are raising the alarm.

As such, sustainability has become a business imperative for all companies, and it’s perfectly clear why.

THE BROADER CONCEPT OF SUSTAINABILITY

It is common knowledge that the focus of commercial breeding programmes in ornamental horticulture is to improve yields with reduced inputs, and the

plant’s adaption to a changing climate while reducing the sector’s environmental footprint. All these aspects are included in the broader concept of sustainability. At first sight, the ornamentals sector hasn’t changed dramatically over the last decades, basically because the development and production of the new varieties and their marketing are the same. Yet, it would be incorrect to assume that sustainability isn’t high on the sector’s agenda.

It may well be possible that this apparent absence of updating of the horticultural industry derives from the fact that it has always been sustainable? As a matter of fact, could anyone argue that developing

In many cases, plant breeding and the resulting Plant Breeder’s Rights (PBR) provides the essential foundation for a climateproof and resource efficient industry. Photo credit: Royal Van Zanten.

a new variety is based on the principles of a circular economy and related sustainability? No, of course not.

PROMINENT MEMBERS OF THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY

However, for decades, and even centuries, breeders have been developing new varieties without impacting our eco system – or at least, with limited impact.

In many cases, plant breeding and the resulting Plant Breeder’s Rights (PBR) provides the essential foundation for a climate-proof and resource efficient industry. Coping with new pathogen agents, and facing climate drought, are mere examples of the productive

plant breeding and PBRs go hand in hand

AUTHOR: EMANUELA TRUFFO*

* Emanuela Truffo is a Partner at Studio Legale Jacobacci E Associati

troubles solved by new varieties. Furthermore, breeders focus on waste control and recycling, thus proving themselves prominent members of the circular economy club.

We would be naïve to deny the importance of a renewed eco-consciousness in the entire horticultural supply chain. However, it seems that the environmental impact from the horticultural supply chain – including the illegal and uncontrolled release of waste - is happening downstream. That is from the commercialisation of young plant material up to the final consumer.

Despite its peculiar character, horticulture must cope with the same problems as any other industry when it comes to sustainability: logistics, energy and waste management are pivotal, both having a central role in almost any step of the supply chain from breeders to customers.

THE CHALLENGES

The challenges for the years to come – aligned with COP26 include the following:

(a) Reducing the energy necessary to be deployed in the manufacturing and marketing

process: the development of advanced sustainable sources of energy – favourited and, in a sense, made it possible thanks to breeders’ activity and patents – is paramount to grant the existence of the sector at the discussion. However, no matter the source, the energy must be used properly and with due ‘frugality’;

(b) Decreasing the production of waste. In this sense, the very nature of horticulture and agriculture is to be circular. So, waste is deployed as an energetic source or rough material in a new lifecycle instead of being stocked;

(c) Reducing carbon fossil impact by reaching the ambitious ‘zero emission’ goal in a few years. Again, breeders develop the varieties necessary to improve the manufacture of ‘eco-flues’, thus helping humankind reaching that goal.

Climate change is happening now, and climate scientists have been indicating the path to follow. The horticultural industry must adapt to the new environment and do its share to reach the goal. Breeders seem to be aware of this and are ready to accept the challenges, proving themselves as an essential part of the sustainable and circular economy.

The development of ornamental plant varieties with improved shelf life, pest, and disease resistance, end-use quality, heat and drought tolerance, and environmental performance play a vital role in creating a sustainable, resourceefficient horticulture fit for the new green economy.

‘WE WOULD BE NAIVE TO DENY THE IMPORTANCE OF A RENEWED ECOCONSCIOUSNESS IN THE ENTIRE HORTICULTURAL SUPPLY CHAIN'’

FLOWERS FOR THE ROYAL CORONATION

David Bek is a Reader in Sustainable Economies based at the Research Centre for Business in Society at Coventry University (UK), where he co-leads the Sustainable Production and Consumption Cluster. Here he writes about the Floral Crowning Glory at the recent Coronation.

“The Coronation of The King and Queen of Great Britain took place at Westminster Abbey on Saturday, 6 May 2023. The floristry in the Abbey reflected King Charles, The environmentalist.

An opportunity provided through King Charles III and the Queen Consort’s Coronation has demonstrated that a well-organised network of small-scale flower growers can meet demanding specifications and production standards.

Britain’s new monarch has been a fervent advocate of environmental issues and British farming, as well as a supporter of tackling climate change throughout his adult life.

The King has walked the talk in many ways, having been at the vanguard of organic farming on his Highgrove Estate since the 1980s. He also annually publishes carbon footprint records relating to his royal duties.

It was no surprise then that the floral displays in Westminster Abbey, London, were made up of seasonal British-grown flowers and foliage.

Produce was sourced from five Royal Horticultural Society gardens and 88 small-scale British flower growers who belong to Flowers from the Farm, an organisation whose members share a collective passion for producing seasonal flowers as sustainably as possible.

Royal florist and creative director of the

coronation’s floral displays, Shane Connolly, explained that in collaboration with Flowers from the Farm, he first provided a colour palette from which his team could build their designs within Westminster Abbey.

Then they asked Flowers from the Farm to source flowers and foliage from as much of the United Kingdom’s land mass as possible.

A series of regional hubs were set up so that the flowers could be sorted and prepared for dispatch to London to meet the tight time schedule within which the floral designers had to execute their work within Westminster Abbey.

Connolly touts the final creation as ‘simply spectacular and truly symbolic’.

Floral arrangements included 120 varieties of spring-flowering bulbs, blossoms, perennials, and foliage decorating the interior, particularly The Quire stalls and the entrance around the Grave of the Unknown Warrior.

Connolly was delighted that all the flowers and foliage in Westminster Abbey came from British soil.

Furthermore, the unique flower displays really

captured the mediaeval essence of the King, the Crown, and the soil of Britain around him.

Until recently, Flowers from the Farm members have primarily focused their business efforts upon localised markets with very little linkage to more commercialised, mainstream sectors of the flower industry.

Yet, the organisation’s ability to deliver highquality, seasonal products – sourced literally from the four corners of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland - for a landmark British State occasion with a global audience may well have been a defining moment for its Members and the British local-seasonal flower movement.

British growers will likely accelerate the market growth of flowers and foliage, representing a deep connection with nature and its heritage

Wendy Paul, co-chair of Flowers from the Farm, said, ‘As suppliers of cut flowers, they have moved up to the next level when it comes to customer awareness’.

The Coronation saw an increase in the international understanding of British flowers and was definitely a game changer.”

Produce was sourced from five Royal Horticultural Society gardens and 88 small-scale British flower growers who belong to Flowers from the Farm.

Jacobacci & Associati ís a Law Firm that has, since the day it was founded in the mids-1990s, specialízed in the field of Intellectual Property, with a practice area dedicated entirely to the protection of New Plant Varieties, specifically focusing on the flower industry. Thanks to the experience we have gained over nearly two decades, our Professionals are able to offer the highest quality services in relation to contentious and noncontentious matters, updating traditional strategies and tools by means of new technologies. Because any technology has been contemporary, Jacobacci - Contemporary IP for the future.

Member to

Jacobacci Law. Since 1996, legal defense for your plant varieties.

Trials have been conducted on micro-algae, which allowed small-scale experiments in the labs with 1 m 2 size Solarfoils.

CONVERTING THE SUNLIGHT TO INCREASE PRODUCTION AND GREENHOUSE SUSTAINABILITY

A Dutch start-up is working on a thin, transparent, nanomaterial-based foil that converts part of the light spectrum into light frequencies that plants can use. The first trials with micro-algae yielded promising results, but SolarFoil is still in its early stages, and its potential hasn’t been explored to the fullest.

Let’s start with a short lesson in light. As water and nutrients, light is an essential resource for crop growth. Depending on the crop type, it has to be available for a minimum number of hours, not exceed certain maximum levels, and be of good quality. During winter, the natural light source given by solar radiation is often insufficient for greenhouse production, especially in Northern Europe.

On the contrary, the abundant light availability in the warmer season threatens greenhouse production in Southern European countries.

DIFFERENT SOLUTIONS FOR OPPOSITE PROBLEMS

Different solutions are adopted to overcome these opposite

problems. In the last few years, most producers have fitted their greenhouses with LED lights to provide sufficient light levels in the winter months. Their use even allows light steering, which means creating light recipes by modifying the spectral composition to influence plant properties and increase yield quality.

Instead, where light is too abundant and shading the crops in summer is necessary, the most popular solutions have been the application of lime or paints to the upper surfaces of greenhouses, shade nettings and cloths.

THE CONS OF THESE SOLUTIONS

The fact that these solutions are so common clearly proves that

they work. However, there are also some cons. For instance, the most important disadvantage of LED lights is energy consumption. Even if LEDs are undoubtedly much more efficient than highpressure sodium (HPS) lamps and other metal halide lamps, they still require energy, and this can be interpreted as a feature to be improved to increase sustainability in greenhouses.

Additionally, LEDs contribute to nocturnal light pollution, which can cause several issues: interference with nearby airport operations, disturbing animal populations, impacting crops in the greenhouse proximity, and reducing the quality of life of neighbourhood residents by disrupting their sleep patterns (especially in countries with high

AUTHOR: PAOLA CASSIANO

population density, such as the Netherlands).

A few things could be improved regarding the application of lime, paints, shade nettings and cloths. Sometimes they cannot provide uniform shade, so they create variable environmental conditions in the greenhouse, reducing the quality of the harvested products. Some of them are vulnerable to precipitation, so they must be re-applied after rain, and removed at the end of the summer season, which means labour costs are involved. For all these reasons, there is a need to find alternative (or complementary) solutions for efficient, affordable, and sustainable light management in greenhouses.

SOLARFOIL HAS THREE PROMISING APPLICATIONS

The good news is that a Dutch start-up is working on a technology to address these issues, and the first results seem promising. This technology is called SolarFoil: it is a transparent nanomaterial-based foil that converts part of the light spectrum into light frequencies that plants can use.

In other words, instead of providing artificial light, as LEDs do, SolarFoil transforms portions of natural light that plants cannot use for photosynthesis into helpful light. This suggests three promising applications: light optimisation (increasing light availability in winter), spectral selective shading (enhancing useful

light while decreasing harmful light), and light steering (using light recipes to improve yield quality). One solution for several problems, both in the Northern and Southern European greenhouses, for winter and summer.

NANOMATERIAL TECHNOLOGY

The characterising feature of SolarFoil is the nanomaterial technology. Compared to other products, nanomaterials allow much better control of light manipulation thanks to the small size of their particles. Changing the particle size will allow for delivering the optimal foil to each customer, depending on their needs (the crop they want to grow, the type of greenhouse they are working in, and their geographical location).

The company envisions a flexible foil being rolled out underneath the greenhouse roof or applied as part or coating of the glass roof, lasting about five years.

Also, nanomaterials are relatively cheap and easy to produce, which suggests they can produce an affordable and convenient technology for greenhouse producers.

Customers will have to wait, in any case. The development of SolarFoil is still in its early stages, and its potential has still to be fully explored. So far, trials have been conducted on micro-algae, which allowed small-scale experiments in the labs with 1 m2 size foils. The first results are encouraging since they showed a 10 per cent increase in the intensity of useable light for the algae.

WHAT’S NEXT?

The company envisions a flexible foil being rolled out underneath the greenhouse roof or applied as part or coating of the glass roof, lasting about five years.

And to increase the product’s sustainability, the researchers aim to create a circular economy model in which, after their use, foils are transformed to extract part of the constituent material and re-use it for new foils.

“In the short term (3-6 months), we are focussing on validation of the technology, in commercial environments focusing on light steering in a greenhouse and micro-algae with bio-reactors, and at a few m2 up to 10 m2 of foil,” said Arnon Lesage, founder of SolarFoil. “Getting validation will help our goal to develop the technology further and enable us to continue to develop a foil for the more important use cases such as plastic greenhouses.”

With Arnon Lesage, PhD, the start-up was founded by Professor Peter Schall from Amsterdam University. The company was born as a spinoff of Amsterdam University in 2022. Nowadays, the team is completed with Yingying Tang, Ina Flaucher, and Jasmin Fisher, and more professionals will be involved in the short term, according to Lesage.

At the same time, the start-up is looking for companies to work with. If interested, contact team@solar-foil.com

Arnon Lesage, one of the founders of SolarFoil.

Green City Post

HOW PLANTS BENEFIT THE HEALTH OF CITY RESIDENTS

Research shows that exposure to plants positively impacts physical, mental, and emotional health. The recent AIPH Green City Briefing explored this subject and highlighted the importance of the ornamental horticulture industry in supporting programmes to include more green spaces in our cities.

The eighth Briefing in the series featured the ‘Urban Micro Parks’ initiative in Fortaleza, Brazil, which won the ‘Living Green for Health & Wellbeing’ category of the AIPH World Green City Awards 2022. By making use of disused and degraded areas, the Urban Micro Parks have become a low-cost and fast implementation method of delivering outdoor areas for people to meet and enjoy nature in population-dense areas.

Luciana Mendes Lobo, Secretary of Urbanism and Environment of the city of Fortaleza, described how the initiative utilised the concept of ‘naturalised parks’.

Instead of using concrete, the parks use natural materials to bring the population closer to nature.

She explained: “Those natural elements are arranged to provide opportunities for movement, play, relaxation, and encounter.”

When choosing the location of the pilot park in José Leon, the team considered who would make use of the space.

“We made a partnership with the local school so the kids are the first users of the park. The school will use the park for activities related to nature.”

The parks offer children the chance to play with and be in contact with nature.

Other schools have partnered with the project for new parks to be developed in 2023 and 2024.

The health and wellbeing benefits of plants are welldocumented. Lauriane Suyin Chalmin-Pui, a fellow of the Royal Horticultural Society and The University of Sheffield, has conducted extensive research into the subject.

She explained: “Exposure to nature is associated with improved health-related outcomes, including better emotional-wellbeing and cognitive health.”

Lauriane described a research project she was involved in which introduced plant-life to front gardens in the greater Manchester area in the UK.

“We found that at the beginning of the study, before the plants, only 24% of participants had a healthy level of cortisol.

This increased to 53% after adding the plants, which suggests better mental-health regulation.”

Cortisol is a hormone associated with stress.

“It’s important that we think of our cities as habitats for the urban population,” Lauriane stressed.

“In the same way we conserve and preserve habitats for other species, we have to think of ourselves as really living in these places.”

• Read more about the Urban Micro Park on this link: www.aiph.org/green-city-case-studies/fortaleza-brazil/

AUTHOR: HANNAH PINNELLS

When choosing the location of the pilot park in Jose Leon, the team considered who would make use of the space. Read more about the Urban Micro Parks program here www.aiph.org/green-city-case-studies/fortaleza-brazil/

BEFORE ADDING PLANTS [TO A FRONT GARDEN] ONLY 24% OF PARTICIPANTS HAD A HEALTHY LEVEL OF CORTISOL. THIS INCREASED TO 53% AFTER ADDING THE PLANTS

ASTER TATARICUS ‘JINDAI’

Martin Deasy is a tutor on the RHS Mhort. He also runs his own landscape design business.

“Asters have long been valued for their late-season colour—notably the North American “asters” now mostly reassigned to the genus Symphyotrichum

However, the prize for extreme late flowering goes to a true aster: Aster tataricus, a resilient but attractive East Asian perennial whose range extends into Siberia and Mongolia and can flower even into early winter.

This aster stands out from the crowd in shape and size, with dense rosettes of unusually large paddle-shaped leaves that can exceed 45cm in length. This distinctive deep green foliage holds the ground well through the early growing season before flowering stems with smaller leaves gradually gain height during the summer. Flat-topped clusters of purple-blue, yellowcentred flowers appear from early autumn onwards.

At up to 2m in height, the species grows exceptionally tall for an aster. For most urban schemes, the more compact cultivar ‘Jindai’ will be found more suitable, though still far from the dwarf, at 1.2m.

Sturdy and not requiring staking, the cultivar is very drought tolerant and performs well in the sun or halfshade.

Its robust nature makes it most suitable for largerscale natural planting schemes, where it associates well with tall grasses and other late-autumn performers such as Amsonia and Solidago.

GREEN CITY BRIEFINGS

Organised by the International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH) in collaboration with the Worshipful Company of Gardeners (WCoG) and sponsor Expo 2023 Doha Qatar, the AIPH Green City Briefings 2022/23 are a series of one-hour webinars focussing on cities around the world that can demonstrate significant progress in including plants and nature in their city’s form and function.

You can register for the next Green City Briefing, or to watch all the recordings in this series so far, visit www. aiph.org/event/green-city-briefings-2022-23/

It increases by means of rhizomes, which can spread aggressively in fertile loams (less so in leaner soils). This tendency can be managed—or even exploited, as Piet Oudolf has done in several projects—by positioning them as scattered accent plants, allowing their natural spread to be absorbed within the natural play of a dynamic planting scheme.

Remarkably resistant to early frosts, A. tataricus often provides striking oases of fresh-looking foliage even as the surrounding vegetation sits brown and frosted off—a striking and highly distinctive addition to the perennial plant palette.”

MAGIC HAPPENS WITH FAIRY MAGNOLIA

With their revolutionary line of compact, evergreen and profusely flowering Fairy Magnolia, Australian plant breeder’s agent Anthony Tesselaar and award-winning plant breeder Mark Jury from New Zealand add a special and fragrant dimension to plant borders, hedges, patios, and balconies. Launched nearly ten years ago, the Fairy Magnolia brand continues to thrive in the global nursery stock sector as it creates a magical experience for wholesale plant growers, plant buyers and gardeners alike

Innovation is key in today’s ferocious breeders’ competition, and the global nursery stock sector is no different. Plant breeders and growers are constantly pressured to introduce new products for customers.

But successful innovation does not occur overnight. In ornamental plant breeding, the ‘magic’ often happens after a myriad of crossings, trialling, and a relentless search for the perfect growth habit, hardiness level, colour, pest and a good pest and disease resistance and fragrance.

The roots of Fairy Magnolia - for example, go back to the turn of the century when plant breeder Mark Jury from Taranaki in New Zealand took a particular interest in Michelia, which until 2000 was a separate genus but was subsequently reclassified botanically as a Magnolia.

MAGNIFICENT MAGNOLIAS

Mark Jury, aka New Zealand's Mr Magnolia, loves the way how magnificently Magnolias express themselves in the more than 200 species in the genus that originate worldwide.

Magnolias belong to the Magnoliaceae, a family of trees and shrubs native to North and South

America, the Himalayas, and East Asia. They are valued for their large, fragrant white, yellow, pink, or purple flowers and frequently handsome leaves and unusual fruits. Some are important garden ornamentals; others are local timber sources.

Magnolia plants can be evergreen or deciduous and feature smoothmargined leaves. The flowers are cup-shaped and fragrant, with three sepals, six to 12 petals

Fairy Magnolia hedge in bloom.

Fairy Magnolia in pink blush.

arranged in two to four series, and many spirally arranged stamens. Not all Magnolias are among Jury’s favourites. Blooming Magnolia grandiflora or Southern Magnolia, or Magnolia x soulangeana, he thinks, may well be incredible statement trees, stealing the limelight in any landscape; they also grow extremely tall and chunky, they do not mass flower, and their leaves are so leathery they take forever to decompose. So, Jury began tapping into the potential of Michelia to bring added value to the world of Magnolias.

SOMETHING TOTALLY DIFFERENT

Back in 2000, advancements in DNA sequencing suggested that evolutionary relationships would be more accurately represented if the genus Michelia was renamed Magnolia. Both Tesselaar and Jury reckon that’s ok for botanists and taxonomists but definitely confusing for the general public. The latter perceives a Magnolia as a large flowering deciduous tree or shrub. By contrast, Michelia is evergreen and small-flowered and something totally different. Perhaps the most significant distinction

AUTHOR: RON VAN DER PLOEG PHOTOS: ANTHONY TESSELAAR

between Michelin and Magnolia is that unlike Magnolias, which have a single flower at the end of a given branch, Michelia has set flower buds down the stem at nearly every leaf axel, not just on the tips. Fairy Magnolia blooms culminate in spring, but they continue flowering for months on end, and some will have a second blooming in the summer.

MUCH PROGRESS SINCE LAUNCH

The first Fairy Magnolias debuted a decade ago. There were supply constraints at this time as cuttings production resulted in more complexity than anticipated. Much progress has been made since then. Anthony Tesselaar recalls, “We then established a programme to try and get them into tissue culture. But this was not an easy process either. In fact, it took us seven years of work to finally get the Fairy Magnolia into commercial realisation to where we are now; all plants of Fairy Magnolia are multiplied through tissue culture to ensure the cleanest and quickest of stock availability.”

According to Tesselaar, Fairy

Magnolias is arguably the quickest-to-grow Magnolia series available on the market today. The series includes three different colours: ‘Blush’, ‘White’, and ‘Cream’, all of which are uniform, vigorous, and very floriferous. Tesselaar advises commercial growers to grow 2in (5cm) plug plants into an 8in (20cm) pot in summer. In four to five months (autumn), the plants will have reached 60cm in height. Next spring, the saleable plants will stand more than one metre tall when ready for shipping.

RAPID AND STRATEGIC EXPANSION

The global expansion of Fairy Magnolias has been rapid and strategic. The series is produced on nearly every continent on the planet. Master growers include Kwekerij Ronald Roos in Boskoop NL, Van Son & Koot in Kaatsheuvel NL, Kerisnel and Stervinou in France, Ball Colegrave and Fitzgerald in the UK and Ireland, Briggs Nursery and Heritage Seedlings in the USA, Humphris, Benara, Colourwise, Coolwyn and Humphris in Australia and Thirkettle, Ambrosia Nurseries Annton, and Growing Spectrum in New Zealand.

VERSATILE SHRUB

Gardeners and landscapers praise Fairy Magnolias for their versatility. The shrub can act as a stunning focal point, be clipped tightly, and makes a good green backdrop for other plants in summer. When in full bloom, it is a magnet for pollinating insects. What’s more, with the arrival of Fairy Magnolias, hedges no longer must be boring green blocks. Leylandii, Ligustrum or Prunus hedges may provide lush green backdrops and privacy, but they also resemble austere, dull green walls that look the same all year round.

By growing Fairy Magnolias as a medium-tall hedge, the garden becomes a place of pure magic that dances alive with thousands of flowers. Even when it drops its petals, a Fairy Magnolia hedge continues to create a sense of wonder as it covers the ground in

a snow of blooms. When planting Fairy Magnolia hedges, plants should be spaced a little under a metre apart along the trench. Water well and weekly for the next few weeks.

Trim as needed to restrict or re-shape growth from spring to mid-summer to give the hedge a formal look: leave it alone for a loose natural look (which is also zero maintenance). Tesselaar says, “Fairy Magnolias thrive in full sun through to part shade and, in Australia, reach a height of four metres if you leave them alone. In our trial gardens in Australia, we give them a small cut after flowering each year, which helps them branch out and fill in.”

The news of the moment is that Tesselaar and Jury are working on new colours and a dwarf Fairy Magnolia, about half the size of the current three varieties, which would be a stunning feature in the smaller garden. Trialling is still a work in progress, with the pair anticipating the compact version’s launch within three years.

FAIRY MAGNOLIA® AT A GLANCE

• Masses of fragrant flower clusters

• Bushy growth habit growing 9-12 ft high and 5-7 ft wide over 5- 7 years

• Attractive russet-coloured buds

• Evergreen foliage

• Ideal as a specimen plant, either in the ground or a large pot

• Great for hedges and privacy

• Plant 3 ft apart as a hedge

• Moderate moisture levels

• Full sun to partial shade

• Hardy in USDA Zone 7b - 11

• Available in three colours: ‘Blush’, ‘White’ and ‘Cream’

Liner production

GROWTH

For an easy and swift growth!

ATA-XL is a special product: as a growth stimulator and a bloom stimulator it is unique on the market. This universal product is composed of vegetable extracts, humic acids and mineral PK’s, so the plant is optimally supplied with nutrients during both the growth and the flowering phase.

Vigorous and healthy growth with Atami fertilisers and substrates

It is crucial to give plants the proper nutrients and substrate. Tailoring the nutrition to the plant stage will help you to obtain the desired outcome. The growth phase is vital for supporting healthy, thriving, and fruiting plants. In this regard, Atami has plenty of fertilisers that are a helping hand to achieve the best version of your garden. Let’s highlight four fertilisers and one substrate that are all ideal for use in the growth phase. Discover the unique features and advantages of these products!

Looking for simplicity and efficiency?

ATA-XL is a unique 2-in-1 product that combines a growth and flowering stimulator in one bottle. The strength of ATA-XL, performing at both stages, lies in its plant extracts, humic acids, and primary nutrients such as phosphorus (P) and potassium (K).

ATA-XL is suitable for fruits, vegetables, and herbs, such as berries, orchids, and anthuriums. Use it either in soil, hydroponic, or coco-coir mediums.

Or are you an environmentally conscious gardener? Then rely on ATA NRG Growth-C. This fertiliser has major effects on plant development, especially the main stem and lateral branches, resulting in strong growth. ATA NRG Growth-C is suitable for various vegetables, fruits, and herbs, including lettuce, spinach, cabbage, cucumbers, chives, coriander, and more. Add it to the nutrient solution or use it as a foliar spray to prevent or repair nutrient deficiencies. It is suitable for all growing methods except for use in irrigation systems.

On the other hand, for experienced gardeners, B’cuzz 1-Component is a universal basic nutrient with a balanced NPK ratio. It contains iron chelates that maximise iron absorption. The absence of calcium makes it suitable for calcareous soils and substrates that retain this element. Also, it performs greatly for gardeners who water with hard tap water with a high lime content. Whether cultivated indoors or outdoors, vegetable, fruit, and herb plants will love 1-Component.

Along with the basic nutrients, the B'cuzz line has more to offer to help your plants thrive. Boosters, such as B'cuzz Hydro Booster, have a good impact on soil microorganisms, bringing biological balance to the substrate. They contain chelated essential micronutrients, which are easily assimilated, preventing possible deficiencies. B'cuzz Hydro

Booster is a product that supports plants, especially those cultivated hydroponically, to resist environmental changes like transplanting.

And last but not least, Kilomix. This substrate contains high-quality peat, perlite, and a mix of fertilisers like guano and many other organic substances. This mix offers enough nutrients to support plant growth during the early growth stages. Kilomix is suitable for various cultivation methods, including potting and raised beds. Kilomix ensures proper aeration and drainage, providing plants with optimal growing conditions.

Do you wish to enhance your garden by promoting plant growth? Atami products provide the best possible growth and development for your plants! Try them now and let the results speak for themselves!

Want to know more? Visit atami.com, or check out our social media!

TO A

GreenTech will happen at the Amsterdam RAI convention centre on June 13, 14, and 15. This premier trade exhibition will celebrate horticulture’s thriving tech scene under one roof. According to Mariska Dreschler, Director Horticulture at RAI, GreenTech looks forward to what she calls a ‘not-to-miss event for growers, investors and policymakers worldwide’.

Exhibitor bookings are looking healthy for the AIPH-approved D Category Tradeshow 2023 GreenTech. With less than three weeks before the show’s opening, 525 leading international companies, all experts in vegetable and flower production technologies, are ready to present themselves to an anticipated audience of more than 10,000 industry professionals.

There are more incoming trade missions than last year, and GreenTech knowledge sessions (theatre programmes) contain new themes. Mariska Dreschler says anticipation is building to this year’s show, allowing stakeholders to see the latest greenhouse technology and share business strategies, crop information, sustainability initiatives, and even the pitfalls of horticultural business.

FCI: All eyes are on horticulture; all eyes are on emerging technology. What does emerging technology look like this year regarding greenhouse horticulture?

Mariska Dreschler: “The industry of greenhouse technology is so advanced, but it never stops improving. We see a lot of ‘better business’ innovations. All the (technology) buttons you can turn can be optimised continuously. We have a great line-up of 34 innovations for the GreenTech Innovation Awards 2023. You can find even more new solutions at the pavilions Start-Up, Robotics/AI, and Renewable Energy. And don’t underestimate the power of all the leading companies

presenting themselves with their experts who gained new insights for production last year while working with and for growers worldwide.”

What’s the most exciting emerging greenhouse technology you see impacting greenhouse horticulture?

“There are several, not just one! Energy balancing solutions in Europe (e.g., minimising costs, without losing product quality, and renewable energy), but we also see many developments in successful integrated pest management and new AI and robotics developments to combat labour shortage. Next to greenhouse technology, you also see a strong interest in sustainability overall ignited by the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, translated into Corporate Social Responsibility objectives in business and the increase of biodiversity in horticulture”

Also exciting is the attention GreenTech receives from dignitaries and government authorities. What high-profile visits are on the agenda?

“There are 14 official trade missions registered so far; this is next to the individual visitors we expect from 120+ countries. The delegations come from all directions of the world: Japan, China, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, the USA, Canada, and Colombia, to name a few. They all have a mix of high-profile visitors from the government, businesses, and universities.”

‘TECHNOLOGY IS KEY

SUSTAINABLE GREENHOUSE HORTICULTURE AND SPREADING THE NEWS IS GREENTECH’

For all the excitement surrounding AgTech, there is also a harsh business environment. How has Covid-19, the energy crisis, rising inflation, and Russia’s war against Ukraine changed the landscape for technology adoption in greenhouse horticulture?

“That is a good question. The different crises have put food production in the spotlight, which is a good development overall. Awareness to ensure local food production is enhanced (less dependency on imports, better use of local recourses), innovations to lower the use of fossil fuels and improve renewable energy receive a powerful push now, and the system of Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) is effective. You can put it everywhere and adapt it to your available inputs (energy, labour, crops etc.). So, we must tell this positive story to the public and continue improving sustainability on all levels possible. Technology is key to that. And spreading the news is GreenTech.”

GreenTech’s technology stage will host a presentation on plant compounds in cannabis production. Canada was one of the first countries to make recreational cannabis legal, and everyone, including GreenTech, seemed to want to break into the market. Now, nearly ten years later, what do exhibitors tell you; did cannabis bring the growth in sales and profits ‘horti-preneurs’ anticipated?

“GreenTech focuses on technologies to produce crops sustainably. Plant compounds and cannabis as part of that, especially for human intake (health, beauty) you want to produce in the best circumstances possible. For that, CEA technology can contribute. Recreational is only allowed in some places; medicinal in many countries, including the Netherlands. The market has yet to open as expected, so with the number of growers and the sales possibilities, this crop is no longer attractive. However, successful growers still focus on this crop; many have changed their facilities towards more profitable crops like soft fruits.”

Your newly appointed chairwoman of the GreenTech Innovation & Concept Awards, Jolanda Heistek, says that horticulture is home to many innovative companies. However, she rightly noted that we could go one step further if we bring in even more knowledge and technology from other industries and use it to our advantage. How to increase GreenTech’s cross-pollinating factor?

“I agree 100% with Jolanda, and we have been stimulating cross-over connections since GreenTech started in 2014. We need to team up with experts from further than our industry. The robotics/AI, logistics (automotive), health, and energy sectors are industries where we need to collaborate to combine our strengths

and work on new products and services. We make room for these cross-over stakeholders in our exhibition, on stage in our theatres, and by inviting them as visitors.”

Concerning the prestigious GreenTech Awards, their value is mainly exposure of innovative ideas to a wide and well-targeted audience and external validation of the innovative character of young companies and products. But frequently, innovative technologies are ahead of what horti-preneurs are ready to adopt. How does GreenTech help fill this gap?

“Well, perhaps some of the growers or horti-preneurs, as you call them, are only recently adopting, but I see a big group of strong, proactive and successful producers implementing. They know that standing still means decline.

So, by sharing the knowledge, we bridge the gap. We stimulate the technology suppliers to collaborate with growers who use their technologies and show their solutions’ benefits. Grower to grower, PEER to PEER. In the presentation in the theatres, we include as many growers as possible to show what the technologies contribute to their greenhouse production. It is up to the entrepreneurial audience to decide if it is worth investing in and if the technology fits their business model.”

RAI is already hosting a successful GreenTech show in Queretaro, Mexico. Why not set up a GreenTech show in Asia, the Middle East or South America?

“My strategy is to roll out with GreenTech, strengthening the brand. It should enhance the importance of Amsterdam, with a worldwide focus, and the show in Mexico, with a regional (Latin America) focus. For sure, all the regions you mention could be interesting for expanding. No specific show is planned yet, but it is undoubtedly an option that will change in the future.”

Mariska Dreschler is Director Horticulture at RAI Amsterdam.

‘PROACTIVE AND SUCCESSFUL PRODUCERS IMPLEMENT [TECH]. THEY KNOW THAT STANDING STILL MEANS DECLINE'’

SOLUTIONS FOR THE FUTURE OF CULTIVATION

Innovative growing systems from Klasmann-Deilmann

Commercial horticulture is accelerating its sustainable development, and high-tech cultivation systems promise ever more efficiency. Also, the substrate sector is looking for innovative solutions. In this context, Klasmann-Deilmann, a leading international manufacturer of growing media, has been a close partner of the Maan Group, a specialist in biopolymers, to develop modern cultivation systems and substrate solutions. Conserving resources, avoiding emissions, and increasing yields and efficiency - are the core objectives of this cooperation. At GreenTech 2023, the companies will jointly present a revolutionary innovation for horticulture: the Nygaia substrate fibre.

root growth optimally. This innovation is a big deal.”

In future, the Nygaia substrate fibre will be used to grow seedlings for hydroponics, vertical farming, and other controlled crop environments. Nygaia completely replaces the usual substrate. In addition, other possible applications in ornamental seedlings will be tested in the medium term.

In 2023, the Nygaia substrate fibre will be introduced to the market; test quantities are already available for this. Regular production will then start in 2024.

Growcoon - The established innovation for sustainable propagation

Nygaia - The substrate of the future

The Nygaia substrate fibre forms a completely new approach in the substrate industry and could prove to be a milestone for sustainable horticulture. The fibre is made from fully biodegradable and bio-based raw materials. It offers ideal properties for the sustainable and technically demanding cultivation of young plants. Raymond van Ispelen, product manager for Nygaia at Klasmann-Deilmann, explains: “Nygaia is the high-tech solution for propagation in controlled conditions. It consists of more than 60% biobased raw materials, degrades completely, and leaves no residue. The fibre is inert, free of salts, holds water and supports

Besides Nygaia, Growcoon is another innovative product from the cooperation with the Maan Group. It has already been firmly established as an effective growing system in horticulture for five years. The Growcoon is a fully degradable, biopolymer-based propagation pot with an open net structure. Growcoon holds the substrate together when used in propagation trays and forms a stable root ball. Young plants, especially species with slow development or weak root formation, can thus be transplanted or dispatched more quickly. Propagation times can be shortened, and failures reduced. Young plants develop more robustly and homogeneously. By using Growcoon, prefabricated glue plugs are no longer needed, and crop-specific substrate can be loosely filled into the trays as required. The Growcoon is available in different sizes for all standard trays and can be efficiently inserted into trays with both automatic and manual dispensers.

Klasmann-Deilmann and the Maan Group will present the new Nygaia substrate fibre comprehensively for the first time at GreenTech 2023. The possibility of using Growcoon from young plant propagation to pot-free cultivation of bedding plants and herbs will also be shown.

Klasmann-Deilmann GmbH

Georg-Klasmann-Strasse 2-10

49744 Geeste

Germany

Phone: + 49 5937 31 0

Email: info@klasmann-deilmann.com

Find us also on LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube .

Lettuce grown in Nygaia for use in hydroponic systems.

Succulent grown in Growcoon

The Growcoon.

Growcoon in tray

Innovations by Klasmann-Deilmann.

Nygaia substrate.

JUNE 2023

2-4. ITALY

Leverano in Fiore is a threeday flower festival in Leverano (Puglia) with the support of the Mercato dei Fiori Leverano. www.leveranoinfiore.it

6-7. BELGIUM

Biopesticides Europe in Brussels, bringing together key industry stakeholders, researchers and representatives from regulatory bodies to discuss current challenges and future opportunities within the industry. www.wplgroup. com/aci/event/biopesticideseurope/

6-8. KENYA

Iftex at Nairobi’s Oshwal Centre. www.hppexhibitions.com

6-9. NETHERLANDS

Dutch Lily Days www.dutchlilydays.nl

7-16. NETHERLANDS

Dutch Orchid Inspiration Days. www.orchidinspirationdays.com

13-15. NETHERLANDS

GreenTech at RAI Amsterdam. www.greentech.nl

13-16. NETHERLANDS

Flowertrials, open house event for the pot and bedding plant industry. www.flowertrials.com

18-20. GERMANY spoga+gafa 2023 at Messe Cologne. www.spogagafa.com

20-21. UNITED KINGDOM HTA National Plant Show. www.nationalplantshow.co.uk

JULY 2023

2-5. ITALY

XXVII International Eucarpia Symposium Section ornamentals with the theme: From Nature to Culture: Breeding Ornamentals for Sustainability. www.gbh.eucarpia27.unige.it

NETHERLANDS

FLOWERTRIALS® ONCE AGAIN WELCOMES ORNAMENTAL HORTICULTURE PROFESSIONALS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

From 13 to 16 June, no fewer than 60 breeders of pot and bedding plants will present their innovations, impressive product ranges and creative concepts at the FlowerTrials.

FlowerTrials® remains a key event in the pot and bedding plant scene: in 2022 it attracted visitors from 89 countries. The success of the event is due to its informal open-house concept: breeders will open their doors at 29 different locations. Each venue is home to a single exhibitor or a group of companies sharing joint facilities. All locations are grouped in three geographical areas, which

12-13. NETHERLANDS

Groen-Direkt Summer Days. www.groen-direkt.nl

AUGUST 2023

22. BELGIUM

Florall, Belgium’s leading horticultural trade show at Waregem Expo. www.florall.be/

SEPTEMBER 2023

7-8. UNITED STATES World Floral Expo at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York. www.worldfloralexpo.com

7-9. UNITED KINGDOM Interflora World Cup at Manchester Central. www.interflora.co.uk

8-10. NETHERLANDS

Holland Dahlia Event, held in the region between Haarlem and Leiden. www.hollanddahliaevent.com

12. FRANCE

have been renamed to describe the expanded zones better. As of this year, visitors are welcome to visit the Middle Region(Aalsmeer), South Region (Westland) and Germany Region. For wholesalers and retailers, the event is an outstanding opportunity to meet the breeders, examine the top varieties and have the opportunity to view and influence trends. E Visit www.flowertrials.com in advance.

In association with Valhor, Destination Angers will host its Journée Pro Végétal Connect at the Centre des Congres in Angers. A biennial event bringing together growers, wholesalers, landscapers, city authorities and horticultural suppliers to discuss the future of ornamental horticulture in France.. www.vegetal-connect.com

13-15. RUSSIA

Flowers Expo at the Crocus Convention Centre in Moscow. www.flowers-expo.ru

17-21. REPUBLIC OF KOREA

AIPH’S 75th annual congress will take place in Suncheon on 17-21 September 2023.

www.aiph.org/event/75thannual-congress/

21-23. ITALY

Flormart, Italy’s second-largest horticultural trade exhibition taking place at PadovaFiere in Padua. www.flormart.it

22-25. BELGIUM

Fleuramour is a four-day floral extravaganza with more than 400 floral artists from all over the world working on this year’s theme: ‘Flowers&Music’. www.fleuramour.be

24-30. ITALY

International Garden Centre Association Conference in Baveno (Lake Maggiore). The conference pre-tour includes a visit to Sicily’s iconic plant nurseries. www.igca2023.com

27-28. UNITED KINGDOM

Landscape, The Industry Trade Show at NEC Birmingham. www.landscapeshow.co.uk

OUR HEART BEATS GREEN

PLANTS

Each year, IPM ESSEN brings the international green industry together with enthusiasm and passion, looking to the future as a leading innovation driver. The remarkable array of plants and plant novelties, cutting-edge technical advancements, captivating floristic trends and garden features make IPM ESSEN the global source of green inspiration. Meet the green family!

THE BIGGEST EVENT FOR THE EUROPEAN GARDEN PLANT RETAIL PLENTY OF INSPIRATION

1 COMPLETE OFFER 250+ EXHIBITORS

AUTUMN FAIR plantariumgroendirekt.nl 23&24 AUGUST

LOTS OF NOVELTIES

HEDGING WITH FRAGRANCE ...AND PRIVACY

Versatile, lovely and dependable – that’s Fairy Magnolia.

There are some plants that are incredibly useful, but there aren’t many that are this useful in the landscape as well as being lovely to look at. Magnolia Fairy Magnolia® is a brilliant garden workhorse and while she’s carrying her weight landscape­wise, she is also making us smile and sigh.

Fairy Magnolia is a bushy evergreen shrub or small tree which covers itself in a blanket of fragrant magnolia lowers each spring. She comes in three different colours –blush pink, cream and pure white –and she’s happy to grow in full sun to part shade. Fairy Magnolia is a tough garden survivor which means you can plant her as a continuous hedge at just under a metre apart to screen views or soften harsh winds. Fairy Magnolia is as versatile as

your secateurs want her to be. Give her regular light all­over trim to create a dense lush hedge, or leave her be for a loose more natural look. And if you want to create a small specimen tree, just prune to suit, opening out the centre of the plant and revealing the trunk and branch structure to create a lovely spring blossom tree.

The Fairy Magnolia series of Magnolia is lovely, incredibly useful and happy to thrive thanks to being very well bred by the brilliant New Zealand plant breeder, Mark Jury.

For more information visit: https://tesselaar.com/plants/fairy-magnolias/

Magnolia Fairy Magnolia® Cream

Magnolia Fairy Magnolia® White

Magnolia Fairy Magnolia® Blush

Literally thousands of flowers will dance for you each spring when you plant a Magnolia Fairy Magnolia®.