PAT I O P L A N T S
The waxflower ‘wow ch
Helix Australia’s line of waxflowers is unique in colour, flower size, shelf life and timing.
In Italy, Pescia-based cooperative FloraToscana does an excellent job coordinating the
AUTHOR: RON VAN DER PLOEG PHOTOS: LUC A QUILICI AND FLOR A TOSC ANA
production and sales of Helix Australia’s potted waxflower, aka Chamelaucium uncinatum.
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uccess has many fathers, and the potted waxflower’s rise to prominence in global ornamental horticulture is no exception. Over the past two decades, many people on different continents have worked hard to help horticulturists worldwide grow more customer-centric pot waxflower varieties, unique in colour, flower size, shelf life, and timing.
Parsons from flower breeding company Helix Australia and Craig Musson, director of flower exporter Wafex. This partnership has been blooming since the early 2010s. Thanks to the triple helix approach with the Australian government, academia and the industry, it has led to a suite of fantastic waxflower hybrids, innovating waxflower together and sharing both costs and revenues.
THE UNMISSABLE LINK BETWEEN BREEDERS AND COMMERCIAL PARTNERS
While the waxflower is wellknown on the global horticultural scene as an outstanding filler flower, the potted waxflower, as a showstopping plant in pots and containers, is relatively new, at least on the old continent. Thanks to an Italo-Australian collaboration, potted waxflower is finding its way to European
The key to success has been to link Australian specialist plant breeder Digby Growns – an authority in the field of Western Australia plant genera - from Kings Park and Botanic Garden (KPBG) in Perth with commercial partners Adrian
FLOR ACULTURE INTERNATIONAL NOVEMBER 2022
ITALO-AUSTRALIAN PARTNERSHIP
markets. Currently, Italy hosts a sizeable production of potted waxflower, with an estimated production output of 250,000 units grown by an estimated 10-15 growers. With a growing market share in supply volumes, the potted waxflower 2.0 from Helix Australia is gaining momentum on the Italian peninsula and beyond. Nearly 20 per cent of Italian-grown potted waxflower sells plants through the Pescia-based Flora Toscana cooperative (see side panel), which emerged in 2004 following the merger of Tuscany’s floral wholesalers Toscoflora and Geoflor Toscana.
BREAKTHROUGH In an era of job-hopping millennials, it may sound unusual, but Luca Quilici is the man who has been working for Flora Toscana
