Grassheart
Conventionally new rose varieties are viewed very critically. With this in mind, Wout Oor, sales manager at Dümmen Orange (formerly employed at Olij Roses), took a big gamble when he brought the first Grassheart roses to the IPM in Essen. "This rose originated from a crossbreeding experiment," he explains. "When the plant grew and the green heart appeared in the flower, we first were confused: a failure? At the same time, we also found this rose very special. At that moment we had to wait and see whether the green heart would also appear in the other plants. So we cultivated another twenty plants. And yes: the 'wild' green heart remained, just like the beautiful long stems. The Grassheart was born, as was the idea to do something with it."
When asked if Wout immediately saw it as a success, he laughed: "No, actually I expected to be declared insane. But I considered them really special and so on the first occasion I took a big bunch to the IPM in Essen and put them prominently on display at our stand. Everyone looked and made pictures of the rose that deviates so much from the norm. A befriended Belgian exporter bought a small quantity and he was sold out immediately. A real hype emerged. Good news! Not only for our good name as a breeder, but especially also for the florist who can distinguish himself with this special variant. This newcomer among the roses offers added value and exclusivity. And not without success, because the green-hearted rose immediately was ranked as bestseller."
The green little heart of the flower is formed by the flower base that is pushed through the petal leaves by a very diligent stem. For growers the Grassheart roses have the disadvantage that they can only be re-cut after seven instead of six weeks. The big advantage is that they also live much longer.
In the meantime, the deviant looking rose has a number of beautiful varieties: the cheerful orange Caraluna, the elegant and adventurous pink Crazy Eye, the Grasshopper for the perfect heritage look in bouquets, the aesthetic Green Eye, the super popular passionate and wild-looking Red Eye , the wild-looking Flash Eye in which all the colors of the setting sun are reflected. And last but not least, the botanical beauty Splash Eye that shines like the sun itself. Especially women are crazy about it, because they see themselves reflected in this modern rose!
Text and photos: Dümmen Orange