Olga Stärz, Arno Rijnbeek and Nico Rijnbeek at the IPM Essen in Germany.
Amarine Belladiva
"It offers the best of both worlds", says Managing Director Arno Rijnbeek. "While the Nerine always loses its leaves when it flowers, the Amarine keeps its leaves. This makes it a more decorative and suitable crop for pot production. Additionally, it flowers in August/September, which is earlier than the Nerine, and is frost hardy. It can stand temperatures as low as -5°C." The variety is bred by Agrofleur Select and distributed to European and UK growers, retailers, landscapers and so on by Rijnbeek and Son. "We supply bulbs and from November onward till April, we also grow various pot sizes on request."
Rijnbeek's Amarine Belladiva varieties from left to right: Aphrodite, Anastasia and Emanuelle.
Demand increasing
Rijnbeek put its first Amarine bulbs on the market three years ago. Since then, the demand increased, slowly but steadily. "It is a relatively new product, so it takes some time to become known and establish a good position in the market. However, we see the demand rising and in particular the UK mail order companies are becoming more aware of this product."
Future Amarine
According to Arno, more crosses are in the pipeline. "Currently, we are working on a more compact variety of the Amarine. And of course, we are always trying to improve our current varieties. We are not aiming to introduce as many varieties as possible. We just want to put a special and good quality product on the market."
For more information
Rijnbeek & Son
Arno Rijnbeek
Email: arno@rijnbeek.com
www.rijnbeek.com