Twenty years of Gardengirls
Since 43 years the renowned horticulturist Kurt Kramer is breeding with winter-hardy heather species. An important milestone was the introduction of the Darley Dale Heather (Erica x darleyensis) hybrid ‘Kramers Rote’, today produced worldwide. The success came with the establishment of the brand Gardengirls in 1997.
Within the license system of Gardengirls today, 175 experienced growers in Germany and Austria, all of them medium-sized family enterprises, produce the assortment of over 60 varieties. Additionally, 170 smaller growers in Belgium, Denmark, France, England, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland and the Czech Republic are licensees.
Heidezüchtung Kramer started his PR activities for heather geared towards consumers already in 1975. The first success was a gold medal for the Calluna assortment shown at the Federal Garden Exhibition in Mannheim in 1975. Marketing is still thriving today, growing from year to year. Since 2012, Gardengirls radio spots are broadcasted in the most populated regions of Germany to promote winter-hardy bud-bloomers. In 2017 the northern states will be included, so the avid garden enthusiast can enjoy the peppy spots just south of the border to Denmark to Lake Constance at the border to Austria and Switzerland. Additionally, the advertisements and advertorials in garden and lifestyle magazines will continue to be part of the efforts to make hardy bud-bloomers a profitable, valuable crop for producers, garden markets and their customers.
In the last few years, three other breeders joined the Gardengirls system to supplement the assortment. This guarantees a wide range of varieties from very early colour in mid-August to late, long lasting varieties until November. The picture below shows the breeder team during the last meeting end of February 2017 in Münster, where they laid the cornerstone for cooperation and a future joint company to guarantee a bright future.
From left to right: Johannes van Leuven (Lower Rhine Valley), Kurt Kramer (North-Western Germany), Helmut Hiedl (Allgäu/ Bavarian Alps) and Horst Marohn (North-Western Germany).
The breeders will be supported by the established team of two experienced horticulturists in the office in Edewecht/ North-Western Germany. On the left Rudolf Sterkel (Sales- and Marketing) and on the right Detlef Twiest (License Administration).
For more information:
Gardengirls
info@heidewelt.de
www.gardengirls.de