“Aster means star in Greek, and for that reason we have chosen to name our new varieties after star florists.” At the IFTF Danish breeder Mystery Lady proudly presented their new aster Nils Norman, which they named after Norwegian florist Nils Norman Iversen. It is the first one in their series of Stars of Happiness, says breeder and owner of the company Malene Juhl Jensen.
Malene Juhl Jensen at the IFTF, presenting the new variety Nils Norman, with a picture of Nils Norman Iversen baptizing the new aster in his shop in Oslo.
A star for a star
Iversen has won several prizes during the years. On the 10th of August he baptized ‘his’ aster in his shop Kreativ Flora in central Oslo, which he runs in cooperation with Rolf Torhoug since 1992.
Long shelf life
Nils Norman has a lot of flowers on each stem and has a long shelf life. Just like other asters, the perfect growing condition for Nils Norman is hot and sunny. “However, with greenhouses everywhere, growing asters is not only restricted to Africa and Asia”, says Malene.
Mystery Lady is not only a breeder, they also sell cuttings and young plants, as well as export their products. According to Jensen the cut flower asters market is building up.
Nursery Raahöj
In 1997, Malene Juhl Jensen and her husband Bent started to grow asters in their 3,000 square meter greenhouse, called Nursery Raahöj, in Denmark. "Over time, we noticed an increase in demand for good looking plants with a long shelf life. In order to meet this demand, we started to breed our own new varieties in 2001." In 2004 they entered the market with Mystery Lady; a new line of asters. In 2009, they started breeding and growing trifoliums.
For more information
Nursery Raahöj
Malene Juhl Jensnen
Email: malene@rahoj.dk
www.rahoj.dk
www.mysterylady.dk