"To all buyers we show this spray rose, they are eager to purchase it", says Koen Meewisse of J&K Rosa when talking about one of their new spray roses they are trialing. This Dutch rose grower who grows white Avalanche roses for commercial production on 3ha, started to trial the 'garden look' roses of Danish breeding company Viking Roses two years ago and one variety, named Rosa Loves Me 'With Fatal Attraction' is standing out.
Koen Meewisse in the greenhouse.
Trial location
It started two years ago when John Pouw of Viking Roses Aps, got in touch with Meewisse and talked about trialing the Rosa Loves Me roses (a brand of Viking Roses), in the greenhouse of J&K Rosa. Meewisse took the opportunity and said yes. "The new varieties got our interest and it is nice to see new varieties in your own cultivation circumstances." Currently, 2,000 m2 of the 3ha greenhouse is being used to trial the new varieties.
Rosa Loves Me 'With Fatal Attraction'
All "Rosa Loves Me" varieties are being trialed at J&K Rosa. Over the last year, four of them stood out and particularly the variety Rosa Loves Me 'With Fatal Attraction'. "It caught my eye right away. It is a strong variety, it opens well in the vase, has a nice garden rose heart and a vase life of about 14 days. We treat it similar to our white roses we produce for commercial sales, and we are very satisfied with the results."
Positive reactions
Since the first stems have been harvested, Meewisse is creating awareness of this variety among buyers. "I show them to the buyers and their reactions proves that my enthusiasm for this variety was not for noting. They are all coming back, asking for more." Currently, Meewisse sells them directly, as the numbers are still too low to sell it through the clock. The demand, however, is already so high that he has to turn down sales. "We continually are increasing production, but the production is not super high, due to the large head size of this spray rose - every disadvantage has its advantage. We regularly add 100 to 200 plants, and we will continue adding plants till we are able to fulfill the demand."
Viking Roses
Viking Roses is a collaboration between Danish breeder Rosa and her husband Harley Eskelund and John Pouw (DVR Marketing B.V.). 'Rosa Loves Me' is a brand of Viking Roses Asp and Rosa put her first 'garden look' rose on the market in 2010 and since then, she expanded the series.
For more information
J&K Rosa
Koen Meewisse
Email: jkrosa@outlook.com
jkrosa.nl
Viking Roses
John Pouw
Email: John@VikingRoses.com
M: +31 6 41686880
www.VikingRoses.com
Roses Forever
Rosa Eskelund
T: +45 51 57 19 90
Email: re@roses-forever.com
www.roses-forever.com