An open day event has always been important for breeders, solely because this presents a mutually-beneficial platform to both the breeders and the growers to interact and share new varieties that have the potential to fit into the growers’ current business plans and beyond. Rose breeder United Selections held their annual open day last week which ran from 12th to 16th January 2021.
"The event was marked by a successful attendance of Kenyan growers was a great way to begin the year for the breeder and growers," says Edwin Kirwa, Marketing Assistant at United Selections.
Growers Checking Spray Roses on the Vase
In addition to the current commercial varieties, United Selections took the opportunity to showcase their new varieties both in the Standard-rose and Spray roses categories respectively.
Introduction of new varieties
After more than one year of no crowds or meetings, the open day was a great opportunity for the breeder to share with growers their new varieties, namely Novavita, High Key, Pink Sand, and spray varieties like Golden Blossoms, Fire Blossoms and Speaking Blossoms.
"Novavita is a premium white rose, with an impressive length of between 60-80cm, 12-15 days vase life, and with great transport characteristics. The rose is highly productive and maintains the color when fully open. High Key on the other hand which is a bi-color, has an impressive production and equally good vase life. It is the solution to the bicolour search and High Key too will make the colour mix a great success in retail."
On the left: High Key on the vase, on the right Pink Sand on the vase.
"Pink Sand which is also grown in Latin America (Ecuador and Colombia) has a stem length of 50-80 cm. The variety has a great opening and perfectly qualifies as a wedding variety."
Lastly, to add to their growing spray assortment, United Selections debuted new spray roses namely; Speaking Blossoms, Fire Blossoms, and Golden Blossoms.
Golden Blossoms
However, the yellow spray rose; Golden Blossoms took center stage because most growers expressed interest in the variety. "Its illuminating yellow color not only arouses optimism, resilience and happiness but the variety fits well to the growers’ spray-rose needs and the breeder was optimistic that Golden Blossoms will be a great fit to growers’ needs for this year and beyond."
A look into the future
The breeder hinted that they will be marking 10 years in March this year since its inception. This milestone is a great testament to the commitment they have put in, over the years in breeding a colorful future, as evident from different varieties which are greatly appreciated and consumed in the market. United Selections believes that to continuously breed a colorful future, the involvement of growers is necessary at every stage in developing a new variety, this is why they intend to keep developing with the growers. Through their open-door policy, the breeder urges growers to visit their facilities around the world at their convenience for their selection rounds.
Below are more pictures of the open house event:
For more information:
United Selections
marketing@united-selections.com
www.united-selections.com