Anyone who wants to know what tomorrow's petunias and begonias will look like should come and visit the participants in the Pack Trials. One hour driving from Amsterdam, eight different breeders - ABZ Seeds, Benary, Hem Genetics, MNP/Suntory, PanAmerican, Prudac, Syngenta Flowers and Takii - organize trials presenting their newest varieties and experimentals for their customers to judge.
Clockwise starting from top left: Menni Liu (Syngenta/Floranova), Viktoriia Taranenko (Prudac), Ilona Smith (ABZ Seeds) and Suzanne Kooi (Pan American Seed). Cleck here for a photoreport
Spring, whether it starts early or, like this year, a little later, is the time of bedding plants and gardening. Buyers however look ahead to next year and they want to know what to expect. Equally growers try to get an idea of the trends of tomorrow and how they can capitalize on it.
Those who have visited these trials before know not to expect huge gatherings (as is the case with for example the Flower Trials next month), but nonetheless people come from all corners of the world to have a look for themselves. For their part, breeders do their best to get their genetics shine as nice as possible, whether or not by contrasting them with similar plants from competitors.
Click here for a photo impression. Sadly it was not possible to visit all of the breeders participating.