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THECOMMERCIAL GREENHOUSEGROWER • MARCH 2017
• IPM FLOWERS
Waters. Cyclamen had pride of place on theSchoneveld
Breeding stand, marked out by a high rotating column display
featuring thewhole of the company’s increasinglywide offer –
ranunculus Sprinkles, Primula obconica, campanula and the
primrose series Paradiso.
The primrose season is a natural fit for IPM. German breeders
Ebbing Lohaus are true specialists, with their entire activity
focused on primrose and polyanthus. AndRudy Raes’ stand
made themost of the seasonality of the flower. The company’s
lovely new shadesmixMilkshakewas the centrepiece of their
main display. A distinctive newprimrose from Volmary is the
mid-seasonOceanNautilus Blue Vein. blue-striped on awhite
ground colour
Specialist breeders of awide diversity of plants find IPM a
natural showcase, without respect to seasonality. Hydrangeas
and begonias are just two examples.
Lilies are another, withWeteringPotlilium , a Flower Trials
participant, featuring its Lily Looks brand of varieties for
pot culture. At present, the recent abrupt change in the
£/€ exchange rate puts British producers of lilies, both pot
and cut flower, in a less stressful relationshipwith imported
product from theNetherlands. If the currency situation remains
the same or similar, in the future theremight be scope for
increasedBritish production, even though the bulbs have to be
paid for in € or $.
WeteringPotliumwas one of over three hundredDutch
exhibitors. Together they accounted for more than a fifth of the
total number. TheNetherlandswas the official partner country
for IPM this year. As amark of the country’s special status, this
year’s number of exhibitorswas even larger.
Next year’s dates for IPM are 23-26 January.
TheAir-Pot standon theBritishpavilion.
Fleuroselect’sAnnJennenandSally vanderHorst on
theorganisation’s stand.
FLEUROSELECT
The timing of IPM suits Fleuroselect, the international
organisation for the ornamentals industry. Many of the
exhibiting companies aremembers. The promotion of
outstanding varieties is an important part of its remit, and the
2017 FleuroStar winner possibly hadmore limelight than any
other individual variety in the show. BegoniaMissMalibu,
bred for DummenOrange, was lavishly displayed. The four
Fleuroselect GoldMedal winners for 2018were announced
and featured on the stand, too.
The Fleuroselect standdisplay prominently flagged up the
choice of marigolds and peppers as Plants of the Year for
2018. An intensivemarketing campaignwill aim to drive sales
of these two Europe-wide.
Fleuroselect now provides the secretariat, headed by British-
bornSally van der Horst, for the ever more successful
Flower Trials. These are held in June, in theNetherlands and
Germany. Visitors to IPMwould not havemissed the publicity,
with large circular notices on the floor at the show’s three
entrances, andmanymore elsewherewithin the exhibition
halls. Flagging up the Trials in late January is nice timing,
before the preoccupations of spring take growers’ attention
away from events outside their home base.
