Which of these plants will succeed Dümmen Orange's highly successful Begonia Miss Malibu? Fleuroselect is proud to put the five entries in this year's FleuroStar Contest in the picture. Each of these new introductions vies to be the next 'Winner with the Wow Factor', the variety with the highest visual impact at point of sale.
Calibrachoa Conga Sunset Kiss
Fully in line with the urban gardening trend, Calibrachoa Conga Sunset Kiss from Florensis is the perfectly proportioned plant to display on an outdoor coffee or side table. Its warm orange flower colour embraces the balcony, while the bright red centre automatically catches the eye. Naturally compact, the cutting-raised Conga series is music to the ears of environment friendly producers, because it hardly needs any PGRs. The profuse flowering gives Conga superior hold at retail. This newcomer looks at its best as a fabulous mono plant in a small pot or as a striking eye-catcher combined in a medium-sized container.
Calibrachoa MiniFamous® Double PinkTastic
Double PinkTastic from Selecta one truly catches the eye thanks to two bicoloured pink-white circles of inner petals in each flower. This excellent summer performer enjoys all the benefits of the MiniFamous® series, such as easy growth, improved root system, the very early flowering and mildew tolerance. MiniFamous® Double PinkTastic looks spectacular as a stand-alone item in a pot, but also works wonders in combination containers. Flowering from spring until autumn, this cutting-raised beauty with its novel bicolour pattern produces new flowers over and over again and provides a fabulous summer backdrop.
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Dahlia LaBella® Maggiore Rose Bicolour (P)
Dahlia LaBella® Maggiore Rose Bicolour (P) from Beekenkamp Plants provides rose coloured blasts from spring until the first frosts. The sturdy plants reach a height of 45-65 cm and display striking bicoloured flowers up to a massive 15cm in diameter. This cutting-raised Dahlia looks fantastic in pots on the patio or balcony, but also works wonderfully in summer garden beds. LaBella® Maggiore Rose Bicolour (P) is also a spectacular cut flower: the more stems cut, the longer it blooms. Part of the LaBella® series, Maggiore has an excellent flowering window which the growers will love. Fun and flashy, this Dahlia stands for fantastic flower power.
Helianthus interspecific Sunfinity
Nearly a decade of effort has led to Sunfinity, the seed-raised sunflower from Syngenta that will revolutionise the home gardening sunflower market. Traditional sunflowers are either small potted plants or cut flowers with only one stem, a single flower head, and blooms lasting for only 7–10 days. Sunfinity was cultivated to have many stems with a multitude of blooms and summer-long performance, making it truly unique. This newcomer can reach 1.5 meters tall, looks spectacular in big pots on the terrace or as background colour in the garden and throughout the season sunflower stems can be cut for indoor decoration.
Pepper Mamba-Red F1
A striking black and red fruit colour combination, that’s the new Pepper Mamba-Red F1. This innovative Pepper plant with 'Halloween look' from Dutch breeder Prudac displays an upgrowing plant habit with a strong central stem and limited branching reaching approx. 80 cm tall and 30 cm wide. The upright-growing glossy, fleshy fruits turn from a trendy black to a luscious red when ripening and have a mild spicy taste. After harvesting, the plant continues to grow. This Pepper is easy to cultivate and needs no pinching. Its fruits do not fall of during transport and it can be sold young meaning less time at the grower.
Contest Locations
The FleuroStar Contest will be held during the FlowerTrials® at ten locations in The Netherlands and Germany: Beekenkamp Plants, Benary (at Kébol), Dümmen Orange (Dutch location), Fleuroselect stand at Takii, Florensis, Jonge Planten Grünewald, PanAmerican/Kieft Seed, Sakata, Selecta one (German location) and Syngenta FloriPro Services.
Expert Jury
Over 30 professionals from a cross-section of breeding, production and retail as well as trade journalists and marketing specialists choose the Winner with the Wow factor.
During the FlowerTrials® each judge will cast his/her vote after visiting one or more of the Contest locations in the Netherlands and Germany. The winner is the variety with the highest average score on commercial potential and point of sale attractiveness.
FleuroStar Evening Event
The new FleuroStar winner will be revealed during the FleuroStar Evening on Thursday 15th June at Beekenkamp, Maasdijk, The Netherlands. Registration for this evening is possible via the Fleuroselect website.
Source: Fleuroselect
