FLORAHOLLAND — The winners of De Glazen Tulp 2011 were announced yesterday at the Steigenberger Kurhaus Hotel in Scheveningen, the Netherlands. Each year, FloraHolland presents this award to the most promising new product in the categories cut flowers, houseplants, garden plants and sales concepts. Four Golden Tulips were presented at a festive gathering. TV presenter and jury chairman Rob Verlinden had the honor of announcing the winners.
Not only the Golden Tulips were presented but also a new large-flowered rose from breeder Lex+ was named after Dutch TV presenter Myrna Goossen. At the flower christening, Goossen expressed her delight at receiving the honor(:) “It’s an honor for me that this beautiful rose carries my name. Lex+ has given it the most beautiful name there is, because my name means ‘peacemaker’. I hope that every one of these roses brings peace, whatever its destination might be.”
The winners for the Garden Plants category were:
- First prize: Lilium formosanum ‘White Crane’ — Kwekerij Tass from Wateringen.
- Second prize: Dicentra ‘Burning Hearts’ — V.O.F. G.C. van Woudenberg from Zevenhuizen.
- Third prize: Felicia amelloides ‘Felicitara Blue’ — Kwekerij W & A de Rijke from Poeldijk.
The jury found Lilium formosanum ‘White Crane’ really a plant to be experienced in terms of its color, breeding and scent. Their report pronounced, “A plant with gorgeous compact lilies, frequent-flowering and eminently suitable for balcony and patio.”
The winners for the Houseplants category were:
- First prize: Hippeastrum Double Diamond Group ‘Alfresco’ — Fa L.G. Vreugdenhil & Zn from ’s Gravenzande.
- Second prize: Zantedeschia ‘Odessa’ — by growers including Dynaplant BV from De Lier and Fa L.G. Vreugdenhil & Zn from ’s Gravenzande.
- Third prize: Begonia (Elatior Group), double-flowered, ‘Grace’ — J.&.P. ten Have BV from Maasland.
The Hippeastrum Double Diamond Group ‘Alfresco’ which boasts a stunningly beautiful double flower, flowers very abundantly. As the jury put it, “An internationally-appealing product, and unique for its four stems. Plenty of return on your investment with this one.”
The winners for the Concepts category were:
- First prize: Phalaenopsis ‘Royal Blue’ from the Royal Family collection by Geest Orchideeën from De Lier.
- Second prize: Vanda Touch of Nature – Handelskwekerij L. vd Weijden BV from Kudelstaart.
- Third prize: Phalaenopsis ‘Singolo’ — Opti-flor B.V. from Monster.
From the Royal Family collection, the Phalaenopsis Royal Blue is very innovative and stylish because of its delightful shade of blue. “Consumers will be fighting to lay hands on it,” the jury felt.
The winners for the Cut Flowers category were:
- First prize: Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Spike’ — Pieter Kolk from Aalsmeer, Ko Kolk from Amstelveen and Sonneveld Hydrangea from Bleiswijk.
- Second prize: Rosa ‘White Naomi!’ — Mermin Roses from Amstelveen, Roseworld from De Lier and Velden Roses from Wateringen.
- Third prize: Pulsatilla vulgaris ‘Alba’ — Jac. M. van Schagen from Heerhugowaard.
The jury found the winner, Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Spike’, a magnificent fairytale of a flower, “despite its name!” They are confident that this product will be a runaway success commercially.
New products a key plank of Dutch floriculture sector’s success
Every year, hundreds of new products (‘novelties’) and concepts are introduced at FloraHolland. These are offered via auction clock sales but also go through the intermediary organization FloraHolland Connect. Historically, product innovation has always been important to the Dutch floricultural industry. New products help growers distinguish themselves among their customers, while for traders, new products offer a chance to surprise the customer with something innovative.
Buyers and sellers joined in the voting
The winners are selected and nominated from among the hundreds of new cultivars and concepts introduced to auction each year. Until this year, it was an expert jury and a consumer-focused jury that made the nominations and selected the winners, with the trade also represented, as part of the expert jury. But this time, all buyers and sellers, too, were able to lend their own weight of influence by indicating from the outset which products in each of the four categories were their favorites. Florists, retailers and garden centers are always on the lookout for innovations to entice customers. Buyers and sellers with export firms, traders and wholesalers are at the heart of the floriculture chain: thanks to the daily exposure they have to the market, they are in a good position to indicate which novelty has been the year's most successful novelty product or concept.
Following several online voting rounds, and once the expert jury had made its deliberations, the consumer-focused jury met at the end of April to select the winners from among the nominated products. This second jury was made up of no lesser figures than fashion designer Addy van den Krommenacker, TV presenter Myrna Goossen, TV gardener Rob Verlinden and TV trend watcher Romeo Sommers. They considered from a commercial perspective which of the nominations best fitted the current trends and suited the contemporary consumer.
“Nowadays, growers are not only busy growing nice products, they're increasingly wanting to produce and deliver added value with their product. Which is good to see!,” said jury chairman Rob Verlinden.
Winners on Rob’s TV program on SBS6
In its program “Rob’s Great Garden Renovation” (Rob’s Grote Tuinverbouwing), Dutch broadcaster SBS6 will be presenting a summary of the jury deliberations and the prize-giving ceremony for De Glazen Tulp 2011, in the 11 June edition, from 5:00 to 6:00pm.
The winners will also be promoted in the customer-focused FloraHolland Magazine. Additionally, the winning products are to be presented at several trade fairs in the Netherlands and abroad, as well as in FloraHolland’s presentation areas. The winners received not only the original award but also a gift token for two people to enjoy a FloraHolland trends workshop for free.
Source: FloraHolland
