Mitch Hanes retired from Syngenta Flowers in 2022, but his innovative and industry-changing breeding legacy continues, earning him the prestigious AAS Breeder’s Cup. Mitch spent over 40 years dedicated to his passion and created many flowers we know and love industry-wide, including the 2017 AAS Winner Calliope Medium Dark Red.
Mitch started with Goldsmith Seeds in 1980 and joined Syngenta Flowers during the acquisition in 2008. He joined Goldsmith Seeds straight out of graduate school from UC Davis, working in the Tissue Culture laboratory. Mitch then had the opportunity to breed cucumbers for a year and moved to Flower Research when Goldsmith sold the vegetable seeds business. From 1986 through his retirement in 2022, he worked as a flower breeder focused on geranium, verbena, petunia, calibrachoa, and lobelia.
During his remarkable career, Mitch made incredible contributions to the floriculture industry, including leading the scarification process for geranium seeds and creating the first cutting-type interspecific hybrid pelargonium, Calliope. He revolutionized the vegetative pelargonium industry with breakthrough varieties like the Calliope Large Dark Red, Caliente, Mojo, and Caldera geraniums, as well as the petunia Dekko Star Rose and the calibrachoa Cabrio and Callie series, to name a few.
As Mitch Hanes is honored with the 2024 AAS Breeder’s Cup Award, we at Syngenta Flowers extend our heartfelt congratulations and gratitude to him. His significant contributions and lasting impact on the floriculture industry and our organization are truly commendable.
To learn more about the prestigious Breeder’s Cup Award, please visit the AAS website: https://all-americaselections.org/award-recipients/
Learn more about some of Mitch’s breeding innovations, please visit: Syngenta Flowers
