Green-hearted folly hit the jackpot

The search for new, unique flowers often leads to funny situations and popular newcomers. The story of Dümmen Orange’s expressive Grassheart roses speaks volumes.

Green-hearted folly hit the jackpot

The search for new, unique flowers often leads to funny situations and popular newcomers. The story of Dümmen Orange’s expressive Grassheart roses speaks volumes. Finished Product Sales Manager, Wout Oor: “In the past they would have been thrown away as rejects.”

Grassheart
Traditional eyes examine rose varieties extremely critically. With that in mind, Wout Oor took a huge gamble when he took the first Grassheart roses to the IPM in Essen, Germany. “This rose is the result of a cross-breeding experiment,” he explains. “When the plant was growing, and that tiny green heart appeared in the flower, we initially frowned: a failure? At the same time, we thought the rose was very special. At that time, we had to wait to see if the green heart would appear in the other plants as well. So, we grew another twenty plants. And yes: the ‘wild’ green heart was there, just like the beautiful long stems. The Grassheart was born, as was the idea of doing something with it.”

When asked if he immediately envisioned success, Wout laughs. “No, I actually expected to be told I was crazy. But I thought they were quite special and when the next opportunity presented itself, I took a large bunch of them to the IPM in Essen and gave them pride of place on our stand. Everyone looked and took photos of this rose, which differed so much from the standard. A Belgian exporter friend bought a small number and was immediately sold out. It became a real hype. Good news! Not only for our good name as a grower, but more particularly for the florist who is able to distinguish himself with this unique variety. This newcomer to the rose family offers added value and exclusivity. And not without success, because the green-hearted rose became an overnight best seller.”

The green heart of this flower is formed by the flower base being pushed through the petals by an overzealous stem. The disadvantage of Grassheart roses for growers is that they can only be harvested after seven weeks instead of six. The main advantage is that their vase life is much longer.

In the meantime, the rose with the unusual appearance has several beautiful variants: the cheery orange Caraluna, the elegant and adventurous rose Crazy Eye, the Grasshopper for the perfect heritage-look in bouquets, the aesthetic Green Eye, the super-popular passionate and wild-looking Red Eye, the wild-looking Flash Eye, where all the colours of the setting sun are reflected. And last but not least, the botanical beauty Splash Eye, that shines like the sun itself. Women in particular are crazy about it because they see themselves reflected in this modern rose!

De Kwakel, 24 April 2018