8
FLOWER IN FOCUS
of the specific Rose variety to ensure that the
crop comes to bloom within the anticipated
Mother’s Day date.”
As a specialist flower breeder, De Ruiter has a
wide portfolio of Rose varieties ranging from
the sweethearts, intermediates and T-Hybrids.
The pink Rose flower varieties on offer to
the market are soft pink, baby pink and
dark pink that tends towards purple. Other
varieties which have been in the market for a
long time include; Royal Jewel, lovely jewel,
Very Cherry, Calypso, Hotshot, Wham, Celeb,
Emotions, Elemento, Sweet Unique and Wild
Calypso.
De Ruiter’s experience in Rose breeding spans
over 100 years. In Kenya, the company has
been in operation for the last 20 years trading
as De Ruiter East Africa. With a vast experience
in Rose breeding, De Ruiter has been
able to meet the needs of its
clientele by ensuring that the
breeding activities are in
tandem with the market
trends and demands.
The breeding activities
are aimed at delivering
consistent quality taking
into consideration some of
the key attributes desired by
both the growers and the
retail chains that include
the right flower colors, the
required head sizes, better
post-harvest shelf life and
more importantly the number
of stems produced per m2.
Mr. Okinda reiterates that,
“the customer is always king!
For whatever varieties that we
introduce to the various markets,
we must always consider first and foremost the
needs of our customers. For a Rose breeder,
the introduction of new attributes to create
variations in otherwise familiar varieties is a
key point of dif