floriNEWS Magazine.pdf Jul. 2014 | Page 10

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