What rose growers had to say about Schreurs Roses

Some time back, we did an introductory article on several new and commercial rose varieties by Schreurs. As a follow up, we sought the opinion of some Kenyan based rose growers who have had experience with these roses. We spoke to AAA roses, Harvest Flowers, Bigot Flowers and Timaflor. This is what they shared. 

We spoke to Farai Madziva, the GM at Harvest Flowers
"Pure elegance and full of oomph! Another easy grower from Schreurs; a grower’s dream! Production, Length and Headsize come naturally. This is a High Altitude variety giving production of 100 – 110 stems per square meter. The headsize ranges from 6.0 to 7.5 cm. Stem lengths averaging 60 – 70 cm with a bigger quantity on the 70s and above.

The colour contrast of pink and cream is stunning. It stands out whether its in a greenhouse,  in a coldroom, in a bunch or bouquet; it is a stunner. The samples sent out to our markets all speak big. This is most loved in the UK and Scandinavian countries!  The shape of the head allows for easy packing and it can be cut at fairly open cutstages to allow better presentation with minimal handling issues.

It has good resistance to Downy Mildew and Botrytis. It is however, a little weaker with Powdery Mildew. As a whole, it is a very strong variety and once in full production, it will replace a lot of the Bi-pink varieties on the market!"

We spoke to Dana Malaskova, Commercial Manager at AAA Roses
AAA roses' Simba Farm located at an altitude of 1995m in Nyahururu Kenya has been growing Morning Dew!® for the third year now. According to Dana, the company's commercial manager, the rose is a strong grower with good production. Dana notes Morning Dew to be a versatile variety with good acceptance across a variety of markets e.g. Australia, UK, Middle East and in Scandinavian countries. 

"At the beginning, mainly because of its unique colour, most people thought Morning Dew! would end up being a niche variety, but over time it has gained popularity across the board."

It is because of its flexible nature that AAA has started putting Morning Dew! in a bouquet line, mixing it with spray roses. Although it doesnt grow a very long stem, averaging 40-50 at AAA's Simba Farm, the rose has a decent headsize of 4 - 4.5cm and a good vaselife of 10-12 days. 

We spoke to Simon van der Burg the MD at Timaflor Flowers

"Viva is a very good producer and also enjoys good presence in the market. At an altitude of 2400m, Timaflor gets an average 5cm headsize and a stemlength of 50cm and above for the rose Viva."

Jagtap KT, the GM at Bigot Flowers spoke to us about the rose 'Topsun' from Schreurs East Africa. He described the rose as a bright yellow, with very good production and that it perfoms very well in the retail market. The farm which is located in Naivasha has grown the variety Top Sun! since 2006 with Jagtap having participated in the rose's propagation three years prior. 

We spoke to Farai Madziva, the GM at Harvest Flowers
Nightingale is an easy grower! She loves the warm temperatures with high light levels. This is when she performs best! At High Altitude, Nightingale produces exceptionally well during the summer periods where there is plenty of light and high temperatures. The headsize does not change much with winter and summer, maintaining a headsize of 5.5 cm to 6.0 cm. Nightingale is best cut quite open to give a beautiful cylindrical opening and emphasize it’s headsize better. Production is on the upper end of High Altitude Varieties producing 120 – 140 stems per square meter. This is at least 30% higher than most varieties on High Altitude. Stems lengths are superb, with an average of 60 – 70 cm stems on High Altitude. Stems are thorn-less and very straight. She has beautiful shiny foliage that gives an elegant contrast with the Lilac head. During the low light level periods with cold mornings, Nightingale throws a lot of blind shoots. This takes away its productivity during the winter periods and this can easily be avoided by good opening to allow a lot of light in the crop and continuous removal of blind shoots.

At Low Altitude, Nightingale can produce over 180 – 220 stems per square meter. Most beautiful characteristic is that it does not reduce its headsize that much. You can easily achieve a Headsize of 5.0 – 5.5 at 1400 m above sea level. The Lilac colour is a little pale but still brings that smoky lilac colour which the market loves. Nightingale has a great resistance to Powdery Mildew, Downy Mildew and Botrytis. However, during the juvenile stages, it can get some botrytis attacks but this disappears after the 2nd flush.