“Our varieties for the late summer program have big flowers, are strong, and quite resistant to powdery mildew. These characteristics really boosted the demand, particularly in the US”, says Hartwig Bull of Bull Plant Genetics when talking about the Rudbeckia’ Sunbeckia,’ the Echinacea ‘SunMagic’ and the Helianthus’ SunCatcher.’ Initially, he bred these varieties for his own use at their greenhouse in Germany but decided to go international about 4 years ago. After introducing the varieties in Europe, he went to the US in 2020, and since then, demand increased sharply, and requests are coming in from all over the world now. And more colors and varieties are in the pipeline.
Hartwig and Ulrike of Bull Plant Genetics at Plantarium|Groen Direkt 2023.
Later summer product
Sunbeckia, SunMagic, and SunCatcher are all products for the late summer program, and during this time of the year, the demand for flowering garden products seems to be high. “We see it all over the world; it is the time when the consumer comes back from their vacation, and all their plants are dead. They are looking for new flowering products that give that summer feeling in the garden or on their balcony or terrace. When visiting the garden center, the big flowers catch their eyes. On top of that, these varieties attract pollinators, are compact and good branching, ticking all the boxes consumers are looking for nowadays.”
Strong product
On top of the appearance, the varieties are also strong, which arose the interest of many growers at first. “They performed well in different trials in Europe and the US, but also in New Zealand, Australia, South Korea, and Japan. It was shown that they take the heat and rain very well and are quite resistant to powdery mildew, a challenge many growers in the US have been dealing with for several years now.”
Creating a network
Since the introduction, the demand has grown sharply from all over the world. In order to supply the varieties, Bull Genetics has been and is still working to create a network of partner labs and partner propagators all over the world. Besides that, they also launched their new website recently and are always looking to enter new markets and countries.
Continuous breeding
Of course, breeding continues, and not only new colors but also new varieties are in the pipeline and are expected to be introduced next year.
For more information:
Bull Plant Genetics
www.bull-plant-genetics.com