First Belgian group participation, presenting a broad assortment
This year, Belgium is taking part in Glee for the first time, with a group stand under the flag of VLAM, Flanders' Agricultural Marketing Board. Seven companies will be presenting their products in Hall 20, at stand number 20H30. Together they offer a wide range of products for the British market. Two of Belgium’s main highlights, the azalea and the globe chrysanthemum, will certainly make an appearance. They will be accompanied by various tree nursery products, hellebores, bamboo and young plants.
The companies
Seven companies are joining forces on VLAM’s group stand where, in addition to a display of products, clients will be welcomed at a bar and conversation table. Each company has its own speciality, and together they offer a wide range of products that respond to the requirements of British customers.
• Dataflor – www.dataflor.be, globe chrysanthemums and innovative strawberry plants for sale through garden centres
• Decock Plants: www.decockplants.be, producer of young plants
• Deforche Export: www.deforche.com, broad range of indoor and outdoor plants
• De Waele-Wilwoodii: www.dewaele-wilwoodii.be, specialised in Chamaecyparis, Cupressus, Azalea indica, Azalea japonica, Rhododendron, Camellia and Pieris
• Het Wilgenbroek: www.hetwilgenbroek.be, Hellebore specialist.
>>> At Glee, Het Wilgenbroek will be competing for a New Product Award with its VIV 'VICTORIA' hellebore. This novelty already flowers from September and remains in bloom until the spring, and is striking for its mass of purple flowers.
• Oprins Plants: www.oprins.com, focuses on bamboo and holly, plus other plants including Hydrangea and unusual ornamental grasses.
• Van Poecke & Zn: www.vanpoecke-zn.be, conifers, rose bushes and other ornamental bushes, grown both in containers and in the ground.
In the entrance hall, each Belgian supplier will present their speciality on a display table, so that visitors can immediately get a foretaste of the Belgian products.
Imports from Belgium in figures
British consumers have always been plant-lovers. Nowadays they are also increasingly allowing themselves to be tempted into impulse purchases. At any rate, Belgian suppliers have a suitable range not only for garden centres, but also for retail outlets.
It is above all Belgian bedding and balcony plants that are favoured in the United Kingdom. In 2016 they accounted for 31% of Belgian exports to the UK, amounting to a turnover of about 14 million pounds. In addition, they are becoming increasingly popular there. Imports into the UK have quadrupled since 2007.
Belgian indoor plants are also extremely welcome in the UK. They remain in a stable second place in the total imports of ornamental plant products from Belgium, amounting to 9.5 million pounds.
Imports of the typically Belgian azaleas and rhododendrons, rose bushes and strawberry plants has recently also increased.
News about the companies
- Dataflor surprises with new strawberries
- Het Wilgenbroek presents a new Hellebore collection
- Enjoy a 360° virtual tour in Nursery De Waele-Wilwoodii
Dataflor surprises with new strawberries
With a wide range of strawberry varieties, Dataflor is aiming for the individual who likes to try something new in their garden. In this case, the company is concentrating on new and surprising varieties of strawberry. At Glee you will find the striking Pineberry, Framberry and Bubbleberry.
Pineberry
The pineapple strawberry (Pineberry), a white strawberry with red seeds, is one of the oldest strawberry cultivars in the world. This strawberry originally hails from Chile, where it grows in the wild. Extensive cross-breeding work has resulted in a white strawberry that fulfils contemporary consumer requirements. The Pineberry is a female plant and therefore has no pollen. Thus, to enable fertilisation, this variety of strawberry always needs to be planted alongside a red strawberry plant.
Framberry
The raspberry strawberry is also known internationally as the ‘strasberry’, a contraction of the words ‘raspberry’ and ‘strawberry’. The raspberry-strawberry is 100% strawberry, but is so called because of its smaller size and deep-set seeds, which makes it visually similar to a raspberry. The raspberry-strawberry is a variety that is almost 100 years old. Just like the Pineberry, the Framberry is female, meaning that it too must be planted alongside red strawberries before it can bear fruit.
Bubbleberry
De Bubbleberry™, which takes its name from the sweet flavour of bubblegum, is the strawberry with the strongest aroma in the world. In addition to its flavour, the exterior of this exceptional strawberry differs from the ubiquitous red strawberry: the Bubbleberry™ is pink.
www.dataflor.be
Het Wilgenbroek presents a new Hellebore collection
During Glee 2017, Het Wilgenbroek is competing for a New Product Award with its VIV 'VICTORIA' Hellebore. This novelty already flowers from September and remains in bloom until the spring, and is striking for its mass of purple flowers.
The ViV Collection
Following years of intensive cross-breeding, the ViV Collection was born out of the most innovative and high-quality varieties of Hellebore. It takes 8 to 10 years to develop a new ViV cultivar and put it on the market. The process requires great skill and patience. Only those leading varieties that pass the strictest quality control are included in the ViV Collection.
The cultivars ViV Victoria and ViV Valentina are only cultivated by growers who have a passion for their products. At these nurseries the plants are given the time to develop at their ease. This means the ViV label is able to guarantee the best possible quality.
Het Wilgenbroek, the Hellebore specialists, are presenting their Hellebore VIV ‘VICTORIA’. This new item is conspicuous for its mass of purple flowers. The VIV ‘Valentina’, with its attractive dark red flowers, is a very bushy variety that flowers for Valentine’s Day.
Both are varieties of Helleborus Orientalis, which already blossoms as from September and continues to flower in the spring. They are being marketed by Microflor.
www.microflor.com – vivhelleborus.com
Enjoy a 360° virtual tour in Nursery De Waele-Wilwoodii
Nursery De Waele-Wilwoodii is a well-known nursery in Belgium with 90 years of experience in growing plants. They are specialised in Camellia, Rhododendron, Pieris, Japanese azalea, Cupressus ‘Goldcrest Wilma’ and Chamaecyparis ‘Ellwoodii’. Over the last 5 years, the company has invested a lot in new infrastructure and ecological and sustainable growing.
‘Because of the limited space at exhibitions, we have experienced some difficulty in showing potential clients who we are and what we do’, manager Frederik Matthys explains. ‘We want to show and tell the story behind the few plants we have on our stand. So we came up with the idea of developing a marketing tool to use at the exhibitions we attend. It is called the ‘360° Virtual Tour’. This tool allows (potential) clients to make a virtual 360° visit to our nursery using VR-glasses.’ Visitors learn more about the products, about the way the company works and its strengths, just by watching the ‘highlights’ during the virtual tour. ‘Once visitors have experienced the virtual tour, it is far easier to tell the story behind the company. And although it is possible to do the virtual tour on our website www.dewaele-wilwoodii.be too, to have the full experience it is better to do it with the VR-glasses on our stand’, according to an enthusiastic Frederik.
www.dewaele-wilwoodii.be
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