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| Ornamental fruit & Vegetable Planta | |
| Although still a very small part of the overall gardening market, seeds and young plants of fruit and vegetable species are gaining ground as part of the green-environmentalist influence. These products offer increasingly retail opportunities for garden centers and brico centres. A variety of products are chosen, mainly from those on display at the IPM-Essen 2006 exhibition. New retail packs and attractive POS (point of sale) material is opening new horizons for plants such as Capsicum, tomatoes, gourds and strawberries. Steiners Cranberry specialize in cranberries (mirtillo) e.g. Vaccinium oxycoccus, V. macrocarpon. Wilhelm Dierking also presented blueberries e.g. Vaccinium myrtillus and V. corymbosum. Seed Company Carl Sperling presented seed of Cucurbita pepo ‘Minnie Winnie’ which produces tiny mini-gourds the size of a one Euro coin. Fruit plants (including tomato varieties) and herbs are being added to bedding, hanging baskets and patio containers and what garden is complete without a pot calamondin orange or other Citrus variety. Viveiros Foral, Portugal, is one of Europe’s largest growers of pot Citrus (22ha) and is a big supplier of Lemon, Kumquat, Limequat and Calamondin in 12, 15, 19cm pots to Northern Europe. The operation in run by expatriate Englishmen Andrew Henley-Welsh. Fruit and vegetable plants adapted for small containers are now part of the balcony and patio scene, adding culinary (and possibly medicial value) as well as ornamental interest. Depending on legislation governing retail sales, substantial new retail possibilities open up for selling ‘health giving’ juices and jams made from the fruit of the young plants on sale. N.L. Chrestensen Erfurter Samen & Pflanzenzucht promoted varieties such as Capsicum (chillie) ‘Cherry Bomb’. This variety produces round rather flat fruits that taper off at the end. It is claimed to be ideal for pickling. Courgette ‘Scallopini’ produces rounded dark green fruit with a nutty taste which can be eaten raw as part of a salad. F1 Carrot ‘Purple Haze’ produes purple carrots with an excellent taste. Capsicum annum ‘Black Pearl’, bred by PanAmerican Seed, is considered to be the first ornamental hot pepper (paprika) and produces dark purple-black leaves and shiny round black fruit that matures to dark red. The fruit is very hot tasting. Other seed-raised varieties from PanAmerican that enter this sector are F1 ornamental Millet (Panicum miliaceum) ‘Purple Majesty’ produces deep purple leaves, stems and flower plumes. A new companion variety is F1 ‘Jester’ with unique foliage that changes colour with maturity. Young leaves are a chartreuse colour, especially in full sun, while mature leaves become bergundy. As the flower spikes develop the leaves turn to rich bronze-purple. These Millets are excellent for hot climates and full sun. Another excellent source of seed-raised vegetable plants is Floranova Ltd. Check out www.floranova.co.uk clicking on ‘patio vegetables’. Here there is an array of varieties from hanging tomatoes with yellow fruit, dwarf Capsicum and Aubergine, created for grower performance in the pot and retail presentation and for garden and container performance in the interests of the consumer. Floranova varieties are mainly distributed in Italy by Norcom SpA www.norcom.it BKN Strobel GmbH presented a new columnar apple tree called Felix® which produces light green/red fruit. This Company still grows the classic Ballerina Apple trees bred at East Malling Reseach in England in which the columnar habit is a genetic characteristic. These plants are ideal in tubs and containers for the balcony and terrace and provide a great deal of interest from flowering through to harvest. Contact Vivai Nord Snc for Italy www.vivainord.it Baumschule Anton Platter introdu |
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