What does your work involve?
I check the roses of 23 Dutch growers so that our customers can rely on a lovely and reliable product all year round.

What is it exactly that you do?
I am at the auction every day, monitoring roses: what does the bud look like, the stem and the leaves? Is the product well sorted and presented? The first impression is very important. I prepare a quality report that states whether the growers are complying with the high quality standards. The customers we supply have high expectations.

Do you also check internal quality?
No, that is the auction’s task, which checks whether the product has received adequate pre-treatment and includes a bacteria count on the stem. The count must be as low as possible.

How can you recognise a good rose?
A good rose has a firm, sound bud with an adequate number of petals. A rose with 20 petals will be in full flower sooner than a rose with 50 petals. In addition the vase life after harvesting must be at least 10 days.

What do you find fascinating about roses?
Every rose is different. It is a living product and never becomes boring. Its colour can also change as flowering progresses. For example, Sweet Avalanche+ has a white bud but turns to pink as time passes.

What is your favourite rose?
My current favourites are Avalanche+, Grand Prix and the scented Red Naomi!. The brown rose Marrakesh is very unusual!


Roses getting bigger all the time
750 different cut roses are sold at the Dutch auctions, three quarters of which are large flowered. The remainder are small flowered roses and floribunda roses. As a consequence of breeding, lighting and new planting, Dutch roses are becoming increasingly large in diameter. The Dutch growers are also setting new trends in terms of colour, e.g. green, brown and two-colours. Few roses are scented because vase life takes precedence over fragrance. However, in recent years more awareness has been paid to fragrance again.

Glamorous Exclusive combination of purplish pink Aqua! (17075) and red Grand Prix (12157). With Anthurium Pistache (13024) and speargrass.	Funny A colourful show of bicolour Abrakadabra (18872) and Wizard (22560) with red Sacha (5828) and yellow Frisco (4649), wrapped in flexigrass.
Sirocco+ (25287) Faintly scented rose with long, well filled buds.	Utopia (25256) Red and yellow, full rose with an excellent vase life.
Colandro (26039) Elegant, orange rose with striking dark coloured foliage.	Cherry Brandy (22954) Copper coloured heart, orange outside.
Orange Juice! (24897) Deep yellow, large rose with red margins and undulating petals	Red Naomi! (27157) Strong, well filled rose with large buds; faintly scented.
Straciatella (26566) Velvety black, small flowered rose with pink specks.