The autumn season is in full swing, nature is showing its most beautiful colors. We came into contact with grower John Veldkamp through breeder Kolster. He has a fantastic new rosehip in his range; a variety that is cut late in the season, with a beautiful red color. Appropriate in the fall, but also very suitable for Christmas arrangements. We went to visit Veldkamp Sierteelt, where John told us everything about the Rosa "Magical Sunset".

Veldkamp Floriculture

Veldkamp Sierteelt is a sustainable and dynamic company. All kinds of cut shrubs are grown, but also Kniphofia, Eryngium and Peonies. John is a true seasonal grower who practices his profession with great passion. John already got the love for the profession from his parents! They started the company; first as a hobby, but this quickly became a success. Veldkamp Sierteelt has expanded considerably over the years. The family business consists of John, his wife Karin, their son Lars and John's brother Teun. But his 84-year-old mother also puts her love into flowers every day. John does not have to fear succession issues; Lars has already made future plans for the company.

Magical Sunset

John has been growing rosehips for many years. The "Magical Sunset" is a cross from his own crop. Because he works very closely with breeder Kolster, this special discovery could quickly be further refined. After a rigorous five-year trial process, John is the only grower to market "Magical Sunset" for the first time this year.

The "Magical Sunset" has very long stems, making it very suitable for use in trendy field bouquets. In addition, she is very voluminous! Large full wigs full of hips make the branches very suitable as a basis for compact bouquets. But loose twigs can very easily be used for wreaths as well, or even as a decoration in small vases. The "Magical Sunset" is an all-round rosehip with the greatest advantage for florists being that there are virtually no thorns on the stems. And the vase life is amazingly long. The branch has a vase life of at least two months or longer. This largely depends on the weather conditions outside, John explains. Rain and frost outside do have a negative impact.

The Magical Sunset is a late variety. This means that late in the season, end of October/start of November, this variety changes beautifully from orange to dark red. Only then the branches are cut and delivered to the trade.

In addition to rosehip, John grows several cut shrubs. During our visit everyone was very busy with processing the symphoricarpos. All his crops are grown outside and he has to deal with different weather conditions. No two days are the same, but that is what makes this profession so fun and challenging according to John.

Thornless

Last year, John planted the first large amount of "Magical Sunset" plants. One of the positive test comments was about the thornless stems, but the length and volume of the branches were also rated positive.

Pollination

The roses flower in June, after which pollination takes place. To get beautiful rose hips, pollination of the flowers is very important and that is largely done by bees. John has nine beehives, spread over his garden.

After pollination the petals fall off and the first green hips are soon visible. As soon as the hips turn from orange to red, the branches can be harvested. The process of growth is almost “automatic”, John does not need to do much about it. Most of the work in the garden is to keep the garden weed-free, but with the Magical Sunset this is not easy because the plants are very wide and the long branches block the spaces in between. And John has to make sure that the crop remains disease-free.

Manual work

The ornamental value of most cutting shrubs lies with the berry. That is why with many of the products that John grows they have to remove the bottom and abnormal leaves and berries; this is also the case with rosehip. Removing the leaf is a very precise job; this involves the human eye, manual work and, above all, a lot of time. When all the leaves have been removed, the branches are removed by means of a Jamafa universal sorting machine with cameras sorted by volume and color of the flower / berry. But also by length and thickness of the stem, after which they are bunched on a bunching machine and prepared for transport.

Future

Veldkamp Sierteelt has been around for 43 years. Growing flowers is a craft that is carried out with a lot of love and passion. It is hard work to create a high-quality product. But if the valuation from the market is good, that hard work is well worth it. Yet John is also happy to invest in the future, especially since his son is planning to take over the company. Veldkamp Sierteelt, together with Jamafa Machinery B.V. is developing a fully automatic machine that will take a lot of work off your hands. “And no”, says John laughing. "That does not mean that we will be working with less staff when everything works, but that means that we can expand further."

FloraPodium, 19 November 2020