‘Hot garden sprays’ at Viking Roses’ Open Trials

From 21 to 25 September Viking Roses hosted their ‘open trials’ at Molo River Roses, Nakuru, following the Horti Fair in Naivasha two days earlier.

Though considered a little ‘out of the way’ for non-Nakuru farms, some of the Horti Fair visitors were tempted to make the drive, and were not disappointed. “A 2-hour drive is absolutely worth it when considering varieties that are the basis of commercial success for five years,” commented one of the visitors, “and sure I wasn’t disappointed!”© Viking Roses

Viking Roses has no full beds of varieties and doesn’t ‘polish up’ to impress visitors. “We are as efficient as can be, looking at some 300 varieties at the same time. They come in 4 times per year from our breeding in Denmark and selection is harsh,” says Irene Njiha, Viking’s Kenyan Selection and Marketing Manager. “One farm even picked dozens of varieties, instantly taking several boxes of budwood to their propagator in Naivasha.”

Pictured right: Irene and Eliud of Credible Blooms at Hortifair

“Our garden sprays are hot, not only the recently introduced Rosa Loves Me® Radiant Rebecca and Rosa Loves Me Beyond Venus, but also the established RLM Inger Kristine will be expanded. The red spray VIK-23-463-P is being planted, so we have come up with a commercial name for that: Rosa Loves Me Intensely. You’re the first one to know.”

In the standards, the new line of fragrant varieties with good shipability and vaselife is also catching interest, specifically VIK-20-242-X and VIK-25-016-X, but there is fragrance all over the trials.