Hellebores you should get to know - and more!

My final post from IPM Essen 2023 🥲

So, we’re on the home straight. Heike gave me a call, and insisted I came to the Deliflor display, where there was a ball pool. Much frivolity ensued!

Heike has been so much fun. She does social media for the IPM, and really throws herself into situations. Although, I have to say she scared the life out of me when she screamed as we were having a picture taken… It was her way of getting the jungle essence of the photo spot-on. She’s a total pro when it comes to posting on Instagram!

After the lunch that we shall not name, I passed by Heuger. This German company has THE MOST EXQUISITE HELLEBORES. Just look at this hybrid:

And this one… which incidentally needs a name… put some comments below, you may or may not get a prize!

I enjoyed some gorgeous hydrangeas on the “hydrangea breeders association” display next, look at this gorgeous little butterfly type. Just when you think they can’t create something more unique, they go and do it…

I dropped by to see Rosa at the Roses Forever stand. I’m a big fan of her roses, and I have a few in my garden at home. She has some amazing pot roses, which can then be moved outdoors. She also has excellent outdoor modern border roses like this one, with a really, really special fragrance. It’s the Plant n Relax Series! It has actually just crossed my mind - what if her name was Iris? Would she be running an Iris breeding company??

A sneaky QVC plant was next on my list: the GranVia - it’s a rebrand of Helichrysum (to those of us old enough to remember them…). Bred to be a strong outdoor garden plant with HUGE flowers, and coming soon to QVC as a big, big offer - at IPM they displayed a new bicolour. Wowwww! From MNP Suntory.

A short stop at Blu-Blumen, the German company with a finger on the edibles pulse. They had a plant that tasted of camembert cheese - yes, really!

And, a plant called the “brain plant”, apparently you can eat a bunch and improve your mental performance. In case you’re wondering, the plant is Bacopa monneri… and I bet you think you need it!

I delved into a plant that is easily overlooked next, and that is Fittonia! It’s often used as a filler, or terrarium specimen, but I learned that there are 60 or more varieties, and so many different types and colours. Check them out!

A quick “sniff-by” at Hassinger Orchids next, where they are growing some VERY cool things, and I particularly love their Masdevallia and the cherry scented Oncidiums too.

I was hurtling towards the end of the day, so I had to make sure I caught up with a few people that I’d missed previously.

You might say I was summoned to hall 4, as Ieva from Plant-i-Boost has been excitingly messaging me on LinkedIn for a week or so, and also bought my book. It turns out she has some really cool products, particularly an autumn fertiliser concept I’d never seen delivered in quite the same way before…

I stopped by Selecta, who I’ve worked with on various Instagram Reels over the last few years, and had a great chat. I couldn’t take my eyes of a brand-new orange coloured, oh yes, Poinsettia!

They also had some brilliant, new carnations, short, compact, and with fragrance, something that is occasionally missed off with carnation breeding. Mad, isn’t it?

I whizzed past PAC Elsner and said hi. This was one of the first companies I visited in Germany when I was about 20 years old. I was very taken by the “two in one” series, look at this lovely red and white bloomer, looks good for St George’s Day, I reckon??

And finally… a little catch up sans coffee at Rudy Raes. I’ve been working with this Belgian company for two seasons, highlighting their rainbow coloured primroses.

They have a new type called ‘Colibri’, it has a lot of differences, come out with shorter, flower, stems, and good cold tolerance. Their marketing is very bold, as they call this new plant the “winter geranium”….but I think that consumers will be the judge of that :)

So, that concludes my visit to Germany, and the IPM Essen. Thank you to the team for entrusting me to report on your event.

If you’re working in the industry, I hope it has inspired you to visit. If you’re a home gardener, I hope you’ve appreciated the insight into what’s coming in the next few years. Ding dong!