Large-headed African roses, earthy tones, solid colors and tie-dyed eye-catchers are just some of the trends in roses spotted at this year’s International Horti Fair held in Amsterdam Oct. 9-12. 

John Furman, president of California Pajarosa Floral of Watsonville, Calif., says he noticed two main rose trends this year: an increase in the number of African roses, and the popularity of the new variety ‘Coffee Break’, which he says he also noticed at the 2007 SAF Outstanding Varieties competition in Palm Springs, Calif., in September.

The Elite Flower in Miami took home a red ribbon at the Outstanding Varieties competition for ‘Coffee Break’, which the company describes as a “hot” terracotta-colored rose with medium stems and dark foliage.

Furman says his team plans to order and evaluate about 100 test varieties of roses, based on what they saw at Horti Fair — about the same quantity they order after the show every year.

Earthy tones in roses, such as ‘Coffee Break’, are something Rick Rojahn, co-owner of Rojahn & Malaney Company Wholesale Florist in Milwaukee, noticed as well. "We saw a lot of colors that fall into the more organic tones," says Rojahn, who has attended Horti Fair for the past nine years along with the company's domestic rose supplier, Eufloria Flowers in Nipomo, Calif. "We also saw many with metallic qualities, which is very big with what's popular in home décor right now."

Dean Rule, of Conectiflor S A in Quito, Ecuador, which represents a number of breeding companies, noticed a shift toward solid, basic colors, such as yellows and pinks, “after many years where the bi-colors were being heavily planted," he says. Based on the show, Rule says he’ll be testing more long-stemmed, big-headed, and long-lasting varieties that travel well.

Steve Catando, purchasing manager for the fresh flower department a Delaware Valley Wholesale Florist, says there was a lot of buzz around multi-colored, tinted roses and other cultivars. The flowers "are tinted coming out looking like a rainbow," Catando says. "We already have some customers ordering them and they're expensive."

Catando also spotted some cut cyclamen that he thinks would be interesting for handheld wedding bouquets and came home with some information for growers about it.

"It's something that can't really be grown, cut and shipped overseas, so now we're talking to some local growers to see if they can do it," Catando says.

Buyers E-Brief editors spoke with commented on what they perceived as a significant drop in attendees to this year’s show, compared to past years. Horti Fair’s numbers, however, indicate only a 6 percent decline in attendees: 46,846 horticultural professionals from 108 countries, compared to nearly 50,000 visitors from more than 110 countries in 2006. Also down this year was the number of exhibitors, 985 firms, compared to 2006, where Horti Fair attracted more than 1,000. Some buyers suspect the decline, however drastic, is due to the event being held on the heels of Proflora in Colombia, Oct. 3-5, coupled with increasing travel costs and challenges with Colombian citizens obtaining visas to travel to Holland.

Nonetheless, Rojahn still describes the amount of walking and what’s available to see and do at Horti Fair as "staggering."