Partnerships are key

Growing tropicals in the north is a tough task, and with the demand for finished mandevilla and dipladenia on the rise, suppliers, brokers and growers could make a strategic partnership to increase their profits while meeting the needs of customers.

Michell’s is a wholesale horticultural distributor, and the company contracts growers like C.L.I. Colors, a nursery in Homestead, Florida, to fulfill the high demand for tropicals for retailers across North America.

“Working with South Florida growers is the only way to supply finished retail-ready product for spring in the north, Midwest and mid-Atlantic,” says Dennis O’Keefe, sales manager at Michell’s. “Florida growers are obviously the key component because they have the weather to support growth to make a finished crop for spring without having any serious issues with cold weather.”

O’Keefe explains that it’s important to work with growers that are going to consistently produce a retail-ready crop. When the plant comes off the truck, retail customers want a plant that is full of flowers and screams “buy me” at retail.

Choosing which varieties to grow, whether it’s mandevilla or dipladenia, is a critical component to making a grower successful. The grower needs the right color, the right habitat, the right timing and compatibility between colors; when a grower decides what series to use, they’re looking for all these components without needing to cross series from breeder to breeder.

At C.L.I. Colors, the growers choose to use Suntory’s Sun Parasol® products because they are compatible from color to color, and this makes crop planting and production more straightforward.

“When we do Giant Red, Giant Pink and Giant White, planting dates, finish dates and bloom dates are identical,” O’Keefe says. “We can even do combos of multi-colors and have two different colors bloom at the same time in a combo pot.”

When breeders introduce new varieties, there’s often a push to use them in the marketplace. O’Keefe is very cautious, and when new varieties come out, he contacts the breeders and trials every new variety to ensure that he can put it into a production cycle.

“Just because a new variety looks good at a trade show or on paper, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to produce in a production cycle in South Florida,” O’Keefe says. “I have trialed every variety from Suntory for the last 20 years, so I feel confident that when I put it in, it’s going to work. … Suntory is always on the cutting edge with colors, varieties and habits. That’s why I like to use them exclusively for our productions.”

Suntory is releasing five new varieties for 2025: Sun Parasol® Original XP Bluephoria, Sun Parasol® Original XP Mauvelous, Sun Parasol® Original XP Double Pink Blush, Sun Parasol® FiredUp Orange and Sundenia Red Improved.

For more: www.michells.com