By: Anna Karolina Eriksson/TT
Published: Just now
1 of 5 Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT
Roses from Kenya and tulips from Holland – can Swedish cut flowers become an environmentally friendly alternative to today’s imported ones?
Right now, such an attempt is underway in Skåne.
– It’s a bit crazy that we spray flowers over long distances, says plant expert Ulrika Carlson-Nilsson.
She shakes her head and adds:
– Because we have a historical tradition of being able to do this here in the Nordics.
Ulrika Carlson-Nilsson, plant expert at Nordgen, holds out a tray of newly sown seedlings. Still fragile, but in a couple of months the foliage of these small summer asters of the Salome pink variety will have grown considerably.
– I think it looks promising. They are a bit of a pain, because when you propagate asters, you easily get a lot of seed, but the germination rate is often quite poor.
– These seem to have grown nicely.
Flowers from the past
Out in the greenhouse in Alnarp in Scania, only a few plants have started to grow in mid-April. This particular aster variety is to be included in the Nordic common gene bank Nordgen’s new project: to find the Nordic cut flowers of the future to be grown regionally – with the hope that in the future they can also be sold on the Swedish market, says Ulrika Carlson-Nilsson, who is responsible for the Swedish part of the Nordic cooperation project.
– What kind of material is there that works to grow here? Then we think of free-range cultivation, she says.
– We want to try to come up with something we could recommend to growers.
The majority of today’s cut flowers – for example roses, chrysanthemums, mimosa and lilies – are conveyed to the florists via the Netherlands and come from Europe, but also Africa and South America.
Imported, also during summer time. Can Nordic grown flowers replace them?
– We want to think about the environment, not to have the long transports. We have a native Nordic material we could use, and we have a historical tradition of being able to do this.
In Nordgen’s project, researchers from the Nordic countries have chosen to test 20 different flowers: summer asters, snapdragons and tagetes, which will now be grown on trials in four different locations – in Sweden, Iceland, Norway and Denmark.
“A cultural heritage”
Tagetes seeds look like little brooms under the magnifying glass. Seed by seed is reviewed, explains the seed lab’s team leader Johan Axelsson, who sits bent over the microscope. He has a lot of material to go through.
– There can be 40,000 seeds on tagetes, so it takes some time to investigate.
All seeds are checked. Some will then be cultivated, but the majority will go into Nordgen’s seed bank in Skåne and Denmark. Some also go to Svalbard’s global seed vault so that the variety is in safe custody for the future.
The tagetes in the microscope is one of the flowers included in the cut flower project. The seeds for the experiment come from Nordgen’s seed bank, and it is hardly about any new flower varieties. For example, a range of asters have previously been sold in Svalöf Weibull’s seed range.
Since then, the flowers seem to have fallen into oblivion. Until now.
– It really is cultural heritage, says Ulrika Carlson-Nilsson.
– I can think that with our varieties that were developed in the Nordic countries, where we previously had extensive production and processing, that we grew flowers up here and the knowledge we then had about this.
Have searched for knowledge
Cut flowers are actually grown in Sweden. Small-scale and local, but the industry is growing, says Eva Eliasson who is the chairman of Cut Flower Growers in Sweden, a growing association that today has 169 members from Luleå down to Ystad.
They welcome Nordgen’s test project.
– We think it’s very interesting. In general, we welcome that you study and explore cut flower cultivation in Sweden in the open – we have searched for some knowledge ourselves, but there hasn’t been that tradition for a while, so the research is not active right now, as we see it.
Swedish cut flower growers grow more and more, and sell flowers to customers and florists that suit our Swedish climate – such as lion’s gap, cornflower, asters, eternals and much more.
– They link back to our history, climate and culture and we hope that they will become available to everyone, says Eva Eliasson.
Lasts a long time in the bouquet
Nordgen’s project is in the starting pits. Is there a variety on the list that plant expert Ulrika Carlson-Nilsson already thinks can be a success?
– The aster is especially given. It’s useful and it’s fun. With some of the varieties, a plant becomes almost like a finished bouquet. It branches out and then a nice flower appears at the top of each stem!
What is a good cut flower? Naturally, a question for the florists, thinks Ulrika Carlson-Nilsson.
– But I imagine that it is good if you can harvest and cut, but that the plant shoots new shoots so that you can come back and harvest again.
– Then they must be straight and nice so you can work with them well, and that they have a good durability. There, I can imagine that the asters are grateful, that they last a long time in the bouquet.
Facts
About Nordgen’s project
Nordic Genetic Resource Center (Nordgen) is the Nordic countries’ joint gene bank and knowledge center for genetic resources.
They have a seed bank with around 33,000 different seed samples that are constantly analyzed and tested.
Nordgen’s working group for medicinal, ornamental and aromatic plants includes representatives from all the Nordic countries.
They have now started a one-year project concerning Nordic cut flowers.
The idea is to take a closer look at the species in the gene bank that may be suitable for cut flower production.
The group has chosen to study 20 different flowers: summer aster (Callistephus chinensis), lion’s gape (Antirrhinum majus) and tagetes (Tagetes patula).
This summer, the cut flowers will be trial grown in four different locations – in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland.
Source: Nordgen
Read moreFacts
This is how flower production works
Flower production has increasingly moved to low-wage countries, mainly in Africa and South America.
The majority of the cut flowers that wholesalers sell on in the world are first sold via Holland.
The majority of the flowers from growing countries in Africa, South America but also Europe are repackaged there and put in cold rooms awaiting further transport.
In Sweden, the tulip is the cut flower that is grown the most, and then in greenhouses.
In the past, there were many producers of Swedish cut flowers. After the Second World War, cultivation was industrialized and the Netherlands stepped forward.
Cut flowers in open fields have since led a waning existence – but in recent years, more Swedish growers have opened their eyes to small-scale cut flower cultivation.
Read more