Flower of the month: Angel's Love®

The Marriage of Elegance and Warmth:

Angel's Love Rose Makes its Debut.

Soon bridal bouquets may be sporting a fresh new rose – born in Holland, named in America and new to the world.

What's in a name?
Ask the florists who helped name the new Angel's Love rose, and they would respond with words like joy, hope and love.

“Angel's Love is a rose that evokes all the emotions of a wedding day – joyful, blushing and radiant,” says Richard Lutes of wholesale florist Koehler & Dramm, a member of the Tradewinds International network.

Last April, Koehler & Dramm hosted the first International Rose Festival and Wedding Design Show in Minneapolis. The approximately 500 retail and wholesale florists, growers, designers and rose breeders who attended got a sneak preview of Angel's Love – and the chance to submit suggestions for its name.

Bob Larson, owner and designer with BO-JO's Creations in Ellsworth, Wisconsin, came up with the winning moniker, selected from over 200 entries submitted at the show.

Blushing blossoms
A lightly scented white rose, Angel's Love's petals are edged in a whisper of soft pink that gives the large blossoms a gentle blush when fully opened. Long 60-80+ cm stems and a longer-than-average vase life make it ideally suited for wedding work, bunches and ready-made bouquets.

“Angel's Love is a wedding Rose bred by Terra Nigra that reflects the market demands,” says cultivation and sales manager Ron Smit of Terra Nigra. “It has a beautiful classical head shape and size in perfect balance with the stem and stems easily 80cm and up.”

Unique rose, unique collaboration
The introduction of Angel's Love is the culmination of a two-year project that began when Lutes had the idea to break from the traditional breeder to grower to wholesaler distribution chain for new roses. He contacted Terra Nigra's Ron Smit and proposed taking an unnamed new rose to U.S. florists.

“Wholesale florists typically take the central role in distributing flowers from the farms to the florists,” says Lutes. “But what if we also took a central role in facilitating the breeding of new flowers?”

Then, Lutes went about convincing rose growers to plant Angel's Love. The striking new rose is currently in commercial production on several of Ecuador's premier farms.

“Angel's Love is a very productive variety that is not sensitive to botrytis,” says Terra Nigra's Christa Boerlage, General Manager. “It's an exceptional rose for both growers and florists.”

Limited quantities of Angel's Love will be available in early March 2009, with a much larger supply coming into production in late summer. Angel's Love will be available exclusively through Tradewinds International's 46 member wholesalers in the U.S. and Canada.

“Brides can be inspired to plan a wedding around Angel's Love,” says Carl Marino, a founder and partner at Tradewinds International. “This unique offering is part of our ongoing commitment to innovation and a high level of service in the marketplace.”

“I love this rose,” says Erin Milliard, a wedding specialist with Kirby Floral Inc., a Tradewinds member wholesaler in British Columbia. “The shape and color are really great for weddings – especially for late spring and summer weddings. It will go really well with other shades of pink and with all soft tones.”

Angel's Love is not only a uniquely beautiful new rose. It came out of a unique collaboration between wholesaler, breeder and florists to bring a fresh new rose to the public.

Terra Nigra is an innovative and award-winning breeder of roses, gerberas and other flowers with more than 36 years experience serving the floral industry. One the largest wholesale florists in the U.S., Koehler & Dramm is a member of the Tradewinds International network – leading floral import facilitators with decades of experience providing high quality cut flowers to floral professionals in the U.S. and Canada.

Terra Nigra, Inc., info@terranigrausa.com, T + 1 (805) 684-4410
Tradewinds International, paul@twiconsol.com, T +1 (760) 734-1510