KIWI: The coolest and mellowest Sweet Williams floral buyers are itching to get their hands on

Bred with Italian flair and typical German Gründlichkeit, Selecta One’s Dianthus barbatus’ Kiwi Mellow Cool’ and ‘Kiwi Mellow’ continue to take flower professionals and consumers by storm. Here’s the #kiwilicious story behind the cut flower’s fast rise to prominence.

Innovation is key in today’s ferocious breeders’ competition, and the cut flower sector is no different. Plant breeders, growers, traders and florists alike are constantly pressured to introduce new products for customers. However, successful innovation does not occur overnight.

Harvesting ‘Kiwi Mellow’ in Colombia—just look at the amazing size of the lime-green heads.

A bit of history

Famed Dianthus breeder Carlo Moraglia from San Remo, Italy, sold what is often touted as one of the world’s best and most innovative genetics to his long-time business partner Selecta One at the beginning of this year.

Moraglia acknowledges that true magic in Dianthus only happens after a myriad of crossings, trialling, and a relentless search for desirable characteristics, including perfectioned flower shape, longer vase life, better transportability, greater yield, ease in growing, and better overall quality.

René Olsthoorn, Selecta One’s sales manager for the Netherlands and Belgium, regularly kept in contact with Moraglia. He recalls, “By 2017, Selecta One had already acquired Moraglia’s range of ball-shaped Kiwi Sweet Williams (Dianthus barbatus) comprised of two categories. Group one represents the more mainstream single-coloured or two-toned, fragrant blooms that often come with a contrasting eye and fringed petals. Group two, which this story focuses on, included a swath of stand-alone varieties in lime green only. We planted fifty plants of each green variety and began trialling them. Eventually, this ‘survival of the fittest’ resulted in the trustworthy ‘Kiwi Mellow Cool’ and ‘Kiwi Mellow’. This variety holds the best cards to match or even outperform competition such as ‘Aldo Green’ and ‘Green Wicky’ [Ed: both names are used for the same variety bred by Brea], ‘Green Trick’/’ Green Ball’ [HilverdaFlorist/Myoshi], ‘Trigreen XL’ [Danziger], and ‘Onyx+’ [Dummen Orange].”

For the record, green Sweet Williams should not be mistakenly considered as green-coloured carnations such as ‘Goblin’, ‘Green Shot’, or ‘Lady Chique’, even if they are close relatives.

Special, so special

What makes the ‘Kiwi Mellow Cool’ and ‘Kiwi Mellow’ stand out are their unusual lime green globes held on upright stems and rising above contrasting dark green foliage. Olsthoorn notes, “Green Kiwis are known for their outstanding vase life and sturdy stems. They represent a big step forward considering competitors such as ‘Green Trick’ and ‘Aldo Green’.”

The perfectly round flowers grow up to 8-10 cm in diameter. Florists call them truly unique thanks to their fluffy looks and unusual dark green main colour. Green blooms that can successfully serve neutral purposes in a floral context. Green Kiwis easily pair with other focal flowers, adding beautiful texture, volume, and energising bright green exuberance to every bouquet. And their minimal shelf life is 12 days.

For florists, there is no better way to infuse their bouquets with a touch of Italian flair and German Gründlichkeit.

Green Kiwi features long but extremely sturdy stems, which make them easily transportable during each step in the supply chain. This picture was taken in a Dutch greenhouse.

Commercial production

Botanically speaking, Dianthus barbatus is a biennial member of the Dianthus genus and usually goes by the moniker Sweet William. The Dianthus genus belongs to the pink family (Caryophyllaceae) and is highly valued horticulturally. Members of the pink family are easily recognisable as many of them have swollen leaf and stem joints.

‘Kiwi Mellow Cool’ and ‘Kiwi Mellow’, just like any other Sweet Williams, are easy to grow provided that the cultivars’ basic requirements, such as rich, well-drained soil, full sunlight, appropriate spacing (20 to 25 cm apart) and regular irrigation (attention to not overwatering the plants) are met.

According to Olsthoorn, commercial production of green Kiwi Dianthus barbatus is geographically concentrated in Colombia and Kenya, and it is available year-round.

Within Europe, 60 per cent of flowers are produced in southern Europe (winter and spring production) and 40 per cent in the Netherlands (spring and festival production).

Dutch, Italian, and Spanish growers have an advantage over their ‘rivals’ from Africa and South America, where dry-packed air-freighted Dianthus barbatus may incur the risk of curved stems.
Selecta One claims that the green Kiwi production area worldwide spans an area of approximately 45ha, good for a 60-70 per cent market share.

As a rule of thumb, Dianthus barbatus thrives best in temperature climate zones with temperatures ranging between 15°C and 25°C.

Green Kiwi production cycles vary between 10 to 12 weeks in Africa and South America, depending on weather conditions and growing altitude.

In the northern hemisphere, crop times change according to the season; in essence, Dianthus barbatus is an eight-week faster crop than carnations. What’s more, the green Kiwi harvest is gradual and does not come in flushes all at once, as seen in other green Dianthus barbatus. Also, green Kiwi petals are much thicker than their green counterparts.

Young plants grown from tissue culture are too expensive, seeds do not stay true, and seed-raised plants are too time-consuming in the global flower chain.

Therefore, Selecta One’s cuttings farms in Kenya and Colombia offer commercial growers rooted cuttings grown in plug trays. In the Netherlands, Selecta One entrusted the rooting of cuttings to Olij Trading.

Market outlook

Just like any other ornamental crop, production cost in Dianthus barbatus cultivation increases year by year, mostly due to increasing energy, labour and transportation costs, impacting the profitability of crops.

However, as the popularity of green Dianthus barbatus continues to rise, Selecta One’s ‘Kiwi Mellow Cool’ and ‘Kiwi Mellow’ will draw on current trends in floral design by looking for colours that evoke Mother Nature—green is arguably the colour that most closely connotes nature.

So, the outlook for the upcoming autumn and winter season is positive, with Europe’s Dianthus barbatus in Europe anticipated to grow slightly. Overall, the market is fairly balanced, with prices for green Kiwis performing rather well. Selecta One claims that their green-hued Kiwi Sweet Williams generally yields a 30 to 50 per cent higher price than competing types, adding that all this depends on product quality at the individual grower’s level. Particularly, the Dutch-grown Kiwi Mellow is better paid than flowers from, for example, southern Europe.

Selecta One supports its grower customers with considerable marketing muscle behind its green Sweet Williams.

A purpose-built website, www.kiwi-flower.com, provides all the ins and outs of the visually stunning flower.

This article was first published in the October 2024 issue of FloraCulture International.