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While B2B trade shows around the world seek to redefine themselves, the organisers of the 36th edition of the Salon du Végétal took brave action to enhance attendee experiences through exciting features such as a scale model of the garden centre of the future, guided tours, the Innovert New Product Showcase, miniature gardens, and a jam-packed educational programme covering cut flowers through to houseplants, floral mass marketing, nursery stock, and landscaping. This year’s event proved that a smaller trade show is not automatically worse when it truly engages visitors on a deeper level, writes reviewers Brand Wagenaar, Ron van der Ploeg and Marie Françoise Petitjean.
Whether it is the language barrier, the country’s culture, its citizens’ presumed chauvinism or the mostly domestically focused firms on the international horticultural scene, ornamental horticulture in France is not always given due attention.
That’s in many respects undeserving, considering that flower and plant production nurseries, landscaping firms and garden centres combined, the country hosts 45,885 companies generating an annual turnover of 15.3 billion euros in 2022.
When narrowing these figures down to ornamentals production, 2,760 companies grow hardy nursery stock, cut flowers, houseplants, cut foliage, and bulbs worth 1.8 billion euros in 2023.
Spanning all aspects of French ornamental horticulture was the Salon du Végétal, held at the Parc des Expositions d’Angers in Angers between 10-12 September 2024.
“Understanding your heritage, your roots, and your ancestry is an important part of carving out your future.” That expression first comes to mind when looking back at the Salon’s recent history.
In 2016, its former organiser, the Bureau Horticole Régional (BHR), announced a bombshell saying it would leave its historical grounds in Angers and set up camp in Nantes.
Despite all the efforts made in Nantes, the show refused to root there, being more or less vegetative until 2018.
That same year, it was finally decided that the Salon would return to Angers in 2020, adapting a biennial format with even-numbered years hosting the Salon du Végétal and the odd-numbered ones, the Lyon-based landscaping exhibition Paysalia, plus a one-day educational Pro Végétal Connect event in Angers.
Then, Covid-19 struck, and the 2020 edition was cancelled. In 2022, the Salon’s vegetation finally started to reflourish. This was the result of a joint effort between the new organiser, Destination Angers, and industry bodies Verdir, Valhor, the city of Angers, the Angers Loire Métropole, the Maine-et-Loire department, the Pays de la Loire region, Vegepolys Valley, Plante & Cité, research centre Astredhor, the agricultural school Institut Agro Rennes-Angers, and agricultural job matching organisation APECITA.
Guided tours took attendees to a range of themed miniature gardens.
The 2024 edition of the Salon du Végétal could be seen as a make-or-break moment, with the pertinent question being if the show could tap into the ongoing shift toward more intimate, personalised engagements and meaningful, experiential content.
In speaking with exhibitors, it turns out the answer is generally favourable. Granted, the show has lost in size and occupies slightly more than two-thirds of the available show floor. But its compacter shape and showy elements felt welcoming. The three-day event saw 260 exhibitors, of which 15 per cent came from abroad, with the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, and Spain being the most well-represented. At the time of printing, the official attendee figures were not yet available, but the organisers’ predictions pointed to 8,000 green professionals.
Blatantly absent, however, were the buyers representing the country’s garden centre chains (often indicated as grandes enseignes in French) and what is called Libre Service Agricole (LISA) in French farm shops in rural areas.
At the root of the problem is the hierarchical structure of the garden centres, with upper management deciding to offer customers identical products whether the store sits in northern France or the Mediterranean.
Also at stake is the lack of knowledgeable staff following a wave of mass firings of senior buyers in the sector, while business succession and internal disputes play their part. On top of that, French garden centre chains are boycotting the Salon by forbidding their purchasers to attend for so-called cost-saving reasons.
The real reason for the absence of buyers at the Salon is that these chains hold their mini trade shows more or less around the Salon’s dates. Much to the frustration of growers, this decision has led to a conflict of interest.
The team of Batouwe can look back on a successful Salon.
Unsurprisingly, the ongoing unrest and mismanagement in French garden centres also begin to impact sales within this industry segment.
Nearly two per cent of all the garden centres ceased operations this spring and summer. In 2023, garden centre chains reported a 12 per cent decrease in sales (with the drop in sales being less for independent garden centres). One of the reasons being cited is that over the past decades, the chains have continued to stick to the tried and trusted instead of investing in new ideas, formats, and products that appeal to the next generation of customers.
Yet, at this year’s Salon, help was underway, provided by Manuel Rucart, owner of trend-watching cabinet Chlorosphere. The latter built a garden centre miniature world as part of the beating heart of this year’s show.
Thijs Timmermans of Hazerswoude-based (NL) Pannebakker& Zoon exporting indoor and outdoor plants to garden centres, florists and plant nurseries in Ireland, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, France, United Kingdom, Greece, Romania, Slovenia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic and Portugal.
Despite the ‘mécontentment’ in retail sales, there were celebrations all around at this year’s Salon, with no fewer than eight companies marking their corporate anniversary.
Wholesale plant production nursery Pépinières Desmartis in greater Bergerac celebrates 150 years in business. Founded by the Desmartis family half a century ago, today, the 300-ha company – of which 65ha is used for containerised production – is owned and run by Patrick Chassagne and Dominique Audy.
The pair acquired the business in 2014. Desmartis’ portfolio boosts more than 4,500 varieties of trees and shrubs, with Lagerstroemeria, Pinus picea (stone pine), and Gingko biloba being flagship products. Desmartis is also the proud owner of France’s National Lagerstroemeria collection. Plants are available in 1.5 litre to 350 litre pots and sold to garden centres, landscaping firms and local authorities.
Stervinou Nurseries blew out 80 candles. Founded in Brest in 1944 by Pierre Stervinou, the company is widely recognised as a pioneer in developing ericaceous plants.
Their nursery is known in France and abroad primarily for its Camellia production. Every year, they produce over 40,000 cuttings and grafts from the nursery’s mother stock plants, collected worldwide. About 200 varieties of Camellias are currently in production, representing a meticulous selection of the most attractive and disease-resistant plants.
Other specialities of the nursery include Rhododendrons (100 varieties), Japanese and Chinese Azaleas, Magnolias, Hydrangeas, and a wide range of specimen shrubs and perennials, including Restios, Proteas, and Bromeliads. Customers know that when they browse the Stervinou catalogue, they will find innovative and high-quality plants among the 900-1000 varieties and species.
Production takes place on about fifteen hectares (of which 5ha is under protection) at Kerguelen in Guipronvel, a small village north of Finistère, Brittany’s north-westernmost region. Here, the benign climate and acid soil are particularly conducive to the growth of ericaceous plants.
The company attributes most of its sales to growers, landscapers, and the country farm shop chain Apex (running around 90 Point Vert country farm shops in Brittany). Stervinou plants are also sold to international customers in Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, and the UK.
Asked about interesting varieties, the company sales manager Adrien Joncour points to Camellia sasanque ‘Versicolour’, a bushy evergreen shrub with glossy, ovate dark green leaves with serrated edges. This fragrant variety produces single cup-shaped flowers, lilac at the margins and fading through pale pink to white in the centre. The petals are centred around a cluster of strikingly yellow stamens. It makes a perfect solitary plant in the garden, a container, or a small flowering hedge. Hardiness: -12°C (10.4 °F).
Fatsia polycarpa is an unusual Fatsia species, an evergreen shrub with large, rounded, deeply lobed, matt-green leaves to 30cm long.
Ilex paraguaensis or Maté is a small, slow-growing, evergreen tree that can reach a height of 15 metres. The plant has been used as a stimulating drink for hundreds of years and is a more common drink than tea (Camellia sinensis) in South America. Now, This shrub allows gardeners to harvest their Maté leaves and prepare a drink.
Another star in the Stervinou stand was Azalea Idylla, a variety selected at Domaine de Boutiguéry in Brittany by Christian de la Sablière. It features masses of bright orange blooms in spring.
The 100ha Ripaud Pépinières is a family-owned and run ornamental plant nursery located in the Vendée department, halfway Cholet and Niort. This year, the company celebrates ‘70 years of plant originality’.
A family business passed down through three generations, Ripaud Nurseries has continued to evolve since its founding and now covers more than 100 hectares.
For over 70 years, the Ripaud family has travelled the world searching for new plants for their customers.
Second-generation Benoît and Damien Ripaud continued the legacy of their father and company founder, Joseph, from which the brothers inherited a passion for new plants and plant hunting.
Following the sad passing of Benoît in May 2022, third-generation Amandine Ripaud, Benoît’s eldest daughter, took a managerial role within the company, which generates an annual turnover of €9 million.
Marc-Henri Doyon joined to serve with Damien and Amandine on the company’s board of directors.
The company employs 50 people and grows over two million trees and shrubs in 200 species and nearly 1,000 varieties, including palm trees, olive trees, topiaries, Mediterranean plants, cycas, ferns, garden bonsai (Niwakis), maples, and yuccas.
The values instilled by Grandfather Joseph are embraced at every level of the company. Ripaud strives for originality in its product range.
The customer base is divided as follows: one-third are landscapers, one-third are independent garden centres, ten per cent are wholesalers, and the remaining customers are private individuals who visit the nursery’s garden centres or shop online. The company serves customers who are not too distant: 1/3 Pays de la Loire, 1/3 Poitou-Charentes, and 1/3 other regions.
The nursery has earned ‘Plante Bleue’ and ‘Fleurs de France’ certifications since March 2014. These national labels serve as a benchmark for French horticulturists and nurserymen dedicated to environmentally friendly production practices.
Husband and wife team Claude and Marie Roy founded plant propagation nursery Pépinières du Bocage 60 years ago, with garden roses and conifers being their specialisation. Today, the company is owned and managed by Wandrille de Thomassin, who gives co-workers part ownership of the company, whose core business remains plant propagation. Their catalogue boasts more than 300 varieties.
Kérisnel, the ornamental branch of the SICA Saint-Paul-de-Léon (Brittany) cooperative, was set up 50 years ago. In 1962, the Big Freeze decimated the region’s cash crops, such as artichoke and cauliflower, leaving vegetable growers looking for ‘alternative ornamentals’.
Today, the cooperative’s 23 member horticulturists grow around eight million plants sold to garden centres and mass retailers both in France and abroad (UK).
Bio seed producer and supplier Ferme de Saint Marthe equally celebrated its golden jubilee.
This year’s ruby jubilee of Pépinières Javoy marks the 40th anniversary of the company. Established 40 years ago, Javoy Nurseries has become one of France’s foremost ornamental plant producers. Its founders have been unwavering in pursuing economic success and pushing for environmental and social sustainability.
Javoy’s product catalogue boasts over 500 plant varieties suited for growing in pots and containers or in the garden, where some specimens can easily reach three metres in height. Despite having just 24 employees, the company employs an innovative, participative approach to developing plant-based solutions that tackle the challenges of climate change.
In August 2024, the company proudly earned the honorary title ‘Société à Mission’ (business with a mission), aligning with approximately 1,700 exceptional French companies committed to measurable and evaluated non-financial missions across all sectors.
The nursery has always sought to maintain botanical diversity and control of the production cycle from the young plant to its marketing. It has thus developed a particularly diversified quality offering designed to wow and unburden gardeners. In 2016, it launched a maintenance alert system for its plants aimed at amateur gardeners, and more recently, in 2023, with the ICO (patented), Javoy has created a patented removable planting system that allows the company to provide large plants with an immediate visual impact.
A system that greatly facilitates installing and maintaining climbing plants while simplifying maintenance. This system makes it easy to contribute to urban greening, especially in confined areas, by simplifying planting on facades and streets with minimal space requirements.
One of the company’s managers, Maire Laure Rauline, voluntarily contributes part of her time to properly functioning the French interprofessional industry body Valhor. Javoy Nurseries has consistently showcased for several years at the French Pavilion at the IPM Essen trade fair.
Thierry Browaeys announced that he would retire as the Salon’s President.
Finally, the breeder’s agent, Sapho, was also throwing a birthday bash, celebrating 50 years in business. At a cocktail party held on the opening day of the Salon, Sapho comms manager Valérie Lebourgeois and licensing manager Jean-Paul Davasse joined forces in launching a 228-page book detailing the agency’s history, management structure, goals and product range, including ‘300 plantes de bonne nature’, trustworthy ornamental varieties that are distinct, uniform and stable.
Fifty years ago, visionary hortipreneurs such as Robert Minier were already convinced that innovation is central to the challenges the industry faces, from climate change to an increasingly fickle consumer, smaller gardens, decreasing biodiversity, the superpower of garden centre chains, and plant pests and diseases spreading around the world.
Back then, Minier contacted his former study peers at the National Institute for Agricultural Research and Environment (INRAE) to see if together they could add an ornamental plant breeding programme to INRAE research, which mostly revolved around fruits, vegetables and arable crops.
In turn, INRAE would be backed by what was then a group of 60 plant nurseries that would help propagate, sell and promote the institute’s novelty plants in the national and international horticultural arena. In such a set-up, INRAE’s plant breeding would be a more rewarding job.
INRAE’s first introduction of the fire blight and mildew-resistant Malus Perpetu’ Evereste’ was hailed a resounding success in 1972.
‘Evereste’ not only turned out to be a healthy but also an exceptionally decorative tree, producing masses of white blossoms in spring and abundant clusters of cherry-like fruit which persist well into early spring. Its commercial success is mind-blowing: in 50 years, more than a million ‘Evereste’ trees have been sold in Europe.
Speaking of mind-blowing, sports lovers will remember the Olympic Games in Paris this summer and their awe-inspiring opening ceremony with the 100-year Olympic champion Charles Coste sitting in a wheelchair and passing the flame to the final torchbearers in the Tuileries gardens. Horticultural diehards will probably have spotted the stately-lined Ulmus trees as the scene’s spectacular backdrop. The filmed Ulmus are resistant to the fungus Ophiostoma ulmi (Dutch elm disease) and the fruit of a joint breeding work between INRAE Nancy, Alterra NL and INRAE Angers.
Today, it is less probable that you’ll find a new INRAE plant in Sapho’s catalogue, as the research institute is now primarily focused on the bioeconomy and the breeding of crops for energy production.
However, Sapho’s Jean-Paul Davasse continues to browse INRAE’s trial fields, where he sometimes spots Miscanthus, which is not only ‘energetic’ but also very decorative.
Sapho differentiates itself from other breeders’ agents as it was historically built on the collaboration between a public, very knowledgeable and non-profit research organisation and a sizeable number of privately held plant nurseries.
Sapho’s co-ownership also makes it stand out from other plant royalty agencies and nurseries in Europe (Breedersplants NL, Florali NL, Genesis UK, Kordes Germany, Plantipp NL, Van Vliet New Plants NL), North America (Bailey Nurseries USA, Monrovia USA, Plant Patent Agent USA, SRP USA, Van Belle Nurseries USA/Canada) Asia (AN Corporation Japan, Daelim Nursery Korea), Africa (Malanseuns South Africa), and Australia (Plants Management Australia).
Today, Sapho comprises 13 plant nurseries spread across France, each with its own specialisation; some are active in plant breeding, and others focus on young plant production, containerised nursery stock, or field production.
Interestingly, the Jubilee book explains the ins and outs of PBRs and their cost. From submitting the first descriptive dossier to CPVO (€450 in 2024), through the technical exams (between €1,900 and €3,900 depending on the genus and maintaining PBR protection (€380 per year), protecting new plants requires deep pockets. However, PBRs are an effective tool to protect your novelty plants against illegal propagation for a duration of 25 or 30 years. You pay €1,000 for trademarks once, after which the brand name will be protected for ten years.
It is important to note that by only opting for a trademark, you can do little against the illegal propagation of your novelty plant under a different name.
Sapho’s birthday bash.
This article was first published in the November 2024 issue of FloraCulture International.
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