Wabara roses for weddings and events enjoy increased brand recognition

NANTES, France: Delicateness, fringed petals, natural beauty, elegance, fragrance and long shelf life are all words that fit Wabara roses from Japan. Wabara is the contraction of the Japanese words wa, meaning harmony and bara, rose. Exhibiting at this year’s Floralies show in Nantes, France, rose grower Ken Kunieda explained he and his father Kenij work in harmony with nature using organic fertilisers and no-chemical alternatives to protect their rose crop.

Wabara are growers and breeders and specialise in creating new varieties of roses for weddings and events. The small scaled rose farm is located at the shores of Lake Biwa, near Kyoto and is enjoying increased brand recognition as it has established partnerships around the world.

In the Netherlands, for example, the auction-based wholesaler Perfume Flower Company has added 14 Wabara roses to their product range including highly fragrant, bourbon-shaped and spray roses.

In Kenya, Uhuru rose farms are currently growing variety of Wabara roses for the European market.

In Colombia Wabara has partnered with José Azout , the owner of Alexandra Farms which currently grows the Miyabi, Senlitsu and Tsumugi varieties.

In France, the Japanese rose breeder collaborates with Les Jardins de Séricourt, named France’s Garden of the Year in 2012 and covering 4.5ha in the Pas-de-Calais region. The Séricourt gardens are the brainchild of landscape architects Yves and Guillaume Gosse de Gorre who were formed at the National School of Landscape Architecture in Versailles.   Inspired by his visit to the Wabara rose farm in Kyota, Guillaume built a Le Clos des Roses Keiji garden in Séricourt.

At the Floralies show, Keiji and Gosse de Gorre teamed up to design a contemporary rose garden including a miniature lake reflecting the beauty of Wabara roses.