Last month, Ronald, from the Arcadia nursery, was at a fair in Moscow where  he won the Novelty Prize with the Chrysanthemum "Vienna Copper"; a good reason to pay a visit to this nursery. Of course we wanted to find out everything  there is to know about this prize winner.

Arcadia
Arcadia was founded 11 years ago by Ronald Olsthoorn and Kwekerij van Ruijven. Ronald originally grew fluffy chrysanthemums in his garden and Van Ruijven nursery grew spray chrysanthemums. Together they continued with the fluffy chrysanthemum. In those 11 years the company has grown rapidly and expansively. They are now with 5 owners, managing 25 hectares of land spread over 6 locations and producing 50 million stems a year.

More than 40 varieties of fluffy chrysanthemums are grown, most of which are available all year round, but there are also real seasonal products among them. In fact, they have just about everything. From large-scale retail products to small-scale niche and exclusive products that are more suitable for the high-end florist or wholesaler. Each owner manages a separate location, but marketing and sales is done for all locations combined.

Arcadia is affiliated with Decorum, a platform with various growers, who offer and trade their products here. In order to reach their customers quickly and efficiently, they have a space at the flower  auction where they can prepare deliveries directly to their customers at the auction.

Arcadia stands for 100% market drive. They want to be the bench mark for chrysanthemums. The world is becoming more and more digital, in their vision there is only room for one large webshop. Through their commercial attitude, customer-oriented sales and responding to the trends and wishes of florists, they now control 40% of the market share. But despite the sales and digitization, Ronald remains a hands-on kind of man and loves to do his own cultivation. 

All Saints Day
Next month, on November 1, it will be All Saints' Day. On this day we think of all the loved ones we have lost, we visit the cemetery and we take a moment to reflect on all our beautiful memories. Chrysanthemums are a very popular product for this day. "Chryso" is the Greek word for "gold" and "anthemom" means flower. The flower was cultivated in China before the beginning of our era, where it was considered a sacred flower. Because the flower is incredibly strong and is now available in many colors and shapes, this flower is still a very popular flower in the cemetery.

In the spotlights
Vienna is a fairly new variety in the fluffy chrysanthemums. It has only been around for three years, although the plant's genes are much older. Ronald is on the trade show in Moscow every year and two years ago he first became aware of an existing demand for this special chrysanthemum. Last year he got into a conversation with some ladies who also asked about the Vienna. So Ronald contacted the German breeder and was able to come to an agreement.

The mother plants are set up in Uganda where the weather conditions are much better, so the plants can root well. For the past three quarters of a year, Ronald has worked very hard to be able to bring the Vienna to the trade show and he succeeded! And it paid off; he won a fantastic prize with the "Vienna Copper".

The Vienna is characterized by its enormous bulb and the shape of the petals that grow around the bulb. A truly special product, ideally suited for the higher segment. Which is exactly how Ronald wants it; Vienna will be a small production. He want it to stay exclusive. Of the 1 million stems that Arcadia produces per week, only 10,000 stems are Vienna in the colors copper, pink and white.

To our question why Ronald finds this chrysanthemum so fantastic; “That is because of the curled leaves that form the sphere. It is a chrysanthemum in its original shape, a chrysanthemum like a chrysanthemum should be. ” The color of the" Copper " is really a very nice warm autumn color. That makes the product extra suitable for this season.