We start the New Year with a real niche spring flower. In the Netherlands there are only three growers who supply this product. A ornamental shrub that with its fine blossom petals is a real eye catcher and certainly deserves a place in the FloraPodium spotlight. We are talking about the Prunus glandulosa Alba Plena, also known as 'White Almond'.

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To find out more about this beautiful product, we visited nursery 'Firma D. Weening en Zonen', where we spoke to Frank. Frank co-owns the company with his parents. In addition to prunus, the company also grows lilacs. We have seen both products at the nursery. Both are cultivated and selected with care. Everything therefore looked tip-top.

The genus Prunus belongs to the Rose family: 'Rosaceae'. To Frank's surprise, there are few florists who know the Prunus glandulosa 'Alba Plena'. He sees that the trade decreases and thinks that this beautiful product deserves a helping hand. It is an elegant product that in itself is very beautiful in a vase, "but I prefer to see this crop in a vase with lilacs", says Frank, his two favorite products.

To our surprise, this kind of Prunus holds her blossom for a long time. After a week in the vase, no flowers had fallen off. At the moment the first flower falls, however, the rest follows quickly.

Origin
Why the flower is also called 'White Almond' was soon clear to us. After holding a few flowers in our hands, which we bruised heavily by rolling our palms together, the almond fragrance was quite pronounced. That is not surprising, because, besides being related to the Rose, the flower is also related to the Almond.

The Prunus originates in China and is cut from mid-December to the end of February. The later in the season, the more fragrance the flowers get. The blossom does not grow until mid-April. So the season is shortened by four months just like the Lilacs.

In the spring, the Prunus has heavily flowered branches with white flowers. Frank knows from his grandfather that it is also available in pink. Unfortunately, Frank has not yet been able to find this variety. His breeder is still looking for the product without success. It is, of course, quite expensive to travel the world in search of a new species, especially considering there is only limited demand, mostly around the Valentine period.

Care
For a long time there were problems with the cut flower food that was used for the Prunus. The old-fashioned universal Chrysal flower food was too strong and caused the stems to bun. The current Chrysal cut flower food is better, but best is to use Chrysal food for shrubbery. Unfortunately, this is not available for florists. At the moment they are often added to a bunch by the grower.

Another tip: do not put the flower in a ceramic vase; they often contain more bacteria. Always put them in a glass vase.