Major producer of Agapanthus young plants
Regarding Agapanthus, Fairweather's Nursery is one of the leading producers in the UK and offers a large variety of Agapanthus types; they hold the national collection of Agapanthus. "In the UK, this means that we possess the Largest collection of Agapanthus with over 400 cultivars," explains Lowndes.
Sharon Lowndes
Next to Agapanthus, the assortment consists of lavender and other perennials. They work together with 2 UK breeders and produce 50 different types of Agapanthus in commercial production, 25 varieties of lavender and have 90 genes in perennials. "We have about 300 perennials varieties in our range". The Agapanthus are mainly supplied in 9cm pots, but are also available in jumbo plugs; which consist of 40 cells and are mainly used for the export. "It enables us to place a larger number of plants on one trolley, making delivery much more cost effective for our customer."
Growing demand for Agapanthus types
"There is a large and still increasing demand for different types of Agapanthus", says Lowndes. The Agapanthus is a well-known plant, but many countries are not ably to supply different types of the plant. "In Italy and France, for example, they probably only grow blue and white africanus types. We are able to offer Agapanthus in every shade of blue and white and in different heights" says Lowndes.The demand for a type of Agapanthus differs per country. The main two types of Agapanthus are deciduous and evergreen. "In the cooler climates, the deciduous types are more popular. These are the hardy ones that survive the winter. The Italians, for example are more attracted to the evergreens with the big flower heads." In general, the Northern Star (a deciduous type) is the most popular variety. "Annually, we sell about 30,000 young plants of Northern star".
Agapanthus ‘Northern Star’ .
Besides these positive developments, they also had to deal with some issues; like the currency differences between the Euro and the pound. "The pound was and still is very strong against the Euro." For this reason, they are now moving towards working with the Euro with their Export customers. "Therefore, we can offer them the best rates for our customers".
Future plans
In the future they are planning to develop their 40 plug range of Agapanthus. Besides that, they want to expand into the whole of Europe and put their other perennials on this market.For more information
Fairweather’s Wholesale Nursery
Sharon Lowndes
Email: sharon@fairweathers.co.uk
Tel:+44 01590 612307
Fax: +44 01590 612519
fairweathersnursery.com