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Breeders
Thierry Delabroye
The Frenchman with a proud passion for perennials.
Richard Saul
bred the Echinaceas that everybody's talking about. But there's so much more to him than just Coneflowers!
René van Gaalen
is the anarchist of the plant-breeding world, constantly coming up with unexpected new varieties.
Reinier van Elderen
Plant breeding is all about having fun, as far as Reinier is concerned.
Pieter Damen
Pieter Damen is a cutflower grower who's constantly working to breed improved varieties.
Piet Zonneveld
Piet Zonneveld is an Agapanthus specialist, with over 40 varieties at his nursery.
Piet Oudolf
is an internationally renowned garden designer and plant hybridiser, with a number of notable achievements.
Peter van Steijn
Peter van Steijn is a cutflower grower who takes great pleasure in breeding new varieties.
Nico Wigchert
grows and breeds many Delphinium varieties, mainly for the cut-flower market.
Nic Geerlings
Nic Geerlings owns a production nursery where he grows several different genera of perennials.
Mark van Kesteren
is a perennial propagator and grower responsible for raising a range of sought-after varieties.
Marco van Noort
Initially in the cut flower trade, Marco switched to perennials during the 1980's and never looked back.
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Back to the roots
08-10-2003 10:49 A plant is not another bag of potato chips, ready to be consumed. You've got to work first and that is actually part of the enjoyment.
By Hans Witteman   

Many gardeners actually have a very special relationship with their plants. Some people think plants have a personality of their own. They treat them as their best friends and give them all the care they need.

 

Ever wondered why most plants are still grown and sold by small nurseries? It’s because they are unique and alive. Plants are born, they grow, and after a while they die. It really does not make them very suitable to mass production.

 

But it does make them interesting. There are stories to be told. Not only about the plants themselves, but about the world behind them as well.

 

Here at Darwin PlantSpotters we do our best to bring you these stories. By giving you inside information and letting you react we hope to bring everybody together and create a growing body of knowledge.
 

It should help you grow the plants – and a beautiful garden. It doesn’t come by itself, but when everything is said and done, gardening can offer you something that mass production can’t: achievement and pride in your work.

 
The 2007 Selection
The Plant Chooser
By Miriam Young
An overview of the Darwin PlantSpotters 2007 range and the man responsible for their selection.
Also spotted!
The best of the rest
By Miriam Young
While the plants featured on this site and sold with the Darwin PlantSpotters label are undeniably special, there are also many other perennials we know PlantSpotters fans will love!
New Plants
Do you have a new variety?
By Miriam Young
Do you have a plant you have bred or discovered in your garden which you believe to be completely new? If so we'd love to hear from you!
Preferred by plantspeople
Back to the roots
By Hans Witteman
A plant is not another bag of potato chips, ready to be consumed. You've got to work first and that is actually part of the enjoyment.
In the shops
How to recognise a Darwin PlantSpotters variety
By Miriam Young
Darwin PlantSpotters varieties are easily identified by their distinctive labels.
Community
Getting involved
By Miriam Young
Be part of the plant future by taking part in discussions between hybridisers, growers, gardeners and everybody else involved.
How to use this site
Navigating your way around
By Miriam Young
Welcome to Darwin PlantSpotters. Just a few clicks and you will be experiencing gardening as you've never known it before!
Useful Links
Click here for information about other websites and organisations
By Miriam Young
If you like this site, here are some others you'll also find interesting.
FAQ
When is next year's list going to be available?
Why are so many of the Darwin PlantSpotters breeders from Holland?
Can I offer a plant to Darwin PlantSpotters?
What do the "hardy zones" refer to on the tags and plant descriptions?
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Forum
What do you think about Darwin PlantSpotters?
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