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Kebra introductions

Delphinium 'West End Blue'

The first new plant discovery at Kebra nursery was Delphinium ‘West End Blue’, which appeared as a mutant of D. ‘Atlantis’.

Being “one of the greatest Delphinium cuttings producers in the world”, Kebra was able to quickly produce large enough quantities of D. ‘West End Blue’ to have it launched as a new variety, so it was introduced to the market in 2000.

Campanula 'Purple Sensation'

The darkest Campanula yet, C. 'Purple Sensation' will be introduced in 2005.

Hybridiser

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New possibilities from Kebra

03-12-2003 17:29 Being so involved in the growing of new varieties, it’s only natural that Mark and Patrick should be curious as to how well they can do at creating a few of their own, so in 1999 they set up a breeding program for Delphiniums and Campanulas.

By Miriam Young

One of many new Delphinium possibilities at Kebra

A range of dwarf Elatum-type Delphiniums are currently being worked on while a new Campanula ‘Purple Sensation’ with very dark purple flowers will be introduced in 2005.

Although Delphinium and Campanula are the two genera where specific efforts are being made to create new varieties, Mark and Patrick constantly have their eyes open to see whatother developments are happening among the many different plants they grow. The thousands of plants in the greenhouse need to be constantly monitored for quality, as do the rows of plants growing out in the fields, so mutations can be spotted and investigated further.

New discoveries are grown in small numbers in the fields where they are observed for strength and other features.

Euphorbia ‘Aperitif’/ ‘Mini Martini’ was discovered in such a way, spotted by Mark among the crop of E. martinii at the end of the growing season in 2001.

It could have been an easy one to miss, but Mark’s connections in the perennials export business had made him wise to the demand for smaller, more compact varieties, so he took the undersized plant straight to the tissue culture laboratory to see if how it would fare, and hey presto, the resulting clones all grew up to be miniature versions of their distinguished ancestor.

Biography

Local Boy Made Good
By Miriam Young
Mark van Kesteren’s story is a simple, yet inspiring tale of achievement earned through hard work, learning from the master and using a little imagination to progress.

The Nursery

Kebra nursery
By Miriam Young
Kebra is jointly owned by Mark van Kesteren and Patrick Brama. Together they look after many new perennial varieties during the vital early production stages.

Breeding work

New possibilities from Kebra
By Miriam Young
Being so involved in the growing of new varieties, it’s only natural that Mark and Patrick should be curious as to how well they can do at creating a few of their own, so in 1999 they set up a breeding program for Delphiniums and Campanulas.