More than 7,000 unique visitors from 66 countries turned out for last month’s FlowerTrials event in the Netherlands, undaunted by the poor weather at the start.

Sixty-two breeders showed hundreds of new introductions and many more existing pot and bedding plants to growers, distributors and retailers from across the world. Michael Perry, UK social media reporter, said: “I will never get tired of going to this wonderful, creative, colourful event.”

The number of international visitors remained steady with a number of large new delegations, particularly from Taiwan, Mexico and Korea. The number of local visitors showed a slight decline over 2018, thanks to the preceding Whitsun weekend and the poor weather conditions. Later in the week when weather conditions improved, the numbers caught up, with the Thursday the best third day on record.

The average FlowerTrials visitor visited 13 exhibiting breeders at five locations, a 9% increase on 2018 and an positive endorsement of the cluster strategy adopted by the organisers. Due to the increasing number of participating companies, the FlowerTrials board has advised exhibitors to team up and share locations to ensure an efficient visitor journey.