NEW TECHNOLOGIES, A CHANGING CLIMATE, NEW VARIETIES AND LOTS OF PEOPLE.

GrootGroenPlus New tech Changing climate New varieties and lot’s of People

The Garden Magazine found itself again in the big tree nursery trade fair in Zundert,
Netherlands, Europe's #1 Exporter of Agricultural & Horticultural Goods and Leading Global
Supplier of Plant Reproductive Material & Breeding

The plant expo “GrootGroenPlus” is focused on green industry, ornamental plants, trees and
the technologies surrounding them, including but not limited to robotics, new building
materials, and new practices. The expo takes place in Zundert just outside of Breda, in the
south of the Netherlands. Νetherlands being number one Live Plants & Nursery Stock Export
in europe you can guess why this was such an interesting expo

There the Garden Magazine is honored to be invited every year. As journalists there, we
found ourselves getting lost amongst the various plant exhibitors, with a team of our fellow
Greeks, consisting of Mariana Rappou, Lena Athanasiadou, Christos Zacharogiannis and
Maria Gidarakou.

There we found exciting new varieties of our already known and beloved plants, like a new
variety of Viburnum tinus(Lisarose ‘Loren’), which is extremely common in Greek gardens
and native too. You probably might have some in your gardens too.






We saw planted roofs with succulents, aiming to make spaces more sustainable by cooling
them and absorbing carbon dioxide. We saw tons of exhibitors and old friends-plants,
including many, many of the plants you might already know, like perovskias, eleagnus,
Sedums, oaks and Quercus ilex that used to be plenty in the mountains of Pendeli near
Athens.


And to my surprise Calamintha nepeta(a wild shrub with small white flowers grows native in
greece and I had a volunteer plant self seed in my garden, since then it has become my
favourite tea).







An interesting thing I learned from discussing with the growers is that they have started
using more of our Mediterranean plants to adapt to the changing climate (since they have
observed that our plants are doing much better in their climate than some of their old
options).Α good example being Phillyrea angustifolia 'HUGP16' (GRAND PRIX) ,
which earned a Bronze Medal from the KVBC And most importantly the Golden Medal was
won by Quercus Ilex 'Pyramidia' (IDEAPYRA) . Both plants being native to Greece







About the awards
Phillyrea angustifolia 'HUGP16' with the KVBC Bronze Medal
Potted Phillyrea angustifolia on the stand
Phillyrea angustifolia, foliage detail
Phillyrea angustifolia from above
Award-winning cultivar, bronze medal.

About the award
At GrootGroenPlus 2026, two Mediterranean evergreens were among the most notable
winners. Quercus ilex Pyramidia® (‘IDEAPYRA’) won Gold at the Green Grand Prix, one of
only three plants to do so. It is a holm oak with a narrow, columnar habit, which is rare for a
species that normally grows a broad crown. The jury called it a “plant of tomorrow”. It keeps
holm oak’s toughness and tolerance of drought, wind and salt, and needs little space, so it
suits street planting, avenues and contemporary urban designs.

Phillyrea angustifolia ‘Grand Prix’ (‘HUGP16’), from the Dutch nursery Huijbregts, won the
Bronze Medal in the KVBC (Royal Boskoop Horticultural Society) new-varieties assessment,
a year after its Gold at the 2025 Green Grand Prix. It is a dense, upright evergreen shrub
with glossy dark-green leaves, growing to about 1.5–2 m. It tolerates drought, heat, salt and
temperatures down to −15 °C, and is recommended for clipped hedges, urban green spaces
and coastal gardens.

Aside from that being both worrying and educational, I also saw some interesting new
technologies: robot arms that are able to plant small cuttings into trays, conveyor belts, tools
that can pick multiple pots at once, and technologies that can take pictures of small trees
and evaluate them. All these, in my opinion, seem to bode well for a prosperous future
where we will have to spend less time doing the manual and tiring work both professionals
and amateurs,so as plant enthusiasts, we can focus more on what we actually enjoy: making
a flourishing garden.





The expo was also very insightful for professionals. It showed new ways of managing plants
using biological controls, which we lack, unfortunately, in Greece, and new plant varieties.
Not only that but also having a chance to talk with the growers who produce them, as it is
always nice to get free one-on-one consultations about the plants from the actual experts the
people who actually grow them.






And setting jokes about getting free consultations aside, I was able to experience what is, in
my opinion, the greatest benefit from Expo: the people, whom I was able to have a lot of
good friction with.Seeing a few known faces from the previous Expos as well as new ones,
where I had the chance to actually talk and learn with people who have the same goal as
me: be proficient with plants, sparking a small sense of belonging. A meaningful experience,
as I think that talking with such people is one of the greatest schools.





Special thanks to Frank Van Suchtelen who as one fellow attendee noted has
successfully built an expo defined by its warm, family character.