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Breeders' talk: "Sapho allows us to concentrate on our passion"

Posted in: Testimonies

2025-11-20

Testimony of Alexis and Liliane Le Duigou, passionate amateur gardeners - Les Jardins de Treuscoat

Collectivity's talk: "Innovation is important for renewing our projects"

Posted in: Testimonies

2025-10-24

Testimony of Anne Seznec, head of plant purchases for the city of Biarritz

From selection to fame

Posted in: Fondamentaux

2025-10-16

Once a variety has been selected and protected, a second phase begins in its development. How is it disseminated,...

Why and how is a new variety protected?

Posted in: Fondamentaux

2025-10-09

When you create a new variety, protecting it is a very important step, allowing you to have rights over your...

Breeder's talk: "Protecting our varieties and co-constructing a distribution strategy"

Posted in: Testimonies

2025-10-02

Testimony of Claire Alix Barrault, director of Barrault Horticulture

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Featured posts

Breeders' talk: "Sapho allows us to concentrate on our passion"

Posted in: Testimonies

2025-11-20

Testimony of Alexis and Liliane Le Duigou, passionate amateur gardeners - Les Jardins de Treuscoat

Collectivity's talk: "Innovation is important for renewing our projects"

Posted in: Testimonies

2025-10-24

Testimony of Anne Seznec, head of plant purchases for the city of Biarritz

From selection to fame

Posted in: Fondamentaux

2025-10-16

Once a variety has been selected and protected, a second phase begins in its development. How is it disseminated,...

Why and how is a new variety protected?

Posted in: Fondamentaux

2025-10-09

When you create a new variety, protecting it is a very important step, allowing you to have rights over your...

Breeder's talk: "Protecting our varieties and co-constructing a distribution strategy"

Posted in: Testimonies

2025-10-02

Testimony of Claire Alix Barrault, director of Barrault Horticulture

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The origin of a new variety

The creation of a new variety begins with the selection of a first original plant. Resulting from sowing or mutation, the fruit of chance or long research, this plant possesses original characteristics that provide a remarkable new attraction, a new use, etc.

The breeder is to the plant,
what the author is to the book,
the creator of the original!

A breeder is the person or organisation that creates a new variety.
At Sapho, we work directly with over fifty different breeders and distribute varieties from over a hundred other breeders in different countries.

Intuitively, plant breeding is associated with the idea of a research institute. It is true that INRAE was historically the first breeder and remains a partner of Sapho today. Universities and experimental stations are also part of the Sapho network.

But in reality, plant breeders have much more varied profiles. They all have one thing in common: they are always men and women, curious and observant, with a passion for plants! Some are passionate about a particular genus or group of plants: agapanthus, hydrangea... others are curious about a wide variety.

Nursery gardeners, horticulturists

As growers, they know plants and observe them on a daily basis. They are curious about diversity. Some of them often have their own specialities and develop collections outside their day-to-day work.

Private individuals, hobbyists

Some have gardens of just a few hundred square metres, others have outstanding listed gardens or botanical parks of several hectares.

Observation is the gardener's first quality,
and the breeder's too!
Another is patience and perseverance.

By observation: amateur sowing, natural mutation

Many amateur enthusiasts enjoy collecting seeds and sowing them, or observing natural seedlings in their park or garden. Among the diversity of young plants, we sometimes find ‘little pearls’. For example, BLUE INFINITY® “Panaga” agapanthus, with its extraordinary balls of flowers, comes from a Nelly Panaget seedling. Cornus x “Soleil Rouge”, spectacular for the size, abundance and changing colour of its flowers, was spotted by Alexis and Liliane Le Duigou in their gardens at Treuscoat.

The discovery may also be the result of a chance natural mutation, i.e. a genetic change that occurs occasionally, accidentally. In some cases, this mutation brings added value: variegated or golden foliage, flower shape, colour, shape, plant habit. A mutation of the “Aureomarginata” variety, Daphne odora “Rogalski” has a more compact, branched form that makes it particularly suited to small gardens.

Aperçu rapide

Agapanthus BLUE INFINITY® 'PANAGA'

Aperçu rapide

Cornus x 'Soleil Rouge'

Aperçu rapide

Daphne odora 'Rogalski'

As a breeder, with one objective in mind

Other varietal innovations come from selection programmes built around clearly defined objectives: resistance to a disease, range diversification, etc. These programmes sometimes take decades to produce selections that meet the desired criteria. This is the case with elm varieties resistant to Dutch elm disease, the result of more than 30 years of INRA research and experimentation.

And some surprises!

Serendipity is the act of making a chance discovery while researching another object. This sometimes happens in plants. For example, as part of an INRA research programme to produce upright Forsythia for small gardens, a Forsythia with a very low growth habit and natural marcotting appeared in the selection batches. The result is Forsythia Marée d'Or® “Courtasol”, the first ground-covering Forsythia!

Aperçu rapide

Forsythia MARÉE D'OR® 'Courtasol'

Posted in: Fondamentaux

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Featured posts

The origin of a new variety

The breeder is to the plant,what the author is to the book,the creator of the original!

Nursery gardeners, horticulturists

Private individuals, hobbyists

Observation is the gardener's first quality,and the breeder's too! Another is patience and perseverance.

By observation: amateur sowing, natural mutation

Agapanthus BLUE INFINITY® 'PANAGA'

Cornus x 'Soleil Rouge'

Daphne odora 'Rogalski'

As a breeder, with one objective in mind

And some surprises!

Forsythia MARÉE D'OR® 'Courtasol'

Related posts

The breeder is to the plant,
what the author is to the book,
the creator of the original!

Observation is the gardener's first quality,
and the breeder's too!
Another is patience and perseverance.