About Franko Roses

Franko Roses New Zealand Limited is a company dedicated to creating and marketing new varieties of roses in all their various forms all over the world.

History
Frank and Ko (Franko) Schuurman emigrated from Holland to New Zealand in 1963 to build a future in horticulture for their family. Our company started life almost 40 yrs ago as Sunbeam Nurseries Ltd, specialising in the production of field grown roses, and later into the production of many other types of cutflowers in 1.5 ha of glasshouses.

In 1984 Sunbeam was sold and a new life began. Once again specialising in roses but especially in the breeding and development of new varieties Franko Roses soon began to develop new varieties of roses. With contacts in the rose industry the world over, new varieties were sent for further testing and evaluation by other rose growers and breeders. After many years of testing and trialing Franko Roses now have their varieties growing commercially in every continent on the globe.

The story does not end here, like all businesses we must continue to learn and grow. To gather information from all sources and continually evaluate our direction. The rose industry is a demanding one with more than 200 new varieties offered each year world wide. The single hardest decision for rose growers to decide, is what to grow. This is where the breeder must develop trust in a partnership with the grower to provide accurate information in assisting the grower in that decision.

New Zealand's Only Rose Breeder
Franko Roses is unique in the New Zealand market as the only breeder of roses, we have the experience both locally and international, this gives us the vision to see what is happening with roses the world over. We have recently completed development of a state of the art testing facility which will further enable us to provide local experience and information relevant to the New Zealand market for each of the varieties we offer.

Our Test Program
Small quantities of the newest varieties will be test marketed through United Flower Auctions. In this way we hope to gather more information from the retailers as to the local trends and requirements. All in an effort to assist local growers in making the very difficult decision on what to plant next, that little bit easier.

Franko Roses is always open to visitors (by appointment) from any part of the flower industry. We look forward to being of continued help to all rose growers new or old.