The secret star at Benary's booth was the experimental F1 pansy 'Cats® Orange'. The popularity of the exceptional 'Cats'® series is skyrocketing even in France, supported by posters, labels and a dedicated website. All four of the current 'Cats'® colors were also on display at two other booths at the show. "More and more producers, wholesalers and retailers are seeing the same great potential that we,"says Benary's CEO Christian Börries, referring to the official new introduction of the fifth 'Cats'® color in 2006.

Along with pansies, annualized perennials were the second big topic at the show. Like their German colleagues, French growers are looking for alternative items for the early sales season (before the B&B season). This gap can be closed by new FastraX perennials that are fast to finish while producing an attractive plant quality that is suited for containers, such as the Lychnis 'Lumina' trio or Scabiosa 'Ritz Blue'. The new Silene 'Celina' and Geum 'Cooky' proved to be ideal for complimenting the regular spring varieties for the French market. Early flowering, compact habit and a long shelf-life combine to provide optimum marketing conditions for collateral sales with bellis, myosotis and pansies.

France offers Benary a huge potential in public landscaping. Landscape varieties such as the fibrous begonia 'Lotto'®, Primula 'Crescendo'® or the new Celosia 'Fresh Look Orange' and Salvia 'Evolution' were in very high demand among landscapers visiting the show. Another favorite widely used in large numbers in public green spaces is gaillardia 'Arizona Sun', a low-maintenance nonstop bloomer Benary introduced last year.