Ruud Warmerdam
Country:
Netherlands
Short biography:
I am Ruud Warmerdam (48) and people around me call me a peony. Being a 4th generation (peony) grower in our family, I got familiar and crazy about peonies at a very young age. Peonies have become my passion, my hobby, my work and largely define who I am today. We produce peony cut flowers and peony root stock and offer a very wide collection with the newest and rarest, and everything in between.
Next year we will be moving back to our home town Roelofarendsveen, with the nursery only 5 minutes away in Weteringbrug (only 15 minutes south of Amsterdam Schiphol Airport).
I am not married but have already been together with Anika for over 25 years. We have two children, Luke (17) and Nikita (14).
More information:
Peony hybridizers series
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- Ruud Warmerdam
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- Ruud Warmerdam
How did you first get involved in peony hybridizing?
Playing with seeds since the nineties. Triggered by curiosity and of course I gained knowledge through trial and error, by talking and writing with like-minded peonists and by reading books and doing internet research.
What was the starting material for your hybridizing?
I have a big playground with over 1,500 different peony varieties. Coming from everywhere and including both species peonies and other types of peonies.
What are your goals in hybridizing peonies?
Main focus is on herbaceous hybrid peonies. This group seems to fascinate me most for future improvements, so much diversity.
Do you mostly depend on open pollination or do you mostly make controlled crosses?
| 100% open | 50/50 | 100% controlled |
How large is your hybridizing program?
Not large. It’s more play than work. I have a large issue with being short on time during the flowering season. Cut flowers and the blooming propagation fields are getting priority and since I do lots myself (far too much), there is not much opportunity for controlled crosses. However, with the huge diversity and the many peonies from friendly peony growers and breeders the bees and the wind give me plenty of interesting seeds to play with.
Do you have any plants in the market?
Yes, we propagate and market our own seedlings through our website. Only a few available at this moment. Perhaps more to follow soon.
Do you know the American Peony Society (APS)? Are your plants registered there?
Of course. I have been an APS-member for about 30 years. My plants are registered there.
Can you describe a few of your plants that you consider the best or most beautiful and which are available now?
Lavender Baby, Nikita, Crixus. Have a look at our website or the APS registry for more information.
Lavender Baby (Warmerdam, 2013)
Within your current seedlings, what are the most promising ones?
Just naming a few of my current “favourites”:
RW-1911 (super handsome form, good colour, good stand)
RW-2111 (tall white double with very good form, clean foliage, good stand, vigorous)
RW-2301 (perfect form, champagne/blend, great presentation, very vigorous)
RW-2316 (semi-double of perfect form, intriguing colour composition, really nice bush and foliage)
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- RW-1911
RW-1911: super handsome form, good colour, good stand
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- RW-2316
RW-2316: semi-double of perfect form, intriguing colour composition, really nice bush and foliage
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- RW-2111
RW-2111: tall white double with very good form, clean foliage, good stand, vigorous
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- RW-2301
RW-2301: perfect form, champagne/blend, great presentation, very vigorous
Are you in contact or working together with other peony hybridizers?
Peonies are my thing and talking or writing about my favourite plants is the next best thing. I am in contact a lot with many peony enthusiasts, growers and hybridizers and am always eager to learn more as well as sharing the passion for peonies.
Do you have unregistered plants that are not good enough to introduce but have something ‘special’?
Yes there are these seedlings also. Such plants have something that I look for (good stand, clean foliage, great flower form, special colour etc.), but also have one or more flaws that don’t make the cut because of them. This can be an undesirable trait like splaying, but also the foliage that is not to my liking, or the flower colour being great but the form not so much and so on. In other words, such “hybridizers plants” just don’t posess what I would consider a satisfying balance.
I am only trying to select the very best for propagation and future introduction. In my opinion, a good hybridizer displays his or her skills by being very selective and his or her own strongest critic.
Would you like to exchange such ‘hybridizers plants’ with other hybridizers?
If the other hybridizer is like-minded, most definitely. Sharing is growing and for me growing is sharing also.
Name a few peony varieties from other hybridizers which you especially like?
I like so many… There is a refined and wonderful balance in the older Murawska lactifloras, I like the Lins’ peonies as well as many from Bigger. From nowadays work, I think Nate Bremer has created some very fine peonies and I very much like the special signature that can be found in the peonies from Harald Fawkner. The Gießler family has a keen eye for pretty peonies and Hans Maschke is a magician with some very creative and well thought-out seedlings. And these good people are certainly not all, so please forgive me for not continuing endlessly here. Too difficult also to pick only a few peony names so I will restrain myself from this and let everyone decide for themselves.
Final question. Any remarks or suggestions you may have…
It’s simply amazing Koen, all the time and effort you put in this wonderful website project and I applaud you for it. You must have found the key to put more than 24 hours in one day! You truly understand that sharing is growing, and growing is sharing. Really, you do an outstanding job and please keep up your generous work.
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