Division 4.6 Link:

This application for recognition of the ‘Gentse azalea’ is based on the reputation of the product. However, the characteristic cultivation of the ‘Gentse azalea’ came about through a combination of historical, natural and human factors.

Over the past 2 centuries, the Ghent region became the hub of azalea cultivation and trade in Western Europe. Research in this area, the dissemination of information and the supply sector are also concentrated in the region.

The development of azalea cultivation in the geographical area in question was due not only to historical circumstances but also to natural factors. The region around Ghent has a temperate maritime climate that is well suited to azalea growing. Azaleas also need permeable soil. They were primarily grown in a substrate of pine-needle and leaf litter, which was available in the region.

The Ghent master gardener Judocus Huytens first brought azaleas to the region from England in 1774, but Azalea indica was actually brought over from England in 1808 by Captain Welbanck. A key factor in the success of the azalea was the founding of the Gent Agricultural and Botanical Society in 1808.

The reputation of the ‘Gentse azalea’ is shown by the following:

• the first azalea was exhibited by Baron Du Bois de Vroeylande at an exhibition held on 6 February 1819. A big flower show, judged by an international jury, has been held every 5 years since 1839. It is still going today and enjoys worldwide fame as the ‘Gentse Floraliën’,

• Louis Van Houtte was a pioneer of ‘Gentse azalea’ growing, as he perfected the growing technique and his work in the field of selection and breeding resulted in various new shapes and colours being developed. His first catalogue was published in 1839 and already included 97 varieties of Azalea indica,

• on 17 May 1869, the ‘Gentse azalea’ was exhibited at the St Petersburg Flower Show in Russia,

• Azalea cultivation became so important for the region around Ghent that a periodical dedicated exclusively to azaleas, entitled Iconographie des azalées de l’Inde (Iconography of Indian azaleas), was launched in 1881,

• in 1893, Georges Truffaut wrote in his Étude sur la culture et la végétation de l’Azalea Indica (Study on the cultivation and vegetation of Azalea indica): ‘The most important centres of azalea cultivation are to be found in Belgium, particularly in the region around the town of Ghent’,

• in 1938, a postage stamp bearing an azalea was issued in Ghent on the occasion of a 3-day azalea exhibition that ran from 17 to 19 December,

• various publications testify to the fact that growers strove to achieve the greatest possible variety of colours and shapes for pot plants. In the Landbouwtijdschrift (Journal of Agriculture) published in October 1954, F. Peeters wrote: ‘Azalea cultivation, for which Ghent is famous, is practised by numerous horticulturalists. They grow a large number of varieties, which differ in terms of colour and shape…’.