TRUE. today

A week ago Gerco of Van der Deijl Roses called again: two more TRUE. boxes with flowers had arrived in Noordwijk. "Probably bad again and a waste of time and gas to pick them up," I thought, but agreed to collect them later that day.

It would be a nice opportunity to show my visiting Canadian friend Burke and his family what I was doing. After visiting my parents, Burke, his wife Irene and I found the boxes in the impressive cold rooms in the new Van der Deijl premises. Arriving home in time to entertain the next guests, Wilma and her husband Nico, I quickly unpacked the flowers and put them in water. They looked pretty good, but killer botrytis spores were present without doubt.

Burke kept on taking pictures, convinced that he was witness of the turnaround in Qualisa's quality struggle that would set me off to New York to prepare the florists for the TRUE. invasion. I was more reserved, ready for more disappointment. The next days, much to Burke's thrill, the flowers opened nicely, looking good. I emailed Walter to find out if this was a turnaround or just an exception.

Peter van der Deijl's reply came just after Burke had returned to Toronto. Qualisa had decided to stop the production of Da Vinci Rose. They were unable to produce the TRUE. quality needed. He still believed in the marketing concept and was willing to invest in it if I would change to using existing commercial varieties. We had had this discussion before and I had challenged him to send me flowers of varieties that could be guaranteed to open and last. He had sent some. They all failed.

Now, patience again. Wait for Excellence's TRUE. roses.