CAFÉ AU LAIT

B-ID-PK 2104

Form: Informal Decorative   

Size: Medium 6-8" 

Color: Pink

Hybridizer: Bruidegom

Introduction Year: 1968

January 29, 2023 Misfit Monday post: Today's Misfit Monday is the classic CAFE AU LAIT! At 1st I wasn't really sure what all the hype was about but the color and grace of this medium sized, pink, informal decorative has won me over! Purely mesmerizing! Definitely worth growing again for sure and explains why she is still around after over 50 years. A florist's dream flower! As for her history I was very surprised! ADS has CAFE AU LAIT classified as a 1968 introduction from Bruidegom (Holland). If you look up other cultivars from Bruidegom through the ADS you come up with 345 other varieties!! Ranging from 1911 to 1978 that's over 65 years! Not too many of the names I recognized but it was cool to see that Preference from 1911 was also listed as Bruidegom. So who was Bruidegom? 1st I discovered Fa. D. Bruidegom in an old ADS Bulletin which later I learned stands for Firma D. Bruidegom which in Dutch means D. Bruidegom Firm, the name of Daniel Bruidegoms Dahlia Garden. However Daniel died in 1933 so he couldn't have been the hybridizer of CAFE AU LAIT. More investigation and I found that his son Willem Bruidegom took over the family business. He died in 1971 and could have hybridized this beauty but upon further searching I found many sourcing Dirk Eveleens Maarse as the hybridizer of CAFE AU LAIT. And then alas, I found the last puzzle piece! Dirk Maarse was married to Maria Bruidegom! Daughter of Willem, who passed the business onto his son in law! So this explains how Bruidegom hybridized 345 cultivars over such a long period of time. 3 generations of hybridizers all rolled into one gorgeous bloom!