History - Morel is celebrating its 100th anniversary

The MOREL DIFFUSION company

Thanks to active research and transmission of its genetic heritage and expertise, Morel has been able to develop both standard F1 hybrids and remarkable innovations.

Almost 300 (catalogue + non-catalogue) varieties are sold each year including Victoria and Fantasia®, and more recently Indiaka® and Metalis®, and have made a name for Morel in 70 countries.

THE CYCLAMEN’S STORY - Rooted in the family SINCE 1919…

In 1919, Pierre Morel owned a nursery in Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne where he grew cyclamen, primroses and vegetable seedlings. At the time, cyclamen needed 18 months to grow from a seed to a flowering plant! Today, thanks to improved varieties and growing techniques, this period has been reduced to 6 - 8 months. In the 1930s, Pierre Morel’s nursery won awards at flower shows in Lyon, and his son Charles became fascinated with improving colours. This attention to detail, and the importance and intensity of colour, is still a distinctive trait of the Morel breeding today.

When he set up his own company in Golfe-Juan, Charles Morel was already an internationally-recognised plant breeder in the 1960s. He sold the diploid type “with large flowers”, the tetraploid type “with giant flowers” and the type with “Colossal flowers”, whose reds became the most popular colours in the collection. This selection, created in the south of France, was unique for its resistance to heat, one of the characteristics specific to the Morel varieties that can still be found today.

In 1975, Charles Morel handed the company and all its genetic potential over to his sons. Six then four of them – Jean-Charles, Guy, Paul-Henri and Olivier – continued the adventure, each one drawing on their respective talents: finance, breeding, production and marketing. Thanks to their shared ambition and the hard work of their teams, the company has grown considerably and enjoys international renown.