Orange fire in Israel

Sunny-Me Seeds, a small Israeli seed company started by Avi Meromi, specialises in the development and production of varieties of ornamental sunflower. 

- Gerry Kelman

Sunny-Me Seeds, a small Israeli seed company, was established in 2010 by Avi Meromi, a qualified agronomist from Meishar in central Israel, who today devotes his time to research and development activities as well as hands-on management of the company.

For the past 25 years, Meromi (now aged 60) has been researching, growing and selling sunflower seeds in Israel and worldwide. He has developed a series of ornamental varieties under the brand name of Fire, of which the leading variety is Orange Fire, with a registered patent and now the most popular ornamental sunflower variety in Israel.

The series has a broad range of colours, from yellow to orange, with less common shades of red-and-brown, or brown-and-yellow centres. Each sunflower is full of dense petals, almost without a core and stamens. “Orange Fire was registered at the flower public auction at Flora Holland in Aalsmeer, Netherlands, and the trade with this variety is increasing yearly,” Meromi said. Other popular ornamental sunflowers are all year-round varieties that can be grown even in short-day conditions and at low temperatures, as well as spring/summer varieties, which are similar to the classic sunflower varieties with a yellow core, varieties with a full flower, varieties with colours, and more.

Meromi has a master’s degree in agricultural sciences and is a breeder with extensive experience in growing flowers, field crops and vegetables. “We develop, produce and market seeds of all the ornamental sunflower segments,” he explains.

“In addition, we co-operate with seed companies and their distributors, often granting them exclusive rights to selected varieties.”