The University of Hawaii's anthurium breeding program established a partnership with floral design professionals, transitioning from informal collaboration in 2016 to a formalized Professional Advisory Team (PAT) in 2021. This collaboration integrates established phenotypic selection practices with artistic design expertise to enhance new variety development. The PAT, comprising influential floral designers and growers, provides essential feedback on spathe and spadix color, conformation, and size at the early flowering stage, directly influencing breeding decisions, such as advancement to cloning and field evaluation, thereby ensuring market relevance. By incorporating designer insights from the seedling stage through advanced testing, the program prioritizes selection based on perceived market demands. Grower feedback during field testing focuses on plant vigor, pest and disease resistance, ease of shipping and customer acceptance. The breeding program released three new cultivars developed with the model, at national floral design events, including the AIFD symposium and Fresh Floral Expo; social media and trade publications covered the varietal release events. Integrating grower feedback, a long-standing practice, with the new design-focused evaluations strengthens the breeding program’s ability to produce new varieties which meet the needs of growers, designers, and consumers.
