The Bulb Trade

To govern is to foresee. This is also the case in the bulb trade in broad terms. The Amaryllis growers have been chasing me now, actually since the beginning of January, to pass on our Amaryllis wish list for next year. This is also somewhat understandable, because if you want to offer the newer varieties that are only available in limited quantities, as we do in the Fluwel webshop, you have to be there on time and not let the bird jump over the string.

Stephan is also busy planning the Dahlias for next year. That is also an interesting story, cutting and growing Dahlias, I will talk about that another time. First the Amaryllis.

This week we had another day in Westland to visit our Amaryllis friends. Always nice and cozy, they are just like bulb farmers with the small difference that they are not bothered by the wind and rain in the greenhouses. Furthermore, they are exactly the same as the growers who grow Tulips and Daffodils or Dahlias. Enthusiastically telling about new varieties and grumbling when something doesn't work.

Although I have to say that there was little grumbling, the Amaryllis has remained very popular even after the corona, when it suddenly became extremely popular because people started to make it cozy in and around the house. It has increasingly become a valued reliable flower bulb for the living room and the Amaryllis growers earn a good slice of bread from it.

Fortunately, because in previous years there was some grumbling every now and then. Often that grumbling is not entirely justified and it is just grumbling for the sake of grumbling, but last year the grumbling about the price of gas was very justified. One of the Amaryllis growers told me this week. He himself does not use that much gas, is largely self-sufficient with solar panels and large heat tanks, but every now and then he also needs gas to make adjustments. He did not have a contract with a price agreement and was used to paying between 15 and 20 cents for a cubic meter of gas for years. But during the energy crisis there were days when the price of a cubic meter of gas rose to almost 2 euros for a cubic meter in the most extreme cases. I will put it into perspective; you are used to paying around 1.5 euros for a liter of petrol. Fine, c'est la vie. 70 euros, tank full, we can go another 1000 kilometers. And then suddenly, not one and a half Euros but 15 Euros for a liter. Not 70 Euros in the tank but 700 Euros. That's what some greenhouse growers experienced, that hurts, that's a reason to grumble. Fortunately, the craziness has stopped here and it was just nice with those guys again.

It was also nice to see the first Daffodils in full bloom along the road in 's Gravenzande. Perhaps you have already spotted it and are wondering which Daffodil it is that always blooms so extremely early, at the same time as the Snowdrops. Nine times out of ten it is the Rijnveld's Early Sensation. Unfortunately, a Daffodil that is not or hardly grown in the Netherlands because it goes completely to hell here every few years due to a heavy frost period in February or March. In Cornwall, on the other hand, it is grown on a huge scale to pick flowers from the beginning of January. In the south of England it does not or hardly ever freeze and the Rijnveld's Early Sensation is very happy there.

It is nice to see how the Narcissus is grown on a large scale in the United Kingdom to pick flowers while the Dutch growers are busy selling the bulb. The English do not dig up their Narcissi every year either, they often leave them in the ground for three years to pick flowers and when they are too thick they consider digging them up again to replant. But when they are above ground the excess bulbs often end up in the sheds of the Dutch flower bulb traders and so they end up in mixtures that are planted in the roadside verges. And if it does not freeze then we can enjoy them in the middle of winter, isn't that wonderful.

Nice huh, I thought I was going to write a news blog about the Amaryllis, see a Daffodil bloom, and I completely digress with my story. It can't be my fault.

Back to the Amaryllis, next week is the last week that they are available in our web shop. Last year I told you that if you planted a beautiful red Amaryllis in early January, it would be in full bloom on Valentine's Day. Brilliant idea of ​​course and guess what; no extra bulb sold. Who knows, it might go better if I advise you to give an Amaryllis bulb as a Valentine's surprise. It probably won't draw full houses either, but hey;

What is Valentine's Day?

If there are Amaryllis bulbs.

We don't have that many Amaryllis bulbs anymore. And we want to pot a few more to sell in the Land van Fluwel shop later. Don't feel obliged, but it is and will remain an enormously happy flowering plant in the living room with all that sober winter weather.

What else can I tell you about the Amaryllis? Oh yes, I walked around the Daffodils this week to see if all that rain from last autumn had done any damage. I was really worried about it, there has been water in the paths so many times after a heavy shower, I was really worried whether there would be any drowned spots. Fortunately, I didn't see a single suffocated bulb, everything I dug up looked fresh with a nice wig of roots on it.

Those Daffodils again, how is that possible? Maybe because the first ones are already blooming in my greenhouse. Every year I plant a pot of almost all the species I grow to bring into bloom in my greenhouse.

Camborne is the first this year to show its cheerful flowers. Perhaps nice to know, it will soon be available in our web shop. Under 'Fluwel special Narcissus' you can see the entire assortment of our nursery. Now that I am quite certain that they have come through the wet autumn well, I will soon, hopefully next week' put them on-line. Always nice of course to browse through what is available. Almost 500 varieties so there is plenty to browse through.

Kind regards

Carlos van der Veek