There are show horses and there are work horses

Narcissus Pacific Rim

This old saying is mostly used in the human world but my father often said it about the Daffodils . Especially about the Daffodils that became famous by winning prizes at the English flower shows. Beautiful Daffodils down to the last detail and refined to perfection; Perfect symmetrical perianths with trumpets on them that are straighter than a stovepipe.

Begonia Lace Picotee Apricot

But wait a minute, I am making the same mistake that many green journalists and garden magazines are guilty of so often: writing about something that is not available. When it is time to plant Dahlias they write about Daffodils and when it is time to plant Daffodils they write about Dahlias .

Dahlia Creme de Cassis

I also understand that the reader likes to read about something that he also sees in his garden or in the garden of the neighbours, but then at least write as a journalist at the end of your piece, if you write about Daffodils , that if the dear reader buys Dahlias now, he will later, in the autumn when he digs those same Dahlias out of the ground, beautiful Daffodil bulbs can be put in the Dahlia hole around which, around mid-May when the Daffodils have finished blooming, those same Dahlias, neatly stored in the shed, can be planted again, but no, already mentioned so often in green magazines, it is not often listened to; the only thing that can be put in a hole is the 'critical' comment. (short sentences, that is important in a well-running newsletter)

Eucomis Indian Summer

And lo and behold, now I almost did it myself writing about Daffodils while there are still such beautiful bulbs in our shed that can now be planted. Next week is Easter, then I will write about the world's most beautiful flower; the Easter flower, the Daffodil.

Dahlia Tropical

Now about the Dahlia and the Begonia.

Recently I asked myself, while I was driving in the car on the N9 towards Den Helder and saw the Daffodils blooming along the canal that have been there my whole life: how old can a Dahlia or a Begonia get. I thought I would ask my readers that. Neighbor Nijboer, the good man from whom we were allowed to buy the farm to realize our Land van Fluwel activity and experience park, once showed me Dahlias and he asked me what kind they were. I had no idea, he had no idea, and he also could not tell me where they came from. He had had these Dahlias for more than twenty years, no longer, because when so and so got married we still picked flowers from them and their children are now well into their twenties, he told me. The neighbor had not had the Begonias for very long, at most ten years.

Nerine Vesta

So now I wondered, while driving past those beautifully wild Daffodils , how many of you dear readers also have such old geezers in your garden. I myself am, only when it comes to bulbs, of course very spoiled, I whistle the Dahlias with a graceful arch on the porrie hoop every year so that I can try new varieties again next year. Strangely enough I don't do that with my Begonia tubers, I keep them, I wouldn't know why.

But how many of you have really old Dahlia , Begonia or other summer flowering bulbs that you neatly store indoors all year round to enjoy them again next year. I would love to hear from you, just interesting to know.

But the sun is shining again, I'm going outside again.
See you next week

Kind regards,

Carlos van der Veek