This winged statement comes from one of our loyal Tulip bulb suppliers from Grootebroek in West Friesland.

When the Corona crisis broke out, I often thought of his words. From one day to the next, the future changed completely. The lively trade at the flower auctions suddenly came to a complete standstill in March. Horrible images were seen of millions of lovingly grown flowers that were ground into compost unsold at the flower auction.

Flower bulb growers are always directly or indirectly connected to the flower auction. Many growers of tulip bulbs produce tulip flowers during the winter months that are sold via the flower auction. Growers of daffodils or hyacinths also grow many bulbs that are used on their own company, or by others, to be sold in pots or as cut flowers during the winter months.

The future looked far from bright, millions and millions of flower bulbs were still waiting in the cold stores to grow into flowers for the flower trade in the months of March, April and May. How was that ever going to work out.

But once again things turned out differently than we all thought.

The Corona crisis changed the lifestyle of everyone, everyone was housebound and had to try to make the best of it. It soon became apparent that people started buying flowers more often. Flower traders flocked to the flower auctions again to meet the demand. The export of flowers abroad was still at a standstill, but on the other hand, no foreign flowers were imported to sell at the Dutch flower auctions. After a few weeks, there was a reasonable balance between supply and demand, which meant that the bulb flower growers could still earn a few cents.

It won't be a good year, but as things stand now, it won't be nearly as bad as we initially thought.

But the most surprising was the sale of flower bulbs for the garden . Due to being confined to the house, many people have rediscovered the garden. With us, but also with fellow internet sellers, sales have received an enormous boost. At the end of spring, all the containers with Dahlias, Lilies, and other summer bloomers were as good as empty, everything had been sold.

That makes us very happy because the garden is good from all sides. Especially for Mother Nature, no person in the world likes flowers and greenery as much as Mother Nature.

But gardening is also a healthy, almost therapeutic activity for humans. The body keeps moving and stress is reduced. Nothing is as healthy as putting your fingers in the earth, it makes you a well-grounded person. Just as the electrical time in a house must be grounded to let any excess voltage flow away, the human body must also release the tension from time to time, which can be done by putting your fingers in the earth.

I sincerely hope that this increased interest in the garden is not a temporary hype. It would be nice if it were to become a long-term trend because there is so much beauty to enjoy in the garden.

I would like to invite you to take a look at our Fluwel webshop. You can already order the spring flowering bulbs now, there is still a huge selection of flower bulbs. Of course you can also order flower bulbs from us later in time or in the fall, but keep in mind that our assortment can be considerably smaller then. Due to the increased demand, I expect that the first varieties will quickly sell out, and of course those are the most beautiful ones.

Kind regards,

Carlos van der Veek