I know for sure now

At the time of writing I am about halfway through my annual tour of England. A big tour, mind you: Sunderland, Harrogate, Manchester, Bristol, Cornwall, Wales, Ireland and Northern Ireland – and then home via London. It is a fantastic tour, in which I visit dozens of friends, each of whom I have met thanks to the Daffodil. They are, as we often call them, Daffodil Friends. They are all crazy about gardening and we share the same favourite flower. We can talk about it for hours, in fact, when we do we lose track of time. Seriously, after one day in the UK I was already behind schedule, because the conversation was not yet finished. Frankie was only halfway through his story, things always turn out differently than you think. Frankie Charlton Admires Chrysanthemums

That doesn't matter, because I never agree on a specific day and time. I've learned that by now. I call my friends when I'm in the area and ask if it's convenient. If they're not there, I wait or drop by on the way back. I only reserve the boat for the outward journey, I'll see about the return journey when I'm ready.

That way I never really have to rush, which is nice, because I don't like that. It has never happened to me that the boat was too full to get on or that I wasn't allowed on, there is always a spot left. And if I am not allowed on one day, then I don't mind eating Fish & Chips for an extra day. Another boat tomorrow! "A Gardener" in the Lost Gardens of Heligan

Rushing on such a long trip is not nice, but even with short trips I always try to avoid it. There is always either a traffic jam or no traffic jam, and you don't really have any influence on that. The traffic light is red, the traffic light is green... You know what I mean. But if you occasionally spend a long time in the car, you do have time to think properly (Karelen?). This time I realized that all the people I have been visiting for years during this year's trip were all born a lot earlier than I am with my modest 60 years. Actually, I wouldn't even know how much earlier - most of them more than ten years, I think. About half of them are at least 20 years older than me, and I even have a Daffodil friend who is a good 30 years ahead of me.

It was Ken Haropp, grower of the most beautiful Chrysanthemums and even more beautiful Daffodils, who opened my eyes. I always thought I knew it, but after visiting Ken this year I suddenly knew for sure: gardening is healthy. Ken took me to the allotment complex where he has a garden to introduce me to a good friend of his. He also had Chrysanthemums, very beautiful large ones. To make Chrysanthemums grow like this, you have to start cutting and picking the best mother plants at least 9 months in advance, and pay close attention to which ones you choose. This good man now has beautiful flowers, but all he did was talk about next year. What would you do, Ken? Do you think this one is good enough? What kind of potting soil are you going to use? Of course I saw that Ken's friend was older than me, but when Ken told me that he, like Ken himself, was a good 20 years older, he added: "Yes, the flowers keep us going!" And then I knew for sure. Gardening is healthy! If I can share this knowledge, which has now really been confirmed, with you, we can all still confidently make plans for next year when the 90 is approaching. Because in addition to physical health, gardening is of course also good for relaxing. Every ailment can look a lot better if you have sat in the garden for half an hour. When I have seen all those old people here for a year, I do not see an ounce of stress in any of them. They get out of bed with ease, because the plants need to be cared for. Every day, sitting in the fresh air for an hour or so, cutting and tinkering, weeding and pruning, watering, digging, and all that sort of thing. They do not need the daily 7-Minute-Workout, they get enough exercise without having to do anything.

All my Daffodil friends have been telling me this for years, but now it was finally confirmed and the penny dropped in my head. I have seen it with my own eyes: gardening is healthy.

And if you’re lucky… in the Fluwel webshop you can also buy bulbs yourself… for gardening!

Kind regards,

Carlos

ps Friday we opened the Amaryllis season, be sure to check out our range, the largest we have offered so far