Overdose

Yes, I'm still happily cuddling in my greenhouse (what a hard life I have 😊 ) and am now taking pictures of the last Amaryllises that are coming into bloom. The Amaryllis flowers that I am photographing now are usually new varieties that we received as a trial from the Amaryllis growers. That's why they were usually put in the greenhouse a bit later, and are only now emerging. But... there are still a few varieties that I neatly crammed into a pot in mid-November and that have taken two months to reveal their beauty. Picotee is an example of this. Just like with Tulips and Daffodils, there are also Amaryllis varieties that are fast and bloom early and can easily be brought into bloom around Christmas, and there are slower growing varieties that take a bit longer. I should also mention that I have enjoyed the Amaryllises immensely, even now after almost two months of flowering. They have done exceptionally well this year.

I can hear you thinking: that's easy to shit about a straw, of course the baker likes his own bread. But people who know me better know that we don't brag that our bulbs are better than fine, and of course there are also huge misfires in my greenhouse. Here are a few examples of Amaryllises this year that do not deserve the 'Velvet Quality' quality mark by a long shot. So also Mandela this year, one of my favorites, when I planted her the bulb was as healthy as a fish, the bulb looked spick and span, but fate struck. Suddenly she had had enough and now she is as rotten as a fish.

I must say that I am always happy when such a failed Amaryllis ends up in my greenhouse: that means that it did not end up in the shopping cart of one of our dear customers. Imagine buying a beautiful Amaryllis bulb at Fluwel, giving it to your mother-in-law with your sweetest smile and then that piece of junk doesn't work. Just give me a cactus right away, your mother-in-law will think, then at least I know what time it is.

No, seriously, it is important for us to know how our bulbs are doing, after all they are our ambassadors. The bulbs we send advertise for us, tell our story and make people happy. If every now and then there is such a troublemaker among them who refuses to promote our quality and does not advertise us well, we want to replace her immediately. Amaryllis Rebecca

I have asked you this before, but I will ask you again. If you have such a bad Amaryllis bulb that makes a mess of it, and looks like my bad bulbs, please let me know. Most people, including myself, tend to blame themselves, but if you do, I would kindly ask you to change that. Yes, if we see from the photo you sent that you have indeed made a mess of it yourself, and that it is indeed your fault, we will also tell you that without batting an eyelid - that is also good for you, you learn from that, and we will then explain exactly what went wrong and what you can do differently next time, but even then we often, if possible, send the bulbs again, so that you can try again. It could still be that we did not provide enough information initially! So, let us know if something is wrong, both you and we learn from that. Amaryllis Flamingo Amadeus

What has helped us over the years to prevent problems is the annual planting of all the bulbs that we sell or are going to sell. We gain a lot of knowledge from that, and we prevent a lot of disappointments. We had dozens of new Amaryllises to try out in my greenhouse this year. Beautiful flowers, one more beautiful than the other. It is nice to see how Vlad enthusiastically hops around such a new variety. Isn't this beautiful Carlos? No, I say, look carefully, three bulbs planted and only this one looks nice. Not Fluwel quality, that won't go in.

We are writing far too seriously again, I also have to thank you for the fantastic response to our 'Special Amaryllis' collection that went live last week. I had expected some enthusiasm but this…? I think some of you slept in front of the door to be the first to enter our store, because when I looked in our webshop an hour after the opening, 5 were already sold out. How nice to see so many positive reactions, that does us good 😊 . (Although, sometimes I also question your financial choices—with a big smile, of course.)

Oh yes, the deal of the pleasure bulbs is still in effect. For those who missed it in last week's news blog (shame on you), the deal is that with every Amaryllis bulb you order from us, we will add 1 Amaryllis bulb of a different type to please you.

Hey that's funny, I was filling my greenhouse with Daffodils and was planning to tell you about it, and now I'm just babbling about Amaryllis again. I haven't completely kicked the Amaryllis overdose yet. Next week Daffodils, no I'll show you one now, a very sweet Daffodil. Narcissus Punk, isn't it fun?

Now I feel like stopping, I'm going to pick a bunch of snowdrops. Pick snowdrops? Sure, why not, Really pretty in a small vase, for the photo of grandpa or something. I'm going to do that, just take a look at our Amaryllises because it's still winter and... the Amaryllis provides atmosphere and color, in the interior.

Kind regards,

Carlos van der Veek Galanthus Grumpy, unfortunately not available but still nice 😊