No News is Good News

There is little happening in the Belkmerweg at the moment. Spring-blooming flower bulbs are comfortably tucked into their straw beds, and in the warehouses of Lily growers, seasonal workers are slowly heading back home. The biggest, and also most morbidly funny, news of the moment comes from our neighbour Ingrid, or, more specifically, her cat. No one knows exactly how old that cat is, but as he seemed to be slowing down a little over the past few weeks, he was taken to the vet anyway. The cat went into their little travel bag and ended up in the waiting room at the local veterinarian. When it was her cat’s turn at the vet, she opened its bag and what do you know… it passed away peacefully in its sleep, while being closely held by our neighbour on the way to the vet. Try explaining to the doctor that she definitely was alive when you left home… so that was the end of a beautiful, long cat life. Hopefully she won’t get a bill from them?

 Tulipa Honky Tonk 

Another fun story that I heard about from acquaintances is that a mother asked her daughter to call 911: Emergency emergency, her brother had fallen through a window. Her daughter answered “Oh no! I’ll do it right now, what’s their phone number?” …Don’t worry, all was well, but you can probably see that it did cause a little bit of panic at the moment. And she will probably never forget the emergency phone number again :) Something else that I am excited to tell you about is that, after many positive reviews over the past years, the women of Land van Fluwel have put together another magical, adventurous, and exciting Christmas story throughout our park. It has been set up as a treasure hunt towards the Stolen Presents, and the children will be greeted by none other than Santa Claus himself. Afterwards, visitors can stay for dinner and have a delicious and Christmassy pancake dinner. If you would like to come to the event, you can find more information at https://landvanfluwel.nl/winterland-van-fluwel/ On the 22nd of December, Santa had a scheduling issue, so you might just find that the woman in charge at our park will put me into the Santa suit. I know she will use force if I don’t say yes, so this is your chance to laugh at me if you would like to do that! Dahlia Jowey Winnie 

Another thing to tell you about: I am spending loads of time on my computer at the moment. Our web shop is keeping me very busy, and I keep seeing things I want to do and add next season. I am looking forward to showing you our beautiful collection of Dahlias and Lilies, the wait for the season is almost over. If you have varieties you have your eye on or that are high on your wishlist, I recommend going through that specific variety on the web shop and filling in your e-mail address. That way, you’ll be the first to know when a variety goes live. It may sound a bit pushy, and my dedicated readers already know that I don’t like to do that, but the truth is that some varieties are insanely popular and you can miss out on those easily. It’s impossible to predict which varieties will be the best sellers, so if you have a favourite, don’t hesitate to sign up for a notification.  Amaryllis trials in my greenhouse 

It’s a;so time to start my Fluwel Special Narcissus list. That is quite the task, I have a lot of varieties that need a year of rest and relaxation. I have sold many of those over the last few years, and there are also some new ones that need some time to grow. All those ones need text to accompany them, and I want to tell you something unique about every flower, so this does take me some time. I love talking about these new flowers, and writing about them to you is one of my favourite things to do, but I have to admit that when I’ve spent several days at my computer, I am looking forward to going outside. I need to trim out apple trees, and another motivation is that my belly can become very round if I am sitting around all the time. Good for my Santa performance obviously, but being outside has such a good influence on my mental and physical well-being that I kind of go crazy if I am inside for too long. Lilium Anouska 

So I take all the time I can to go outside anyway, and cut and hug my flowers and plants. Over the last week, I mostly planted Peonies and Daffodils. We always plant every single variety we offer next to our warehouse, so we can see for ourselves how they do and if we received the right bulbs. All bulbs look very similar, and mix-ups can happen, so we always like to be able to see for ourselves what we have received. This year, I want to add something extra to the trials: Finding out if plants that are said to come back for many years will actually do so. I have used another patch of land for this, next to our solar panels. This field is also on the Belkmerweg, so very close to home indeed. I’ve decided to plant Daffodils and Peonies side by side, I think that will look very cute and I would like to see if I am right.  It’s getting a little later in the year, but with the kinds of winters we’ve had lately, it is very much possible to plant spring-blooming bulbs this late in the year. I thought the Peonies looked exceptionally well this year, but we do have some varieties left over. I was a little bit over-excited when buying them, I always want to offer it all. People ask us if we do discounts when this happens, but my answer to this has always been, and will always be, no. It is our strategy to never do discounts, as we do not want to start out with a price that is higher than it needs to be–and that is what needs to happen if you want to offer discounts later down the line. I am a firm believer in honest and fair pricing, and that goal is achieved when everyone who buys something from us will pay the same price. I will never punish people for ordering early: then I would be giving the most enthusiastic customers, who want to order their favourites right away because they are real flower bulb fans, an extreme disadvantage, and I really do not like that idea at all.  But at the same time, I am having a hard time having this many beautiful Peonies left over. And as December is the month of gifts and holiday cheer, whether you are getting people Christmas presents or celebrating other holidays, I want to gift people a Peony for every item they order. If you order one thing, you get one, when you order two, you get two, you get the idea. This way, there is no minimum amount of money spent needed to get the Peony.  The Peonies I gift are my choice, it will be a surprise which one you get!  Today is also the very last day you can order the spring blooming flower bulbs. This should have been the main message of this newsletter, but you know me: I had almost forgotten to tell you. If you order today, I’ll make sure to ask the people in the warehouse to channel the holiday spirit and pack your order generously.

I’m going back to my greenhouse to hug my Amaryllises. I’ve missed them as I’m writing this. And now that we’re talking about those again: If you don’t have a Christmas present yet for that one person that is hard to buy for, I can really recommend giving them an Amaryllis bulb, maybe including the vase. They look good in every house, and people always love a flower–and if you take care of them, the recipient can enjoy it for weeks.

Kind regards,

Carlos van der Veek