Snowstorm

Zantedeschia Snowstorm

If you are going to look at Amaryllises in Het Westland, a Dutch area close to The Hague, you might just run into Zantedeschia Snowstorm. It’s simply the best white Zantedeschia around, Kees van Velden told me. At Kees’s company, tens of thousands of pots of this Zantedeschia are stored. During the winter months, Kees and his brother process Amaryllises in their greenhouses, and during the summer they have Zantedeschias.

Zantedeschia Zazu

Another one of those good Zantedeschias: Zazu. Kees knew that we also sell this one in our webshop. When it comes to colour, number of flowers, and reliability, Zazu is one of the top performers. I am always happy to see that customers also gravitate towards this flower when choosing Zantedeschias for themselves. They are running low, so if you are still debating whether to purchase her for yourself, I encourage you to decide soon.

Dahlia Labyrinth Two Tone

The same goes for the Dahlias. Almost every day, I see varieties going out of stock. I am supposed to be very happy about that, and I am, but I do think it’s a shame that not more people will be able to still get them for themselves. It’s always around this time of year that the weather gets better, people go outside, and remind themselves of the fact that they still have to buy new flowers, and if you’re thinking of that only then, you’ll find that the true enthusiasts have beaten you to the shops to make sure the special stuff goes to them.

Dahlia La Luna

But, it’s absolutely normal to go looking for Dahlias no sooner than April, and we try our very best to have a stock large enough to make everyone happy, but the fact of the matter is that Dahlias are simply hot right now. They’re in fashion, they’re trendy, and garden lovers just know about that. The sales are going through the roof because if that, and it seems like you just can’t have enough of some popular varieties.

It doesn’t help that we need to order next year’s stock right now. That also means that what we have right now had to be ordered last year, when this trend wasn’t as clear as it is right now. This is because the growers need that year to actually plant the Dahlias in the greenhouses over the winter to get them to grow more baby Dahlia tubers, so that the demand for the following year can be met. It’s always a guessing game what the future is going to look like, and that is hard to predict.

During the warm period the Dahlias get in the greenhouses, new babies can be seen quickly. As soon as they have about two leaves, they’re broken off of the mother tuber and are transferred to sand so that they can grow their own roots. The mother tuber will think: Shit, haven’t had a baby yet this season, and she’ll start making another new plant. This can be repeated a number of times, so that one mother Dahlia tuber can have thirty to fifty new Dahlias per season! The grower then plants these new babies out in the field and from these, the tubers that we supply to you are grown.

Eggs from our own chickens

The Dahlia grower wants to know beforehand how many Dahlias we are going to need for our web shop, especially when it comes to their own exclusive varieties. Growing more than needed is a waste, and not making enough new tubers is also a shame. It’s only logical that they want to know how many we’ll be buying next year before they start that process. But for us, we sometimes might as well be looking at tea leaves to tell us the future, because we just do not know. 2023’s sales haven’t even started when we have to order for 2024, so we have no idea what is going to do well and what isn’t.

When I was visiting the Amaryllis growers, I had the same intention. I wanted to see what they were growing in their greenhouses, but I also had to finish up our order for the upcoming year. When it comes to Amaryllises, we want to be on top of the game when it comes to new varieties and being able to show you the whatever’s newest in the field. And with Amaryllises being as popular as they are, you can’t be early enough. As soon as a grower has planted the Amaryllises in December and January, they’ll be able to say how many they have available for the next season, and then I need to decide right away.

New Amaryllis for 2025

Nowadays, it’s mostly the Chinese that are interested in new things in the Amaryllis world. I’m lucky to live close to Het Westland, because otherwise I’d have a lot more competition to worry about, but I still need to be very alert when looking out for new things. I’ve even talked to growers about flower bulbs for 2025 already!

But now, I just want to go outside. The first Daffodils are starting to bloom and I haven’t even been able to put name tags to them yet.

Lilium Chocolate Event

A last practical message: this weekend is the last moment at which you’ll be able to order Lilies. The time to plant them and actually get them to successfully bloom is approaching, so if you still want them for this season, you have to decide now. The bulbs are still in great condition, and you’ll be able to enjoy them this summer if you plant them now. The Lily is also a flower that you can leave in your garden and enjoy again next year, so it’s a long-term investment, too.

Kind regards,
Carlos van der Veek