Better Together

Sometime this Spring, fellow grower Carlo van Schagen walked into our warehouse with the most fantastic bouquet of double Tulips. He’d brought them all the way from his own place in Egmond, and he told us they all come from the French Tulip Renown. That variety blooms late, there is also a double version, Renown Unique, which is more widely known, but this new one spontaneously came from his Renown Unique field. Sometimes they do that, and he told me that they had named the newcomers Glamour Unique and Princess Unique. He wanted to ask us personally if we’d be interested in having them in our web shop, because he had enough bulbs to sell some of them. It’s a real chance to see the power of Mother Nature with varieties that come from existing parties spontaneously, just that idea makes them that much more special. Another definite plus about these Tulips is that they are especially late, which means that the people who buy them can enjoy Tulips for a few more weeks during Spring. But just between us: He didn’t really have to make the effort of selling them, I had seen right away that all three varieties would be exceptional additions, and my mind was made up before he’d started his second sentence. 

If you’re familiar with our Mix French Blend Rose, you might be able to see right away that these beautiful Tulips are cut from the same cloth as our new Better Together Mix. One of the Tulips in our French Blend Rose is the Tulip Renown, and this Renown is the parent of the spontaneously created Tulips that make up the Better Together Mix. 

We have been in business with grower Carlo van Schagen for years now. His bulbs are always of exceptional quality, we can trust him every year. So if he comes to us with an offer like this, we wouldn’t dream of refusing. But quality isn’t the only reason we’ve been in business with Carlo for so many years: Van Schagen is also a pioneer when it comes to biologically growing flower bulbs. He has managed to ban chemicals from his business for a very large part, which is no easy feat. Carlo is also a member of NLG Holland. 

NLG Holland might require some further explanation. NLG stands for Natural Living & Growth. It is a group of flower bulb growers who share an interest in biologically growing flower bulbs. The first step for many who are looking into transferring into a biological business model is visiting Huiberts Biological Flower Bulbs in Sint Maartensbrug. Huiberts is owned by Johanna and John Huiberts. They have managed to grow their bulbs fully biological for years now, they don’t use even a single gram of chemicals or pesticides. Their ways of protecting and cleaning their crops are fully natural, and the Huiberts couple realized in no time that everyone around them was extremely interested in this way of growing flowers. Many flower bulb growers have wanted to use less chemicals for years, but it used to be very uncertain if the bulbs would survive and if varieties would still be able to grow over the years. And if you’ve got a family to feed, and employees who also have partners and children to take care of, it’s not an easy decision to go from a way of growing that certainly works into the unknown. But Johanna and John have shown everyone that their bulbs are doing extremely well. They have truly helped everyone by showing that it can be done. 

Johanna and John quickly realized how curious their peers were, and they wanted to share their knowledge and experience with others. A plan was formed to implement Huiberts’ practices on a large scale, though there was still a possibility to use some chemicals in case of an emergency. Huiberts’ first lesson starts at the very beginning: for a good result when growing biological flower bulbs, you need healthy soil. Over the years, fields that house flower bulbs year after year run low on essential nutrients and microorganisms that are needed to keep the soil healthy. Soil is a living, breathing thing in itself, and it needs care accordingly. A strong and healthy soil grows flower bulbs that are in turn strong enough to survive illness. The first step, therefore, is making sure the soil has all the right characteristics. Organic products can be added to soil, flower bulbs that were previously planted in non-biological soil were cleaned before they were planted in the biological fields, and instead of chemicals and pesticides, biological products were used when problems occurred. 

Over the first few years, some varieties threatened to face major losses, so emergency chemicals were needed, and the problems and its solution were all shared with every grower that had joined the group. The combined knowledge of every interested grower made finding answers easier, and colleagues made sure to plan visits and meetings in order to see how everyone was managing their soil and bulbs. It’s easier to trade ideas and solutions in real life, and good results came surprisingly quickly. It takes a few years before a soil is truly back to its full potential after chemicals have been used on it, but when the transition period was over, it was surprising to see how little chemicals were actually needed if Mother Nature could be in charge herself. A number of the NLG’s members have already managed to use only 10% of the chemicals they used before they started their projects, which is an unbelievable drop. 

This development is an extremely positive and beautiful thing to many growers. It took only a few people like Johanna and John to create a change this large. Their open-mindedness has caught on to many others, who also know now that the ‘usual’ way isn’t the only way. We can all do better, and the NLG encourages and helps growers actually realize changes in the right direction. Fluwel, in turn, loves to buy flower bulbs from NLG growers. John is a friend of mine, and I have visited his warehouse many times and am always insanely impressed. The way he has made his business fully biological is nothing short of inspirational, and I try to follow those examples with Fluwel when it comes to clean energy. Fluwel has the goal of being completely self-reliant when it comes to power, and with our windmill and solar panels, we can support our entire business and the houses of our families. I hope this idea also spreads to the businesses around us. There is so much left to be improved, and I really believe that people like John and Johanna, and Carlo van Schagen, make all the difference. 

I’ve almost forgotten to actually talk about the Tulips again–after Carlo left our office, it was Renata who mentioned that the three varieties were nice, but that their true power was how they complemented each other. That’s why we offer them as a Mix, now… Better Together. They bring out the best in each other, like growers do when they unite for a good cause. Doing things together always makes them more meaningful, and I hope I’ve made some more people interested in joining the biological flower bulbs-train