Let There be Bulbs
The world’s greatest bulb garden in Keukenhof, Holland
This spring, I visited one of my favorite European cities, Amsterdam. As a tourist, I enjoyed much of what Amsterdam has to offer, but as a horticulturist, I knew I had to visit the cut flower auction in Aalsmeer (Let There be Flowers) and the spectacular bulb garden at Keukenhof Park in Lisse, just outside the city. With the famous horticulturist, Jack de Vroomen, as my guide, I knew it was going to be even better. Having been there before, I more or less knew what to expect, but the people with me were blown away.
How many tulips, hyacinths, daffodils, muscari, crocus and friittiarias can one person possibly handle? I hope a lot because at Keukenhof over seven million flower bulbs are planted every fall. This may actually sound a little boring, like touring two acres of pansies in the spring - it is anything but.
Bulb growers and breeders plant specific areas of the park and each display seems a little better than the last. The main attraction at Keukenhof is obviously the color but the park itself, with its stream, water features and beautiful beech trees is a wonderful place to walk and eat a picnic lunch.
As expected, this is a spring display, the park being open from March to mid-May. It is a must see for every gardener, plant lover and horticulturist. I have no other words to describe it.
This fall, buy as ton of bulbs, make yourself a mini-Keukenhof.
Let There be Flowers
The cut flower auction in Aalsmeer, Holland
If you have a chance to visit Amsterdam, do all the interesting things that the city offers. The Anne Frank house, a canal ride, the Rikksmuseum and of course the Red-Light District. However, one of the most fascinating stops you must take is the in Royal Flora flower auction in Aalsmeer, just outside Amsterdam. I will try to describe it but until you see it, you likely won’t believe what I say.
Not only did we visit Aalsmeer, we were hosted by Jack de Vroomen, one of the one of the most knowledgeable people in Dutch horticultural circles, When you walk through Aalsmeer, you are not just simply seeing millions of flowers in one venue, you are seeing the business of horticulture. The building, the 4th largest free-standing structure in the world, covers 190 acres (~143 football fields. We were pleased we had our track shoes on. , and over 43 million flowers are sold every week day. Such numbers would be overwhelming if you did not see the auction in action.
Numbers aside, the way in which the auction functions is unique. When one thinks of an auction, one thinks of a starting price and bids go up until the largest bid is accepted. The Dutch auction uses a large clock, on which the starting price is shown, and then the hand of the clock goes backwards, essentially a reverse auction. Brokers and representatives of wholesale/retail florists and other entities from all over the world bid remotely and they must be fast.
For example, if a bunch of roses started at a dollar, the number would fall rapidly until someone bid a price, say ninety-five cents - then bidding on that item stops. If a broker was waiting for the clock to reach ninety cents, they would have lost that lot. However, with 43 million flowers going through, everyone can but something. To put the efficiency of the operation in perspective, those forty-three million flowers are all sold between 8:00 and 11:00 in the morning.
There is far more to see, for example, the movement of flowers from sale to truck by computerized vehicles, and an amazing 10-mile-long shuttle to maintain freshness of the flowers.
Enough said, as I mentioned, it is truly hard to fathom without a visit. Guests who were with me all drooled at the beauty, but they were truly fascinated with the business of horticulture.
