The weather here has just been awful lately. We allotmenteers are all bemoaning how the time is just passing by and we cannot get out seeds and plants into the ground. It is cold, it is windy and worst of all--it is wet, wet wet. I have reared some broad beans, peas and kapucijners at home on the windowsill and in-between the showers have managed to get the first load of broadies in the ground as well as some peas and kapucijners which I teased an almost microscopic rootlet tip out of. I had also planted some beetroot seeds in situ and since then have not been able to get onto the soggy beds. Toms and cukes are languishing on the windowsills here at home, stretching their willing stems towards the light of the windows. There are also some Tagetes plantlets that have been planted on to the next size pot. These are destined for the balcony boxes; and what is left over, I shall set out in the flower garden at the lottie. I have not even germinated the corn and courgettes yet. It is all quite glum on the garden front for the moment. The only exceptions being the plum trees that bloomed, and the sea of Forget-Me-Nots which I let run completely rampant in the springtime. Because of their beauty, I do not begin the clean-up of the flower beds until, they have bloomed out and set seeds. Geez--I am painting a really sombre picture of the state of affairs here, aren't I? Well, let me think...There are also bos hyacinth and dandelions blooming--Yipee. I had better progress on, as I am beginning to wax a tad sarky now. At any rate there was a bright spot yesterday after the weather causing cancellation of work in the field (meadow bird protection) and the practical lessons of the beekeeping courses that I have embarked on. As some of you may know, I am a volunteer for a project here in my home town whereby I sit with tourists and answer questions about my city and the country over a typical dutch meal. It is part of an initiative by a local chap that sells a service to tour group operators coming here on boats. It is a lot of fun and requires not so much time for me. At any rate, during one of these meals several of the tourists told me, and my partner about the really nice time that they had a tulip grower.--It was an "extra" excursion that they could book from off their boat. We thought that it would be a good idea to go there and have a look for ourselves so that we could speak with future guests more adequately. Of course we know a bit about the tulip bulb production because we are literally surrounded by acres and acres of colourful tulip fields spread out from horizon to horizon like bright carpets over the landscape here in Noord Holland. Well, we wrote this chap an e-mail and followed up with a fone call and explained the tourist meal thing to him and he agreed to let us come and have a look. The day that we had made the appointment for was very sunny, but there was a very cold wind slicing across the fields. I plugged in the TomTom and asked it to navigate to his address. Of course we don't just do one thing a day...heh heh heh, no siree-- we took a couple of side excursions, since the appointment was not until 14:15. The binocs were in the auto and we headed off to a couple of bird observation places to sharpen our identification skills. Naturally we packed food and drink for the days' excursion. I bundled up for the day, as that wind was quite strong and chilly. We visited a few places that we have been to before and in spite of the windy coldness, there were birds-a-plenty to look at and observe. There were many different migratory birds to see in the various fields that we visited. In one of them, I spotted an Anser albifrons with a lime-green neck band on. This really stood out because I had never seen this sort of marking technique. Leg bands I am familiar with, but not this thing. I took a picture with the small camera that I had with me, so the pic isn't very good, but it is good enough to see the code on the neck band. When I got home I logged onto the website where these neckband numbers can be reported and gave off all the required info. They will send a response in a few days and I can see what sort of info they have on record for this bird. I could have stayed all days out at those fields, but I had an appointment with a bulb farmer, so it was time to go after the sarnies and a couple of swigs of water. I could tell that we were getting close to the tulip man because of the soil...and of course, the numerous roadside stands selling cut tulips for next to nothing. The sandy soil was also a give away. When I rolled up to the address, I was directed into a dirt lane which passed through a sort of narrow, green alleyway and led out to the fields. This was my first view: Now, I am not going to relate the entire story of this man's history and how the tulip business works, but I will mention a thing or two: Mr. lighart enjoys a degree of fame here in Nederland and it is no wonder because of the hard work that he has put into developing new types of tulips. He cross pollinates all the new tulips himself by hand. There was an Austrian film crew present the day I went there and Mr. Lichhart had to split his attention between us and the film crew. It was a bit awkward, but we all managed. Here he is demonstrating his technique for the film crew. In-between his shooting episodes I could just look around and take it all in. There was a very strong sweet fragrance filling my nostrils, as the wind was blowing across the colourful fields and directly at me. I just looked from the sidelines and sometimes strolled up and down the rows. I took pics of Mr. Lichart as he strolled up and down the rows for the film crew. The owner told me about hand-pollinating and then that he gathered the seeds and planted them in beds. They did nothing for three years and then they got transplanted and grew another two years and finally they would produce the first blooms. The family would carefully examine each plant, flower and bulb and decide which ones to keep and which ones to simply throw away. They would have to guess what would be attractive to customers and go with that. He said that once a bulb had been selected to go to market then the real work would begin as he had to 'force' the plants to produce more and more bulbs by splitting. Each winter he would dig up all the bulbs and keep them dry and cool and then replant them in ever larger beds. This process would take about 20 years until he had enough to debut in a show for consumption by suppliers. You have seen the carpet-like patches throughout this field and here are just a few more. it would be too boring to show them all, and it would actually be almost impossible because he told me that he had literally thousands of new tulips in various stages of development. Here are a couple of close-ups of some that are nearly ready to be marketed. ...and then this one: I was a bit in awe of this quiet man's operation here, but when he told me that he had many other fields like this one spread out over the region, I was gob smacked, to say the least. It was a beautiful thing to see, those tulips...it sort of made my little garden look a bit puny at this early stage of the season. Well, at least I have a few Forget-Me-Nots at the moment, but that is about it. Much good these blooms are when it is so cold, windy and wet...for the bees are not venturing out of the relative warmth of their hives. I do see the odd honey bee during the abbreviated periods of sunshine, but nothing like it should be. Tomorrow is another day and it is high time to plant my second set of broad beans as well as some flowering plants...so tomorrow morning early, I am off to the lotties to try and get my gardening show on the road.
Wow, Sjoerd! that was just wonderful! I knew tulips were more work than I want to do, but 20 years to get to market? this is not my king of gardening, but I do appreciate that there are tulip growers/developers for us to see all these new and beautiful varieties each year. I don't think any of us can appreciate enough how much work goes into each new variety. Thanks so much for the tour.
I want all of them but I'd be buried in them because I sure don't have all of that space for them. Tulips are one, just one, of my favorite flowers. I don't have any growing here though. I did get some to grow in Arizona. Thanks for the tour. It was just beautiful and I really enjoyed it. dooley
I found the seed to supplier aspect interesting. 20 years is a very long time to tend a variety of flower in the hopes people will like them and that some other variety will not be a 'trend.' A grower has to have a lot of faith in his judgment. Great pictures of the tulip fields. I am always amazed to see so many flowers in one picture. I hope your weather warms up soon. Cold and wet does not make for happy flowers or veggies. Jerry
What a wonderful place to visit. I'm very fond of that first pink/white tulip about to come to market. I'd buy that.
I was just thinking the other day that we haven't heard much from you, Sjoerd, lately. I figured the weather was the reason why. This posting is SPECTACULAR. And told only they way you can. Informative plus keeping one on the edge of their seat waiting for more. And oh yeah... the gorgeous photos! Hopefully your weather will be warmer soon... and then we can enjoy seeing all your flowers and veggies again!
Great post Sjoerd! I had no idea all the work it took to get to market stage...amazing! Your garden looks nice too
Thank you C--I was also surprised to learn all the work and time that goes into developing a new race of tulips. Glad you liked the posting. Thank you for your nice words, WARETROP. Thanks, STRATSMOM. DOOLEY-- Thank you for your note. I am glad that you liked this thread. I like tulipsd too, but have relatively few in the garden. it was because I did not spend a great deal of time in the garden during the early spring. This has changed now, so perhaps I will add a few to the group that I have already. Hello JERRY-- Yes, I am hoping for better weather too. I spent the whole day in the lotties yesterday and did an enormous amount of cleaning and planting--it's raining again this morning. :-( Thanks for your comments on this thread. You are rioght that a developer has to have confidence in what he produces; however, it is the buyers and the show judges that make or break a type. I asked the man what did he do with all the failures, and he told me that he just gathered all that he had and threw them into a hopper and then made bags of mixed types for sale for general garden use. You know, another aspect of the growing/trip: he pointed out that there were thousands of tulips and in the beds that were used for development that in the thousands, they were all different and not "known", not on the matket ...and had no names yet. The "failures" are nameless, unknown and yet will grace someone's flower beds. Interesting, ja? PL-- You are welcome. Yes, I like that one especially, as well. Thanks, GL. CHERYL--you are right: I have not had a great deal to write lately because the weather has so seriously affected the planting, seeding and cleaning-up situation. I am quite far behind now. I have also taken on some additional volunter work as well as taking beekeeping courses. You gad some very nice comments this time, and I thank you for them from the heart. Hello NETTY-- Thanks for your remarks, miss. Thanks for complimenting the appearance of my garden. It is a bit one-sided in terms of plants and colour--but better than nothing, right? The Forget-Me-Nots are covered with honey bees this year...and that it the purpose of having them in such numbers. TSCHNATH--Nice to see you back on here. I appreciate your nice comments on this thread. With all those tulips in bloom--taking the pics required little skill--it was basically just "aim and shoot". hahaha.
Sjoerd--That was great. I have always been curious about the tulip growers; how they produce so many so successfully. The answer obviously includes thousands of hours of hard work. Do you know why tulips quickly peter out in the home garden?
Hello CAYUGA--Thanks for your nice comments. I do not know why tulips peter out so quickly, but I think that is is in the genes of this plant, so to speak. Some seem to last longer than others, also, heat will make them perish sooner rather than later, I have noticed personally. I suppose that that is why the tulip is a spring plant rather than a summer one. I often buy bunches of them from the side of the road to use a cut flower in the living room. If I have a bunch that last a full week, I count myself lucky.
Sjoerd--Over here there are some tulips that are marketed as 'perennial'. One is supposed to plant the bulbs of these a bit deeper and they do tend to come up longer, mayber for 4 -5 years rather than just 1 or 2. ? It is a mystery.
