From Tuesday, June 2 to Friday, June 5, 2026, Dutch Lily Days returns for its fourteenth edition, bringing together breeders, growers, exporters, and lily specialists for four days centered on one crop that keeps moving the ornamental sector forward: Lily. The format is familiar, and that is exactly why it works. Thirteen Dutch flower bulb exporters open their test greenhouses and invite visitors from across the market to step inside, look closely, ask questions, and talk shop. The official opening will take place at Van den Bos Flowerbulbs in Honselersdijk.
Meet the Sector Up Close During Dutch Lily Days
For anyone working with lilies, this is not just another date on the calendar. Dutch Lily Days has grown into a steady meeting point for the sector, a place where commercial conversations and crop-focused discussions happen side by side.
Over four days, visitors can walk through flowering trials, compare varieties, discuss market shifts, and hear directly from the companies shaping the next steps in lily development. That mix of visibility and accessibility is what keeps people coming back.
What makes a visit especially worthwhile this year is the timing. The lily sector is dealing with pressure from several sides at once. Regulatory demands are becoming stricter, exporters are expected to meet higher standards, and production realities continue to shift. At the same time, companies are not standing still. Across the sector, there is strong attention on becoming more resilient, with investments in sustainability, reduced substance use, and more energy-efficient cultivation. Dutch Lily Days gives visitors a direct view of how those efforts are taking shape in practice, not as abstract plans, but as work that is already happening inside the companies themselves.
New Opportunities in a Changing Market
That also means the event offers more than just product viewing. It is a good moment to understand what is changing behind the scenes in lily production and trade. Sustainability remains one of the big themes. There is a clear demand for more resistant varieties, even though developing them takes time and is affected by legislation around genetic technology and the approval of biological crop protection products. And more companies are investing in solar panels and looking for ways to reduce energy costs. These are real topics for the lily business now, and Dutch Lily Days is one of the few moments when they can be discussed alongside new varieties and commercial opportunities.
At the same time, the event is not only about challenges. It is also about a new room in the market. As buying habits and traditions change, the lily sector is looking to younger target groups and new ways to present the crop. Social media is playing a bigger role in that, especially in markets where gardening and home enjoyment continue to connect people with flowers and bulbs in fresh ways. Dutch Lily Days gives visitors a chance to see how companies are responding, where they see opportunity, and how the lily story is being adjusted for the next generation of buyers and users.
Why Professionals Should Be There
For visitors, that makes the event practical in the best way. You can move from greenhouse to greenhouse, compare the planting of batches of existing, commercially available species, talk with exporters, and get a better sense of where the crop is heading in terms of assortment, sustainability, and market position. Whether you come in as a grower, trader, retail supplier, buyer, or simply as someone with a serious professional interest in lilies, the value lies in those direct encounters. A website can tell you a lot, but a flowering trial tells you more. And a conversation next to the crop still says the most.
The 2026 Participants
The thirteen participating companies opening their doors this year are (geographically from the most northern to the most southern participant):
- Zabo Plant
- Address: Korte Belkmerweg 1A, 1756 CB ’t Zand, Netherlands
- De Jong Lelies Holland
- Address: Kerkepad 28m 1619 AE Andijk, Netherlands
- Lily Company
- Address: Cornelis Kuinweg 15, 1619 PE Andijk, Netherlands
- Bot Flowerbulbs
- Address: Cornelis Kuinweg 15, 1619 PE Andijk, Netherlands
- Jan de Wit en Zonen
- Address: Westeinde 176, 1601 BN Enkhuizen, Netherlands
- P. Aker Flowerbulbs
- Address: Meeweg 6A, 1607 HM Hem, Netherlands
- Boots Flowerbulbs
- Address: Middenweg 8, 1607 MS Hem, Netherlands
- VWS Flowerbulbs
- Address: Westelijke Randweg 3, 1721 CH Broek op Langedijk, Netherlands
- Hobaho Breeding
- Address: 1e Loosterweg 1A, 2182 BL Hillegom, Netherlands
- Note: For this company – already active for over 100 years in the brokerage and auctioning of flower bulbs, tubers, and perennials – it's the first participation in Dutch Lily Days.
- C. Steenvoorden
- Address: Veenenburgerlaan 63, 2182 DB Hillegom, Netherlands
- Gebr. Vletter & Den Haan
- Address: Oegstgeesterweg 202A, 2231 BD Rijnsburg, Netherlands
- Onings Holland Flowerbulbs
- Address: Nieuwe Tuinen 1, 2675 SE Honselersdijk, Netherlands
- Van den Bos Flowerbulbs
- Address: Sint Jorispad 2, 2671 MZ Naaldwijk, Netherlands
- Note: Here is where the official opening will take place on June 2nd.
Together, these renowned companies form a broad and useful cross-section of the Dutch lily world, which is another reason this event remains relevant year after year. Visitors do not get one narrow perspective. They get many, and that is where good conversations begin.
An Open Invitation to Visit
So, if lilies are part of your work, Dutch Lily Days 2026 is worth putting firmly on your agenda. Come for the trials, come for the meetings, come for the chance to see what the sector is doing under pressure and where it is opening new doors. In four days, with 13 companies at 12 locations, you can catch up with the people behind the crop and get a much clearer sense of what is next. That is the real invitation of Dutch Lily Days: not just to visit, but to be part of the conversation around the future of the lily.
All photos by Rolf van Koppen Fotografie, courtesy of Dutch Lily Days.
