"See Tomorrow's Lilies Today," is both the slogan of the Dutch Lily Days (4-7 June 2024) event and the perfect reason to enjoy these all-time favorite flowers. Combined with Love for Lilies' campaign slogan "Not Grown to Be Subtle," it’s clear why these bold blooms deserve the spotlight. The thirteen participating bulb exporters that organized the Dutch Lily Days event and the seventy growers that mutually promote the lily cut flowers went hand-in-hand to promote the lily as a beautiful and robust flower.
An Impressive Flower at an Impressive Event
It was Love for Lilies all over in the greenhouses of the Dutch breeders and exporters. The event presents, as always, a fantastic mix of discovering new varieties, offering insights into the quality and characteristics of a wide variety of lilies, networking, and discussing industry trends and challenges. It’s the perfect opportunity to catch up with colleagues and brainstorm about the future.
Thousands of visitors from around the globe immersed themselves in the world of lilies, visiting these lily breeders and exporters to meet and exchange ideas with key industry players. Visitors were deeply impressed by the trial plantings, which showcased the diversity and quality of the blooms. Discussions also focused on sustainable lily growing, highlighting opportunities and challenges in the sector.
Love for Lilies
You might say it's a perfect synergy, the Dutch Lily Days and the Love for Lilies campaign. The promotion chain does not stop when the breeders and bulb exporters have shown their finest products. The lily must be visible all the way up to the florist and consumer! For that reason, the seventy Dutch growers — representing an annual production of 270 million (!) stems — have joined forces to continue telling the story of lilies as a global icon of boldness and beauty through their campaign "Not Grown to be Subtle".
This is what some of these growers who were present at Dutch Lily Days commented to floral influencer Peter van Delft about the Love for Lilies campaign.
Growers are very happy that their story is being told to the world. André Reijm from Double Check Lilies says: "It is different than your usual campaign. It's to the point," and Raymond Vijverberg from Qualily adds: "'Love for Lilies' is a great collaboration that includes all lily growers." And that's exactly its strength. Making the character of the lily and its wide assortment known to a big audience through mutual collaboration and promotion.
Florists and consumers can rejoice, because there will be many stunning and never-seen-before varieties in the coming years. Kees van Paridon from Dutch Lily Masters expects that "There will be growth in double-flowered lilies." Levi Evers from Bredefleur says: "We will see more variation in flower shapes and more pollen-free lilies.
All that was quite clear during the Dutch Lily Days event, where many novelties premiered, such as a brand new line of double OT (Oriental Trumpet) lilies presented by Roselily, adding a broader color palette and more efficient cultivation to the current assortment of double oriental lilies.
Also, a new line called Butterfly lilies saw the light of day. This is a medium-height double-flowered LA-Hybrid cut lily with a high bud count, pollen-free blooms, and no smell. This flower is, therefore, allergy-friendly.
A Bold & Beautiful Future
The Dutch Lily Days 2024 event not only highlighted the beauty and innovation in lily cultivation but also emphasized the importance of collaboration and sustainable practices in the industry. That's why the 'Love for Lilies' initiative "Not Grown to be Subtle" is embraced by so many growers to further spread the strength and beauty of this world-class flower.
All in all, there is enough to look out for florists and consumers in the coming years with this flower that is anything but subtle. Here’s to the future of lilies, bold and beautiful!
Header and feature image by @rolfvankoppenfotografie, courtesy of Zabo Plant.
