“It starts with the enchantment of flowers and plants.”
I have worked in flowers and plants for 44 years. Not behind a desk, but in greenhouses, in open fields, at auctions before sunrise.
At sixteen I already had my own beds of freesias. I cut them myself. Brought them to auction. Sold them under the grower’s name. That is how you learn the trade. You cut. You carry. You sell. You stand behind what you produce.
Before that, I walked along ditch sides with a sickle and an elastic band around my wrist. I picked wild cow parsley, made small bouquets, put them in a bucket, brought them to auction. Forty-five guilders for a bucket. That was good money. But more important, it showed me something: if you believe in what you grow, it has value.
First Cut, Then Count
Today I see many young people looking first at numbers, planning tools, margins. But this profession does not begin with a calculator.
“Don’t look too much at the clock or the calculator. First cut, then have. Sometimes you need to push a little more and believe in what you are doing.”
If I do not do my work properly, there is nothing for commerce to earn from. It is that simple. Production comes first. Always.
I have grown carnations, chrysanthemums, lilies, summer flowers, bulbs. I have worked in different companies, lost land to housing development, started again, and started again once more. The sector changes. The principle does not.
Working With Nature
Nineteen years ago, my wife and I bought 3 hectares of land in Poland. We built our house there. We planted cherries, blueberries, peonies, tulips. We serve our market within fifty kilometers.
No big expansion plans. No heavy loans. We grow what the land allows and what the market can absorb.
This profession is about working with nature, not against it. With respect.
“People who choose this profession work with nature and with respect. Not for nothing do flowers love people.”
A Message to Young Growers
The sector is always moving. What is new today is old tomorrow. So keep your eyes open. Watch what happens. Respond to it.
But never lose the enchantment. Never lose the belief in the product.
Flowers are not just a commodity. They are something people feel.
If you understand that, you understand this profession.
Without strong growers, there is no strong industry.
