Today I had the pleasure to visit Johan Buis, together with his wife Bianca, and son Jeroen, he is the owner of the Mediaverdi nursery in Aalsmeer. Mediaverdi is a real family business that has been active for five generations and for more than 100 years in the cultivation of shrubs and carnations. Johan is the fourth generation. The fifth generation, his son has also recently joined Mediaverdi. Johan's dad, the third generation still works at the company every day.
Carnations and Snowball Viburnum
At Mediaverdi they have 3500 m2 of greenhouse area and 10,000 m2 of outdoor area. In the summer they grow Carnations in their greenhouse, which they harvest from August to October. Every year they plant a broad and partly innovative and exclusive range of carnations. Their uniform ripeness, good quality, and sustainable cultivation method make the carnations of Mediaverdi a specialty in the markets.
The Snowball bushes are grown outside all year round, after which they go into the greenhouse for a few weeks between January and April. This way the flower comes, and are the Viburnum snowballs ready to harvest earlier. Through strict selection and serious practice of their craft, they are able to grow high-quality and the most durable Snowballs.
In both crops, their goal is to grow high-quality, good-quality flowers with the least possible environmental impact.
The Mediaverdi Nursery
Their nursery was founded by Johan's great-grandfather in 1901 at the same location in Aalsmeer as where they are still located. In 1901 the cultivation of lilacs and chrysanthemums started. In 1935 the Chrysanthemums were replaced by carnations. Cut shrubs have also been grown at their nursery since 1901. Till 1965 they had Lilacs, then Forsythia, and from 1997 Johan replaced them with Snowballs (Viburnum opulus 'Roseum').
Viburnum
Viburnum shrubs are normally grown in the open ground and harvested once every two years. They have started growing their Viburnum in containers so that they can get them to flower every year. The containers also help to better control nutrition and water, so that they can deliver an exclusive quality. The cultivation of Viburnum shrubs makes the grower's heart beat faster. It is this cultivation that is truly in their DNA. Passed from father to son. It is a special crop because the growth takes place outside and the weather is different every year. That makes it a big challenge every year to grow top-quality Viburnum. The cultivation of it is a real craft!
Carnations
Every year they grow about 20 to 25 different varieties of Carnations, from different breeders: Di Giorgio, SB Talee, Selecta, Dümmen Orange, and HilverdaFlorist. Every year they also introduce a number of new varieties. To this end, they have about 100 new varieties on trial every season. they select based on color, quality of both the flower and the crop, disease resistance, and labor (amount of fluff, for example).
2 Crops in the Best Possible Quality
At Mediaverdi, they like the variety of two crops. The Carnations in all those beautiful, different colors. The feedback they get from the traders is that the trade appreciates their beautiful uniform batches and their reliable quality. Florists like that they cut their Carnations a bit more ripe and with uniform ripeness so that they can process the Carnations immediately. They often hear about their Snowballs that they did not know that such quality Snowballs exist!
The fifth generation is already present. Just last week Johan's son Jeroen officially became part of the company. He may want to go back to their roots. Their son has a great love for the Lilacs and is doing all kinds of experiments with new varieties of Lilacs and new cultivation methods. Who knows what that will bring in the future.....
