Flower bulbs are arriving in stores these days: tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, and many others. Every good gardener knows that they need to be planted in the fall to get a profusion of flowers next spring, but… did you know that your bulbs have come a long way to get to the store where you buy them?
Foreign Origin
Originally, most bulb flowers, especially tulips, came from Eurasia, with a center of diversity in Kazakhstan and surrounding countries. It is a harsh, almost desert-like climate, with cold, snowy winters and hot, dry summers. The bulbs have evolved to take advantage of the short period when water is abundant, i.e., when the snow melts in spring. Thus, the plant grows rapidly in spring, flowers… and goes dormant for the summer, retreating into the underground organ of nutrient reserves called the bulb.
Curiously, even though we now know the Netherlands as the land of bulbs, there is in fact only one native bulb in the entire country (a daffodil that grows only in the few hilly areas of the country). This is because the Netherlands has a climate that is absolutely terrible for bulbs! The poorly drained soil almost everywhere in the country means that bulbs rot if left in the ground during the summer. The Dutch therefore have to dig up their bulbs when they go dormant and store them in a dry place during the summer, replanting them in the fall, whereas in Canada, we can plant them permanently. But their harsh climate meant that the Dutch quickly learned everything there is to know about harvesting bulbs… and as a result, became the world’s leading bulb producer.
Early Harvest, Fall Delivery
The fields of tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, and other flowers in the Netherlands are concentrated in two provinces, North Holland and South Holland. Why? It’s because the soil there is very sandy, which makes it easier to clean the bulbs.
Every spring, more than 13,000 hectares of bulbs bloom in the Netherlands… but not for long. The bulbs are only left to bloom for a day or two, just long enough to check that they are true to type in terms of color, shape, etc. Then the flowers are cut. Without flowers or seeds to feed, the plant redirects its energy to producing a larger bulb. The plants are left to retain their foliage for the time being, but when it turns yellow in June, harvesting begins. Giant harvesters drive through the fields and deposit the bulbs in bins. The bins are taken to large climate-controlled warehouses… and the preparation work begins.
First, the bulbs are sorted according to size: the small bulbs will be returned to the fields in the fall to grow larger; the large ones will be sold. Next, they are cleaned, checked for quality, and packaged. It takes the entire summer to complete the preparation.
Export
In August, the bulbs are placed in large containers at the port of Rotterdam. Ships are filled to capacity: after all, the Netherlands exports more than 7 billion bulbs annually! Some of these ships are bound for Montreal, where they arrive in early September. The containers are then loaded onto trucks… and soon each shipment of bulbs, already grouped and labeled in the Netherlands, arrives at its predetermined point of sale: a garden center or other retailer.
What a lot of effort and progress has gone into making your flower bed the most beautiful in town next spring! I hope you take full advantage of this unique opportunity to stock up on bulbs!
Larry Hodgson has published thousands of articles and 65 books during his career, in both French and English. His son, Mathieu, has made it his mission to make his father’s writings accessible to the public. This text was originally published in Le Soleil on September 11, 2010.
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