The paeony might very well be the quintessential Mother ’s Day flower . The peony season has started , and peculiarly the conditions determines who is fail to benefit the most from this holiday : the cultivator with greenhouses , the cultivator with tunnel , or the grower who has his plants in the clear field .
In any case , the last ones will be too late , but that is usual . The peony - not include those from southern countries - always come first out of the greenhouses , then from the tunnels , and finally , in the 2nd one-half of May , from the area . It is also too early to tell if it will be a secure season or bad time of year . Henk van den Berg of furtherance collective Summerflowers : " So far , it ’s a in force season . Because it is insensate outside , there is less overlap of the peony from abroad and the greenhouse with those from the tunnel and the domain . The time of year is being stretched , so to speak . "
Dutch celebrity gardener Rob Verlinden at the Keukenhof
For seasonal products , and certainly for peonies , the atmospheric condition is critical . A particular dynamic in this market is the direct contrast between the north and south of the Netherlands . Peony growers are all over the country , with more plastic tunnel in the south , and with the larger out-of-door players in the north . This sectionalisation can be both favourable and unfavorable . " If the weather is good , the north is two weeks behind the due south . If the weather condition is bad , the difference is only a week . Last yr we had a very ardent stop that begin when the south was almost empty . This really had an issue on the growers in the north . "
LaborThe consequence at hand for peonies , however , is lying-in . want of availability of proletariat , because that is becoming an progressively turgid job . The grower needs excess hands for maximally four to six week - many extra hand . The acreage has maturate in recent years and will continue to do so - with a bit of luck , a plant can be used for a decade - but then , as Henk expects , it will begin to collapse . " It ’s not that they do n’t see it total , and as far as possible , also the large participant are attempt to branch out , but it is becoming more and more of a problem . well expensive than not for sale at all , but in exercise the latter happens more often . There you are , on the field of a grower , filled with beautiful flowers , but he ca n’t do anything with those peak because there is no one to harvest them . "
Progressive insightA peony is knockout to wangle . It will grow when it is warm , you could be sure of that , but you could not evidence beforehand when it will start to blossom . The grower also can not tell . On the other hand , the market can be sure of a large number of buff of the blossom . The increasingly unsubtle assortment contributes to that , as does the longer availability . " Last yr we had , partly because of supply from the other side of the world , and particularly because of the progressively broad coating of so - call ULO ( radical low oxygen ) cooling , flowers on the auction sale all year round . I do n’t believe that has ever materialise before . "
The quality is also improving all across the board . " The reformist sixth sense is tremendous on all front . There is a lot of development in the field of mechanization - producers are not idle , and work intemperately on further mechanisation of the refinement . Also , both cool off and the chain are more and more under control , which greatly gain calibre , and finally , growers are stimulate heavy steps in the field of crop protection and fertilisation . "
PromotionIn brusque , here ’s to a great peony season , as far as Van den Berg is concerned . He just returned from the Keukenhof , where he has done some filming together with Rob Verlinden for a Dutch goggle box show . " It is going to be a beautiful , longer token . We film at a grower in a greenhouse and at a agriculturist outside on the domain . "
© FloralDaily.com/Geert Peeters
