In Dutch we have a saying: “Lelijk in de luier, mooi in de sluier.” It literally means: “Ugly in their diaper, beautiful in their wedding veil.” It’s a bit of an older expression, meaning that peop...
Emails, emails, we all get them, we rarely want them. Not too long ago, I found an email I was happy to receive: a message from the Royal Horticultural Society. They invited me to Lindley Hall on M...
Can you believe it? I offered a price of half a euro per bulb plus an additional foot massage for the first crates of Tulip Love Story. Jan Vink, a grower in my neighbourhood, will be selling this ...
When I told my colleagues at Land van Fluwel that the title from this weekend’s newsletter was going to be ‘Daytime Birthday Parties,’ I got some confused looks. Marian however, a young at heart la...
Yes, you know what it is: Sometimes I have to choose and I can't choose at all because the choice is between a nice job and an even nicer job: Writing a news blog or caring for daffodil flowers in ...
As of today, no fewer than 483 different varieties of Daffodils are available in the Fluwel web shop. Really, 483? Yes 483. I sometimes think 'what have I gotten myself into', but actually I just l...
To rule is to look into the future. This is also the case with the bulb trade. The Amaryllis growers have been chasing me, actually since the beginning of January, to pass on our Amaryllis wish lis...
A small change of plans in the programme of the World Daffodil Tour that will be held in April. I sent out a programme in last week’s newsletter, and we have received many lovely responses from pe...
Invitation to The World Daffodil Tour 2024
Dear readers,
Every five years, Daffodil enthusiasts from all over the world organise a World Daffodil Tour. Over the years, we have visited places like ...
Underwear challenge
An eye-opener, is what I would call my recent conversation with our car dealer Ed. Just to calm everyone’s nerves: Ed is a good one, I know car dealerships have a bit of a rep...
A New Year
Another year to write more than fifty newsletters, and I’m already unsure of what to talk about in this very first one. I’ve had plenty of feedback asking me to please be a little bit ...
My Dream Comes True
We all have those things in our life. You know, the things of great importance. Things that overshadow all other aspects of life. Sometimes, these things are events, and the...
I’m a very happy man
Sounds nice, right? This is how I started my final message during this week’s Fluwel staff meeting. Every year, we finish the year by going to lunch at a nearby restaurant w...
Housekeeping Notice
Yes, we’re starting with a notice from housekeeping this week, I can’t help it either. I have no clue what else to tell you this week, so I want to relay a message from everyone...
Amaryllis, The Perfect Christmas Gift
Dear All,
About a month ago I wrote about my forever love for Amaryllis. There are so many reasons to love this plant so much: from its beauty, to the resilie...
The Dutch Tradition of Complaining
If the Dutch have any talent at all, it would be their ability to good-naturedly complain about literally everything under the sun. Usually, there is no reason fo...
Ben’s New Grapes
This week, I received a text message from my friend Ben, asking me if I happened to be in the neighbourhood somewhere in the next couple of days. Coincidentally, I was, as I would...
Trijntje Oosterhuis
Dear reader,
Over the last couple of newsletters, you have been introduced to our new team member Vlad. Vlad writing the newsletter for a few weeks gave my father a few weeks...