December 11th

It’s the season for candles and Christmas cards! 

I am starting off with a practical announcement: This is the last week in which you can buy spring-blooming flower bulbs. 

Friday December 16 will be the last day to order the flower bulbs. On Monday the 19th, we will be sending out the last spring varieties for this season, so make sure that you have everything you need! You can plant them right away after you’ve received them, so it’s a perfect activity for the last weeks of 2022. 

The Amaryllises will remain online for three more months, but if you order them after December 16, they will be sent out after January 10, as the entirety of Fluwel staff has a two-week holiday to spend Christmas and the New Year with their loved ones. 

At the end of the year, we like to make an inventory of what is left in the warehouse. Which varieties have long been sold out, and which ones remain? There are always a few varieties that remain garden-less this year. A very sad occasion, if you ask me. I do have to say that you have all made a great effort to house as many flower bulbs as possible and there is not a lot left over, but if you do have some space that has yet to be used, I still highly recommend fostering just a couple more flower bulbs, just so they will also have a home this season. I would be delighted to see as many flower bulbs as possible being cared for by adoring parents. 

If you have already spent hours and hours in your garden this year, then this message is not for you, and I am very proud of what you have accomplished. There’s always so many people who say “Ah, flower bulbs in the garden, I wish I had that!” and then they never plant them. This message is for those people. I do have a side note that if temperature has already dropped below zero degrees Celsius where you live, then you are officially too late this year. I don’t want you to plant them and then end up wondering what you have done wrong when it is not your fault. Better luck next year! 

If you still have the opportunity to plant flower bulbs, these varieties are still available and are highly recommended. 

Big Ups 

A formidable mixture of 8 different Darwin hybrid Tulips. This type of Tulip is a descendant of Fosteriana Tulips, which makes them extremely suitable for any type of garden. They do what they are supposed to do: flower long and extravagantly. 

Hyacinthoides excelsior 

These Spanish Blue Bells are very low in stock, but the little bit that we still have left really deserve a nice home. When you plant these in your garden, you can enjoy them for years to come: this indestructible flower bulb has been in this spot beside my house for over twenty-five years, and they only get more beautiful. 

Fluwel Daffodil Mix 

It’s hard to find a better Daffodil mix than this one. It was created out of our collection of over 2000 different Daffodil varieties. A long time ago, we planted them on some leftover soil and left them alone for a good seven years. All varieties that have survived those years without any kind of human intervention now make up an extremely low-maintenance mixture that you can plant in your own garden. You genuinely won’t regret planting these! 

Tutti Tulpi

50 Tulips, 50 different varieties, you can’t get happier than that! A mystery man who owns a pick-your-own-flowers garden already showed up at our office and informed us that he would like to buy everything that gets left over, and he is very welcome to do so, but I obviously want to direct your attention to this mix as well. 

There are some more varieties left on the web site, so you can check those out by yourself and see if there is anything you fancy! 

Then, on to the next subject: Amaryllises! Winter is the time of year for Amaryllises, and they are perfect for brightening up your home. 

Around Christmas, you see tons of Amaryllises being sold that don’t even need a pot to grow. 

They are always all dolled up, which I actually really like, and sometimes you can see the early flowers already peeking out. I kind of regret not buying the reindeer one, it would have looked nice beside our other potted Amaryllises. 

My Amaryllis trial garden this year. 

They call these Amaryllises wax bulbs, as their coating resembles the wax of which candles are made. This wax can then be painted any way you want it. 

Amaryllis Moscow 

I have tried my fair share of wax Amaryllises over the years, and every year I am surprised how good they are. I do use the word good in a relative manner here: I mean that there is always a flower there, it is very rare to encounter a wax Amaryllis that simply doesn’t make a flower. But as you can see in the picture there is a difference between the wax ones and the ones that you plant in a pot and that have access to soil and water. Both of these flowers are the same variety: they are even from the same grower. It’ just the size that is vastly different. It all depends on what you are looking for. 

Amaryllis Ambiance 

I don’t look down on waxed Amaryllis bulbs. Both potted- and waxed once are a delight to have in your home. The waxed version just shows how reliable Amaryllises are: you can quite literally suffocate them and they will still do what they are supposed to do. 

Amaryllis Cherry Nymph 

Amaryllises are always a good gift when you don’t know what to buy for that coworker or that random family member that you only speak to once a year. It’s impossible to be disappointed in this gift, and most people won’t think of it, so you will also be seen as a creative soul if you bring this to your office Christmas party. You also make future conversation easy for yourself, as it is my experience that people really like to brag about how well their Amaryllis bulb works! 

So, whether you still have some time left to plant flowers in your garden, or if you are ready for the Christmas spirit, there is always something to be found in our web shop. 

Kind regards, 

Carlos van der Veek