One of my most frequently asked questions goes along the lines of “But what do you think is beautiful?”

I think this is one of the most difficult questions out there. If I say that I honestly don’t know, they always answer with “Oh, but you must know what you like best, right?”

It is certainly not true that I like all flower bulbs equally. I do have my favourites. Often, the descriptions I give with certain flower bulbs kind of gives away whether or not I am personally attached to that flower bulb in particular.

I am talking about descriptions like this one:

“A sensual name for a seductive and fascinating Tulip. Fascinating, because Sensual Touch completely changes character during her blooming period. She starts out with a proper colour that doesn’t steal your heart right away, as she shows a little bit too much yellow. But she soon becomes more and more attractive, she warms up a little and the orange-red colours are starting to take over. Many people already love her in this stage, but this is only the beginning. It is only in the last week of her blooming period that she shows you exactly why she deserves this seductive name.”

But it is those flower bulbs, the ones I personally like, that show me that everyone has a different opinion.

Some people would say that Sensual Touch is ‘over the top’, or ‘overly hybridized’, which makes them feel like there is ‘nothing natural about her.’ As you know now, I wholeheartedly disagree with those people.

There is no need for discussion when it comes to personal preferences in flower bulbs. Everyone has different favourites and everyone’s opinion regarding the subject is a valid one.

But there is something that I like about all flowers, and that is the emotions that they can provoke.Last week, I told you that I have seen people tear up when they saw all the flower fields in the north of North Holland for the first time in their lives. That is how beautiful all flower bulbs are to me.

It is not the flowers themselves, but the people’s reaction to them that makes me emotional. I see it every day in the spring, when I am in the flower fields all day every day: people are truly touched by flower bulbs.

That makes me happy and that is my favourite part of what I do: making people happy with flowers.

My answer to the question I started with is therefore: the flowers you love, those are the ones I think are beautiful.

Kind regards,

Carlos van der Veek