Last lilacs of the season!

In the second half of April, lilac growers close their production season. The last branches are harvested from the greenhouse and taken to the auction.

Some growers still keep a number of shrubs in a cold shaded hall to prolong the season for a short period of time. One or two growers even put some shrubs in cold storage to market them one month later. The bushes must then be returned to the fields on the Aalsmeer Westeinder waters and /or on the Oosteinderpoel area near Schiphol Airport.

On my garden table and in the vicinity of my house, I would like to end this beautiful lilac season with a selection of two of these lilacs.

The tall vase is the Syringa vulgaris “Madam Florent Stepman”; the grower deliberately kept them on the plant one week longer than usual. These very exclusive branches are produced by growers Willem and Harm Oudshoorn of the Firm Kazemier on the Oosteinderweg in Aalsmeer, located near Schiphol in the Oosteinderplassen area.

And the low vase is filled with the Syringa vulgaris "Monument Carnot" grown by De Seringen Specialist, located at the end of the Uiterweg. His shrubs are located in the west of the Westeinderplassen area

These two high quality typically Aalsmeer-grown products now come together on my garden table. A unique collection that we have put together today; even in these bizarre days of Corona!

Because 80% of the harvest has already been done for this season, these growers have not suffered great losses, but they are nevertheless concerned for the sector, because they say; “The whole sector must come out of this crisis on top and not just us. We need an ecosystem that is solid, in order to sell our top products again next year. ”

These growers have understood the challenge we all face together; you cannot save just one part of the sector, such as only the grower, the auction or the trade, because then the whole chain will com to a screeching stop, and none of us want that to happen!

Jan de Boer

FloraPodium, 29 April 2020