L
Lucinda Addison
Guest
During these challenging times, staying calm, being positive and enjoying simple pleasures at home are of the utmost importance. With government guidelines forcing shops to close, you can no longer pick up a bunch of flowers at your local flower shop, however, Neill brings you the joy and beauty of flowers with this blog post to uplift your spirits and help keep you feeling healthy during the quarantine.
I imagine most people like me are finding this extraordinary world crisis to be a time for reflection. Once we have decided not to let fear and gloom dominate our way of thinking, we begin to look for and to find some positive effects the pandemic is bringing to ourselves and to the world. In respect for all the people working so hard to help and save others and with my very deepest condolences to all those who have lost loved ones to the Coronavirus, this blog post is dedicated to everyone who is in home confinement and trying to make the most of this time to be positive and productive as I am. Let’s keep flowers in our lives!
Recent hotel launch
Tulip bulb fields in Holland
Keukenhof Gardens, Holland
Easter floral arrangement
While the cut flower world is being hit hard at every level during the pandemic, from the growers to the florists and the exporters to the wholesalers, the joy and beauty of flowers in our lives has never been more vital. Flowers continue to grow as they always do, under the nurturing hands of our growers in Holland and around the world, in the gardens of those that today are particularly thankful to have a garden, in London’s Garden Squares such as the one I gaze at everyday from my window… Even if we don’t have our usual bouquet of fresh flowers on the coffee table, I believe it is important to keep flowers in our lives in any way we can for the uplifting feelings they give us. So today I would like to share a few stories from “inside” the flower world so you can immerse yourselves for a few minutes in the magnificence of nature.
Sonneveld Hydrangea
Ichtus Phalaenopsis Orchids
Vanda Orchids at Ansu
Roses at VIP Roses
Lily of the Valley growing
Magnolia in Belgrave Square
Cadogan Place Gardens
Camelias in Hyde Park
Spring is undoubtedly the most florally prolific season of the year as trees and shrubs burst into flower overhanging the palpitating growth below that spreads not just in flower beds but across lawns, fields and forest floors. In Holland, where we source our beautiful flowers, the bulb fields are in full bloom with thousands of Daffodils, Hyacinths and Tulips of every colour of the rainbow creating luminous bands of colour that attract thousands of tourists. Every year these beautiful flowers are cut by machines and left to decompose as this is the customary method used to reinforce the strength of the bulbs. Since some of these growers are worried not to be able to sell their bulbs given present circumstances, they are picking the flowers and selling them on the roadsides. Note social distancing of 1.5 meters apart is practiced even during the picking!
Tulips in the Dutch bulb fields
Daffodils in the bulb fields
Social distancing sign
Bulb growers picking Tulips
Tulips til the eye can see
Tulip flowers decomposing
The bulb fields
Hyacinth bulb fields
Colour bands of Hyacinths
Tulips growing next to cows grazing
Thousands of tourists, having toured the bulb fields, then head over to the Keukenhof Gardens near Lisse, the largest and most spectacular garden of spring flowers in the world. This year these gardens are unable to open and the usual 1.5 million visitors will not be able to enjoy the 79 acres of floral wonder, including about 7 million flower bulbs and an entire year’s preparation by their dedicated team. A tragedy indeed. Nevertheless, I am happy to say that they will be sharing views of the garden online. The gardens are virtually open! In fact, for the first time, we are able to “meet” the gardeners and hear their own thoughts, commentaries and preferences about the flowers and their work which is an unexpected treat.
The magnificence of Spring at the Keukenhof Gardens
A river of Grape Hyacinths at the Keukenhof Gardens
Tulips and Hyacinths
The movement of water adds elegance to the Keukenhof Gardens
Follow the brick road at the Keukenhof Gardens
You can take a virtual visit of the gardens, a rare opportunity to see them not swarming with people! Content will continue to be uploaded during the next two months as the gardens evolve.
In one video Managing Director of the Gardens, Bart Siemerink, explains the origin and history of Tulips and shows many of the exceptional new varieties that Dutch growers have developed over the past 400 years. Learn more.
One of the Keukenhof gardeners, Andre, takes you on a virtual tour of the Lake Garden and explains why working at the Keukenhof is so special for him.
Keukenhof Gardens, Holland
River of Lily Tulips
Sculpture of a Tulip bulb
Designs change every year
Andre’s experience is exactly the same as mine working with floral design. We love the preparations… finding inspirations, hours of planning, designing, sourcing the flowers, sourcing accessories too, the creation of the designs and the sometimes stressful installations when working to very tight deadlines… But the best moment, as Andre says, is the “showtime.” When we actually see how much joy, positive energy and deep emotions we are able to create in people just through our flowers at an event, a wedding, or the offering of one of our stunning bouquets.
Wedding at The Dorchester
The Lanesborough bridal design
Engage London 2019
Bridal staircase at One Belgravia
Fresh floral dress (Saatchi Gallery)
Orchids and Roses at One Belgravia
Floral Peacocks at Annabel's
Wedding table at the Ritz Hotel
Floral design is in my opinion the most emotive of all the arts, because it is a living, ethereal medium that we know will last for only a fleeting moment during our lives. As the Keukenhof team has never created exactly the same garden design in its 70 year history, I have never created exactly the same floral design, nor have I seen an identical reaction from a client. We are all unique, individual, creative and flowers bring us immense joy!
Fresh floral Yeoman (Engage 2019)
Lalique launch party
Spring design at The Lanesborough
Flowers for a Belgravia home
Wedding table (The Lanesborough)
Dinner party in Belgravia
Design for a recent hotel launch
The Brompton Oratory
So during these days or weeks of home confinement when we are seemingly far from nature, reach out for virtual floral experiences to uplift your mood. Seeing and thinking about these comforting surroundings bring on a feeling of well-being with the secretion of endorphins. And these endorphins strengthen your immune system. If you have a garden, take time to enjoy it and pick a few flowers or branches to arrange in a vase as decoration inside. If you have plants in your home, nurture them, they filter the air and give you oxygen. And let’s all hope that by the time the Roses begin to bud, the pandemic will be over, it will be safe to go wherever we please and we can once again offer you the most beautiful flowers from our wonderful growers with even more admiration and gratitude than ever before.
Stay safe and well.
Florally yours,
Neill x
P.S. Make sure you click on all the links to see the Keukenhof Garden videos and follow them on social media.
Continue reading...
I imagine most people like me are finding this extraordinary world crisis to be a time for reflection. Once we have decided not to let fear and gloom dominate our way of thinking, we begin to look for and to find some positive effects the pandemic is bringing to ourselves and to the world. In respect for all the people working so hard to help and save others and with my very deepest condolences to all those who have lost loved ones to the Coronavirus, this blog post is dedicated to everyone who is in home confinement and trying to make the most of this time to be positive and productive as I am. Let’s keep flowers in our lives!
Recent hotel launch
Tulip bulb fields in Holland
Keukenhof Gardens, Holland
Easter floral arrangement
While the cut flower world is being hit hard at every level during the pandemic, from the growers to the florists and the exporters to the wholesalers, the joy and beauty of flowers in our lives has never been more vital. Flowers continue to grow as they always do, under the nurturing hands of our growers in Holland and around the world, in the gardens of those that today are particularly thankful to have a garden, in London’s Garden Squares such as the one I gaze at everyday from my window… Even if we don’t have our usual bouquet of fresh flowers on the coffee table, I believe it is important to keep flowers in our lives in any way we can for the uplifting feelings they give us. So today I would like to share a few stories from “inside” the flower world so you can immerse yourselves for a few minutes in the magnificence of nature.
Sonneveld Hydrangea
Ichtus Phalaenopsis Orchids
Vanda Orchids at Ansu
Roses at VIP Roses
Lily of the Valley growing
Magnolia in Belgrave Square
Cadogan Place Gardens
Camelias in Hyde Park
Spring is undoubtedly the most florally prolific season of the year as trees and shrubs burst into flower overhanging the palpitating growth below that spreads not just in flower beds but across lawns, fields and forest floors. In Holland, where we source our beautiful flowers, the bulb fields are in full bloom with thousands of Daffodils, Hyacinths and Tulips of every colour of the rainbow creating luminous bands of colour that attract thousands of tourists. Every year these beautiful flowers are cut by machines and left to decompose as this is the customary method used to reinforce the strength of the bulbs. Since some of these growers are worried not to be able to sell their bulbs given present circumstances, they are picking the flowers and selling them on the roadsides. Note social distancing of 1.5 meters apart is practiced even during the picking!
Tulips in the Dutch bulb fields
Daffodils in the bulb fields
Social distancing sign
Bulb growers picking Tulips
Tulips til the eye can see
Tulip flowers decomposing
The bulb fields
Hyacinth bulb fields
Colour bands of Hyacinths
Tulips growing next to cows grazing
Thousands of tourists, having toured the bulb fields, then head over to the Keukenhof Gardens near Lisse, the largest and most spectacular garden of spring flowers in the world. This year these gardens are unable to open and the usual 1.5 million visitors will not be able to enjoy the 79 acres of floral wonder, including about 7 million flower bulbs and an entire year’s preparation by their dedicated team. A tragedy indeed. Nevertheless, I am happy to say that they will be sharing views of the garden online. The gardens are virtually open! In fact, for the first time, we are able to “meet” the gardeners and hear their own thoughts, commentaries and preferences about the flowers and their work which is an unexpected treat.
The magnificence of Spring at the Keukenhof Gardens
A river of Grape Hyacinths at the Keukenhof Gardens
Tulips and Hyacinths
The movement of water adds elegance to the Keukenhof Gardens
Follow the brick road at the Keukenhof Gardens
You can take a virtual visit of the gardens, a rare opportunity to see them not swarming with people! Content will continue to be uploaded during the next two months as the gardens evolve.
In one video Managing Director of the Gardens, Bart Siemerink, explains the origin and history of Tulips and shows many of the exceptional new varieties that Dutch growers have developed over the past 400 years. Learn more.
One of the Keukenhof gardeners, Andre, takes you on a virtual tour of the Lake Garden and explains why working at the Keukenhof is so special for him.
Keukenhof Gardens, Holland
River of Lily Tulips
Sculpture of a Tulip bulb
Designs change every year
Andre’s experience is exactly the same as mine working with floral design. We love the preparations… finding inspirations, hours of planning, designing, sourcing the flowers, sourcing accessories too, the creation of the designs and the sometimes stressful installations when working to very tight deadlines… But the best moment, as Andre says, is the “showtime.” When we actually see how much joy, positive energy and deep emotions we are able to create in people just through our flowers at an event, a wedding, or the offering of one of our stunning bouquets.
Wedding at The Dorchester
The Lanesborough bridal design
Engage London 2019
Bridal staircase at One Belgravia
Fresh floral dress (Saatchi Gallery)
Orchids and Roses at One Belgravia
Floral Peacocks at Annabel's
Wedding table at the Ritz Hotel
Floral design is in my opinion the most emotive of all the arts, because it is a living, ethereal medium that we know will last for only a fleeting moment during our lives. As the Keukenhof team has never created exactly the same garden design in its 70 year history, I have never created exactly the same floral design, nor have I seen an identical reaction from a client. We are all unique, individual, creative and flowers bring us immense joy!
Fresh floral Yeoman (Engage 2019)
Lalique launch party
Spring design at The Lanesborough
Flowers for a Belgravia home
Wedding table (The Lanesborough)
Dinner party in Belgravia
Design for a recent hotel launch
The Brompton Oratory
So during these days or weeks of home confinement when we are seemingly far from nature, reach out for virtual floral experiences to uplift your mood. Seeing and thinking about these comforting surroundings bring on a feeling of well-being with the secretion of endorphins. And these endorphins strengthen your immune system. If you have a garden, take time to enjoy it and pick a few flowers or branches to arrange in a vase as decoration inside. If you have plants in your home, nurture them, they filter the air and give you oxygen. And let’s all hope that by the time the Roses begin to bud, the pandemic will be over, it will be safe to go wherever we please and we can once again offer you the most beautiful flowers from our wonderful growers with even more admiration and gratitude than ever before.
Stay safe and well.
Florally yours,
Neill x
P.S. Make sure you click on all the links to see the Keukenhof Garden videos and follow them on social media.
Continue reading...