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Meet a Grower
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Kees de Goede, Grower of Unusual Bulbs
While most Dutch growers focus their efforts on mainstream bulbs, such as tulips and daffodils, Kees de Goede, has chosen the more uncommon bulbs: calochortus, fritillaria, anemone and muscari. De Goede's father was a vegetable farmer in 1920, but changed his focus to growing bulbs. Kees joined the family business in 1963 at the age of 14, along with his brother, Wim. Today Kees grows 15 million bulbs on 75 acres of land. His son, Marcel, works with him and will soon take over the operation. Growing CalochortusHolland is the world's largest producer of flower bulbs. In this highly competitive business environment, it's important to find a niche that you can call your own. Twenty years ago Kees decided to focus his breeding work on creating new varieties of specialty bulbs. He is probably best known for his work with calochortus bulbs. This wildflower, native to the West coast of the United States, is also called the butterfly tulip or mariposa lily. It can grow 2 feet tall, and produces cup-shaped flowers in a variety of colors. Kees obtained many of his initial calochortus bulbs in the United States and has been breeding them to expand the species' natural range of sizes and colors. His Cupido Calochortus was the first pink-flowered variety ever developed. For Dutch Gardens, Kees also grows Grecian Windflowers (Anemone blanda). Growing On
Kees' favorite times of year are spring, when all the bulbs are blooming, and fall, when he can see the quality of his bulb crop. His dream is to continue breeding new characteristics into specialty bulbs. For example, he'd love to breed a red-flowered crocus and a red-flowered miniature iris. He'd also like to discover new muscari varieties with different flower colors and fragrances.
Considering all the success Kees de Goede has had breeding calochortus, it seems only a matter of time until his magic touch yields even more exciting new varieties of uncommon spring bulbs. |
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