For three generations, the Mans family have been growers. Where it once started with strawberries and tomatoes, Hans Mans and his son Jan eventually switched to growing gerberas. In 1960, Hans Mans started a nursery in Zuilichem, then moved to Brakel in 1978. From 2006 to 2018, Jan, his wife Willy and son Rino grew gerberas in Hedel. In 2018, a new facility was built in Tuil and Topline Gerbera has been located there ever since.
Jan Mans as a little boy at his father's old greenhouse in Zuilichem.
Top(line) quality
"We are not so much focused on quantity, but quality," says Rino, the eldest in Jan and Willy Mans' family. "We always want to grow new, more beautiful and, above all, higher-quality varieties. At the Topline Gerbera nursery, all plants are in racks at working level, which means the work has minimal physical impact. Depending on the annual crop rotation, the average number is between 25 and 30 million stems on an area of 3.9 hectares. We have a permanent team with employees from different countries and cultures, and there is a nice and friendly working atmosphere."
Rino and Jan Mans.
Colourists
"Gerberas will bring colour to any bouquet, and our wide range makes our greenhouse look like a colourful sea of flowers with something for everyone. Depending on the season, different colours are popular. Around Christmas and Valentine's Day we see a lot of white and red, around Mother's Day we add pink and at Easter we see a lot of yellow gerberas. All colours have to be in the range and popularity depends on the season and occasions."
Family business
Within the family, the gerbera has always held a special place, he notes: "Since a young age, everyone, my sisters and I too, have enjoyed working within the business. As a result, everyone in the family is involved with what is going on in the industry and on the farm. It is also no mystery what flowers we grow when you come into the Mans family's home, on the dining table and coffee table there are always gerberas. In our family, gerberas really are indispensable."
Clockwise: Rino and Daniëlle (photo: Mark van Dijk), Pieternel and Ronald (photo: bruiloftshoots.nl), Anna and Arjan (photographer known to editors) and Dirk and Jannemarie (photo: bruiloftshoots.nl).
Weddings
Meanwhile, the eldest four children in Jan and Willy's family got married, and gerberas were well represented at every wedding. One such tradition in the Mans family are the hearts of gerberas that father Jan makes in the front of the garden at every wedding. Gerberas were also incorporated into bouquets, corsages and other decorations you might encounter at a wedding. The last wedding within the family took place last May, and gerberas were ubiquitous there as well.
Jan's traditional wedding gift to his children: hearts of gerberas.
Rino concludes: "Our motto is: 'Say it with flowers'. So whenever we want to congratulate, thank or encourage someone, we always do it with our beautiful gerberas."
For more information:
Topline Gerbera
Tel: 06 13 76 70 59
[email protected]
www.toplinegerbera.nl