According to Mark-Jan Terwindt, general manager of flower trade association Royal Anthos, tulips will become scarcer and more expensive in the near future. Due to the heavy rain that fell this year and last year, growers were only able to plant flower bulbs late, causing major shortages of tulip bulbs next year. "We have never experienced this before," he told Dutch news agency ANP.
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Flower bulb growers plant small bulbs every autumn to grow them into bulbs suitable for trade. But due to extreme rainfall, these bulbs could not get planted until late. In some cases, not at all. According to the trade association, this will have major consequences for the market.
Trading companies now have to buy a lot of bulbs at prices that have doubled or tripled in many cases. This will also be reflected in the price you pay for tulips at the florist. Ultimately, the flower sellers themselves are in charge of the price, but there will be less discount offers, Terwindt expects. "And there will also be a lot less tulips available."
The problems are not limited to tulips, crocuses and ornamental onions have also suffered from the rain.
Source: nu.nl (in Dutch)