Written by
Sabina
From soft pink and warm orange to deep red and purple, the Dahlia’s exuberant shapes and colours make it a real showstopper in any vase. But before this vibrant flower reaches your vase, plenty has already happened out in the fields. At Maatschap Van der Linden en Zoon, growing Dahlias is all about craftsmanship, innovation and care. And here, that craft is passed down from generation to generation. Read on to discover what goes on at the Dahlia nursery!
About Maatschap Van der Linden en Zoon
Maatschap Van der Linden en Zoon is a true family business, growing an impressive 300–350 varieties of Dahlia in outdoor fields. Three cousins run the nursery alongside their two fathers. Their flowers find their way into vases across Europe through florists, supermarkets and market stalls.
When you grow hundreds of different Dahlia varieties, you need to know your flowers inside out. And with the flowers grown outdoors, the nursery has less control over factors such as the weather and pests than it would in a greenhouse. That makes craftsmanship all the more important.
Craftsmanship in the fields
Hands-on work is still at the heart of outdoor growing, alongside the search for innovations that support the growers’ craft. The growers keep a close eye on their flowers and know exactly what they need at every stage. Protecting crops outdoors also calls for extra expertise. For instance, the natural predators used to tackle harmful insects won’t necessarily stay in one place outdoors. Growing successfully therefore means constantly observing, learning and adapting.
For the Van der Linden family, craftsmanship doesn’t mean keeping everything the way it has always been. The three cousins build on their fathers’ experience, combining it with new techniques to work smarter and prepare the business for the future. They’re working with other Dahlia growers on innovations such as a spot sprayer (a robot that targets weeds), an automatic planting machine and further automation of the Dahlia planting process.
Craftsmanship evolves with every generation.
