european flower market guide

INCLUDERSOM
BULB GUIDE
F
EN
SARAH RAV
UK-EUROPE
DFDS.CO.UK
EUROPEAN
FLOWER
MARKET
GUIDE
BLOOMING MARVELLOUS MARKETS
This guide has been written for us by gardener, writer and television presenter, Sarah Raven. Read all about the wonderful flower
markets you can visit within easy reach of our European ports in Amsterdam, Dunkirk, Calais and Newhaven. Sarah has also provided
advice and guidance on when, how and where best to plant your bulbs.
“Gardens without bulbs are like the sea without its fish — they
provide the colour and life.” Sarah Raven
SARAH ON EUROPEAN FLOWER MARKETS
Most gardening enthusiasts know that there’s nowhere better to see and buy bulbs than
at a flower market and Europe offers some of the very best varieties.
Holland, for example, has an incredible range of exotic bulbs on offer and is usually
five years ahead of anywhere else, with the biggest range of colours, shapes and forms
anywhere in the world. The bulbs are often excellent value too; produced in such
abundance that a bag of Tulips or a hand-tied bunch often cost half what it would at
home. Wherever you go, be it France, Belgium or Holland, the markets and florists are
rich with possibilities.
THE BEST MARKETS ON OFFER THIS YEAR
No matter what part of Europe you’re off to, there are lots of markets on offer to tempt
and delight. Here is our round–up of the best ones on offer this season:
HIDDEN GEMS
• Ghent has the most amazing flower market every Sunday
morning. It’s perfect to buy some beautiful plants and blooms,
en-route back home
• Bruges Flower and Food Market runs every Wednesday, it is a
small market, but well worth a visit.
• Hortus Botanicus in Amsterdam is a historic botanical garden
with rare plants and a butterfly house. And don’t forget th
fantastic historic Tulip collection at Hortus Bulborum in
Limmen (located an hour from Amsterdam). It’s one of my
favourite places in the world in spring.
• Utrecht in Holland also has a large flower market at
Janskerkhof and at the Oudegracht with a huge range of
different varieties to see.
• Flora Holland in Amsterdam is the famous auction house
where millions of flowers are sold and distributed daily
• Bloemenmarkt - The Floating Flower Market in Amsterdam. The
worldwide. It’s a real experience and well worth a visit.
market is unique, because all the merchandise is displayed on
floating barges. This is a relic from the days when the flowers • The Botanical Garden of Delft University of Technology has
its origins in Holland’s colonial past and is a green paradise,
and plants sold at this market were shipped in by barges.
boasting a wide variety of plants, trees, herbs and spices. It is
Fresh flowers are still brought in every day but nowadays by
open every day to visitors, for a minimal 2 Euros per person.
vans!
ONES NOT TO MISS
HOLLAND
• Keukenhof in Holland - 20 March to 17 May
• Leeuwarden Flower Market - 14 May
• Noordwijk to Haarlem Flower parade - 25 to 26 April
FRANCE
• Spring Show in Paris - 15 to 17 May
• Spring Show in Paris - 15 to 18 October
SPAIN
BELGIUM
• St George’s Flower Markets in
Barcelona - 23 April
• Groot-Bijgaarden (Grand-Bigard) - 3 April to 3 May
• The Carpet of Flowers in Brussels - 13 to 16 August
• Fleuramour flower exhibition in Alden Biesen - 25 to 28
September
• Easter Sunday Flower Market - 5 April
UK-EUROPE
DFDS.CO.UK
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SARAH’S ADVICE ON WHAT BULBS TO PICK
FOR SPRING
• For the spring season, try Tulips. Tulips are the Oscar winners of every garden’s
spring stage.
• Plant Alliums and Lilies too, as they help to pick up the colour baton once the
tulips have performed.
• Cyclamen, Snowdrops, Scillas and Crocus are also good for spring, and help to
bring us out of the colourless winter.
• Cheering perfumes of Hyacinths and Narcissi are also good options, as they’re nice
to pick and bring inside.
FOR SPRING / SUMMER
• Try the large-flowered Gladioli like the almost black ‘Espresso’ or the sharp and
beautiful green ‘Green Star’. Its scented cousin, the Acidanthera, is also a glamorous
option for planting anytime after the last frost.
FOR ALL CLIMATES, INCLUDING HARSH COASTAL TERRAINS
• Whether you have sun, shade or a windy coastal back garden, you can’t go wrong
with Narcissi – they’ll grow anywhere and still be flowering away in twenty years
time. Choose a multi-headed variety such as ‘Silver Chimes’ or ‘Geranium’ and
you’ve got long-lasting cut flowers too.
FOR SUN AND INLAND
• Tulips and Daffodils are an obvious choice for sunny spots, and are the perfect
companion to wallflowers.
• When selecting varieties, choose those that match sunny colours – such as
oranges, pinks and purples.
FOR SHADE
• You can brighten shady patches with shade-tolerant bulbs such as Aconites and
Snowdrops for January and February.
• Follow with the large-flowered Anemone blanda ‘White Spendour’ or ‘Blue Shades’
and Narcissi for March and April.
• Finish with Bluebells in late April and May.
• White varieties of Tulips, such as the early ‘Purissima’ and later ‘White
Triumphator’ and ‘Spring Green’ all thrive in partial shade too.
SARAH’S ADVICE ON WHEN TO PLANT
Once you’ve had an opportunity to gather your favourite bulbs at a flower market, it’s time to get ready for the planting stage. Not sure
where to start? Here are my top tips for success:
MARCH TO JUNE
demands of flowering. They’ll grow anywhere and will still be
flowering away in twenty years time.
• Plant bulbs such as Gladioli, Freesias and Acidantheras now,
allowing 10cm between each bulb. Dahlias should also be
planted now, allowing 75cm between bulbs.
• Bluebells, Aconites and Snowdrops should also be planted
during this time.
SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER
NOVEMBER
• Except for Tulips, spring-flowering bulbs such as Daffodils are
best planted in September or October into holes twice the depth
of the bulb.
• Tulips go in later and deeper than any other spring bulbs.
Deeper planting means your bulbs are more likely to flower
year after year. And don’t worry about the cold temperatures
either – this helps to wipe out viral and fungal diseases that
lurk in the soil.
• The first to do are Narcissi. These benefit and flower better
from getting their roots down and well established before the
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SARAH’S ADVICE ON HOW TO PLANT BULBS
• For smaller bulbs like Fritillaries, Crocus and Snowdrops, you dig the
holes with a trowel and then plant.
• For larger bulbs like Narcissi and Camassia, a bulb planter is the
quickest and easiest thing. It acts like a corer, removing a cylinder of
soil.
SARAH’S ADVICE ON HOW TO PLANT IN GRASS
A grassy lawn is a perfect backdrop to small bulbs particularly around
the edges where the grass tends to be a little longer. For planting
either:
• Use a bulb planter and pop them in one by one, or
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If you’re planting in grass,
do not cut the grass and bulb
foliage until the bulb leaves
have turned yellow. It’s also
important not to add any
fertiliser to the grass. If the
soil is very poor you can use a
sprinkling of potash.
• Peel back the turf, loosen the soil beneath if compacted, add some
grit and the scatter the bulbs before covering them back over with a
section of turf.
SARAH’S ADVICE ON HOW TO PLANT BULBS IN POTS
• Bulbs are also perfect plants for pots – so they’re fantastic even if
you don’t have a garden.
• For best results, create a ‘bulb lasagne’, by planting the largest and
latest flowering bulbs at the lowest level (with at least six inches of
soil/compost below the bottom of the bulb), and the early flowering,
smaller bulbs on top. Planting this way will ensure you will have
different varieties of bulbs flowering one after another.
Getting there
DFDS Seaways operates up to 44 sailings a day
between Dover and France on its Dover-Dunkirk and
Dover-Calais routes, two daily sailings between
Newcastle and Amsterdam and four daily sailings
between Newhaven and Dieppe, making it the
perfect gateway to Europe.
World's Leading Ferry
Operator
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