Amsterdam's flower market and botanic garden delight Gillian Vine, but she isn't as impressed with the Floriade horticultural expo.
"Starterskit 2.50 euros," the sign in the Amsterdam flower market said, but I wasn't tempted: trying to bring potting mix back into New Zealand, never mind the cannabis seeds in the pack, was not a bright idea for a cheap ($NZ3.75) Dutch souvenir.
Anyway, I was much more excited by the bulbs, including a great line-up of alliums at extremely low prices. As they were being sold loose, they wouldn't have made it through MAF's inspection (all plant material, including seeds, have to be packaged and have detailed labelling to get into New Zealand), so I passed on them, too.
Instead, I ambled through Amsterdam's quiet Sunday streets to Hortus Botanicus, a lovely botanic garden founded in 1638 to provide herbs for local apothecaries. Seeds were brought to Holland by traders and it is said the original coffee plant here became the parent of the coffee-growing industry in Central and South America. The seeds of two palms planted at Hortus Botanicus were almost as important, forming the nucleus of palm-oil plantations in South East Asia.
I was captivated by the old tulip varieties, one of which, Lac van Rijn, has been grown since 1620. Its pretty pink and crimson flowers would make it welcome in the modern garden.
But I wasn't in Holland just to admire the flowers in Amsterdam.
My main purpose was to visit Venlo, close to the German border in the centre of the country. Venlo is the venue for Floriade, a once-in-a-decade horticultural expo that opened in April and runs until early October. So far, more than 1.2 million tickets have been sold and organisers describe it as perfectly conveying how horticulture can enhance the quality of life and showing "the position of the Dutch horticultural sector as an international player ... packaged in an exciting experience".
With that build-up and having been to Taiwan's Taipei Flora Exposition a couple of years ago, I was expecting something as exciting but was disappointed.
True, the open spaces, wide paths and well-maintained lawns gave the 66ha site an uncrowded feeling but many older people found walking between the scattered attractions hard going. For me, weedy flower beds about to be replanted were a letdown, as was the lack of English signs - or any signs in some areas - and failure of companies exhibiting to have staff on duty to answer questions. For example, there was a stand of dwarf fruit trees, including "patio" pears, which are not available here. I wanted to know more about them but there was no-one on duty to answer questions on either of my two visits to the stall. Apart from the Chinese display, the national gardens fell far short of the standard of those I'd seen in Taiwan. And where were the tulips, the country's national flower?
Floriade had some positives, though. The large glasshouse of tender plants had some interesting displays, while outdoors one of the highlights was a small house demonstrating sustainable living.
From the solar panels on the roof to the self-sustaining water-purification plant, it was a near-perfect presentation of the importance of planning for the future.
Being able to sail above the site in a gondola was fun, a living willow seat gave visitors inspiration, a druids' horoscope tied birthdays and trees (mine was an ash, a tree I don't really like), while one of the commercial fruit and vegetable exhibitors had samples of the best cherry tomatoes I've ever tasted.
My favourite, though, was a fire-breathing dragon in one of the show gardens. Put 0.50 (about 75c) in a slot, look up with camera at the ready and snap the fire shooting from the dragon's nostrils. Kids (and adults) loved it.
The next Dutch Floriade is in 2022 and it is to be hoped the organisers will eliminate the negatives and build on the positives of this year's show.
