Florido Alicia

“Actually, it's incredibly busy here for two months of the year. In the summer, I’m here alone. As it gets colder, five or six people join. By December, there are eighteen of us. The big demand for our amaryllises is really around Christmas.”

The stunning flower with its long, hollow stem is popular with arrangers and consumers alike. Not everyone has a clear image of amaryllises. “In stores, it’s often displayed with a closed bloom, so people don’t see how stunning the different colors and shapes can be.” Still, he focuses first and foremost on quality. “I can grow as many fun colors as I want, but they need to be good. Every flower that leaves here is of the same quality.”

FM Group buyer Wilco van Termeij agrees. “There’s no cutting corners here. Every box of amaryllises, whether it’s Benfica, Red Lion, or Ferrari, has perfect flowers and is uniform in quality.”