“We had expected some international orders, but never thought there would be so many!” In other words, the cut hydrangeas from the Kenyan nursery Flora Delight are sold like hot cakes, says director Frans Ederveen. Together with partner Marco van Sandijk, he started experimenting with hydrangeas at the cultivation company in 2011, and in 2013 they launched the first stems on the market. A lot has happened since then. In the meantime, hydrangeas can be offered all year round and the new greenhouse is just finished. The tunnels are gradually being replaced by greenhouses.
All year round
Ederveen and Sandijk founded their company in Kenya in 2007. They then mainly cultivated buttercups and later also various summer flowers. They soon discovered the potential of the hydrangea. “It is sunny 52 weeks a year here, so it took years before the hydrangea was used to the Kenyan climate. In 2011 we could start with some cultivation tests. The results were good, and when we saw that the ‘colder period’ we had no major negative influence on the cultivation, we were convinced that we could grow the flowers throughout the year. ”
In the years that followed, they continued to adapt the hydrangeas to the Kenyan conditions and the growing area was also expanded.
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