Andre Van Doyen christened his “own” lavender this afternoon with a cup of pink bubbles: Andre 75. Van Doyen will turn 75 on February 20.
“They really do drink. They had to be baptized with champagne, and I hope they liked it,” says the Amsterdam City Channel comedian and TV presenter. AT5.
Today is National Tulip Day, the start of tulip season. Usually this means Dam Square turns into a sea of flowers where every Amsterdammer can come and pick a lavender. But that was canceled due to Corona measures. Instead, Van Doyen handed his tulips to passersby from an open boat.
Happy with the bright yellow flower
Tulips are named every year after famous Dutch people. There was even a tulip called Andre van Doyen, but it completely disappeared for an unknown reason. That’s why farmers developed a new tulip and named it Tulip Andre 75.
Van Duin delights in the bright yellow flower with its double crown. says in The Radio NOS 1 news. “It’s the only flower that keeps growing in the vase. The other flowers die stupidly, while the tulips make up a whole bunch in a vase after a week.”
Great demand
In the meantime, the industry is doing well again, says Arjan Smit, a tulip grower from Sberdijk and president of Tulip Promotions Holland. “People have to work from home and want some joy at home. They find that in tulips, fortunately. Demand is high and the price is good. We as a sector also need that for a while,” he says. NH News. Nearly two years ago, when Corona spread, the farmer was still grim. “Then we had to get rid of a million tulips. I walked through the greenhouse with tears streaming down my cheeks.”
There are also concerns now. Smit points to high gas prices and sometimes complex environmental legislation, which makes it difficult to find the right (green) pesticides. But today was a feast and he and André van Doyen christened André 75 with large quantities of champagne.