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Nursery NL Bloeit
December 18, 2019
NL Bloeit: a special nursery
It all started with the Dianthus superbus ("Fringed Pink"). This indigenous plant is extinct in the wild in The Netherlands. Foundation NL Bloeit (‘The Netherlands is flowering’) shared a photo of this special plant, which they sowed in the centre strip near the Radboud University. When I was the first to spot it, they invited me to visit their nursery to pick out my own Fringed Pink!
Indigenous
Marieke and Arjan are the persons behind NL Bloeit. With their projects they aim to protect the indiginous plants of The Netherlands. At their ecological nursery, they only grow indigenous plants from seeds harvested in The Netherlands. Even though it is officially the same plant, climatological differences can make the same plant in Italy slightly different from the one in The Netherlands. So: Dutch seeds only!
Bees and bumblebees
So many bees are buzzing at the nursery! Marieke and Arjan get a lot of requests to build insect hotels, for instance at schools. However, they only do that when it is combined with sowing or planting indigenous herbs. Because housing is not what our pollinators need: they need food!
Poison free
NL Bloeit has an ecological nursery. This means, all their plants are poison free! Bees and other pollinators don’t get sick from getting nectar from these plants, as opposed to lots of plants sold at big garden centres.
Tips
If you would like to sow or plant poison free, indigenous plants, you are probably wondering where to get them. Finding that out is no picknick! Marieke gave me some tips (obviously these are Dutch companies).
Nursery De Heliant: sells poison free, indigenous plants. You can order them online. They also have an Instagram account: @kwekerijdeheilant
Nursery Bastin: also for poison free plants. According to Marieke, visiting this nursery is well worth it!
Cruydt-Hoeck: for seeds of (indigenous) plants. Instagram: @cruydthoeck
Nursery De Heliant: sells poison free, indigenous plants. You can order them online. They also have an Instagram account: @kwekerijdeheilant
Nursery Bastin: also for poison free plants. According to Marieke, visiting this nursery is well worth it!
Cruydt-Hoeck: for seeds of (indigenous) plants. Instagram: @cruydthoeck
My mission
I loved having a look at this nursery and meeting with Marieke and Arjan, who are so passionate about the cause! My personal mission is now to harvest the seeds from my own Fringed Pink, grow seedlings and pass them on, together with their story. Don’t forget to follow @NLBloeit to see about their projects and gorgeous plants. Or take a look at their website (and learn some Dutch ;-)): https://nlbloeit.nl
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