The opening of the Dutch Lily Days 2024 takes place on Tuesday, June 4. This year’s host of the official launch of the annual event is Zabo Plant, located in the North Holland town of ’t Zand. In addition, this exporter of lily and other bulbs is celebrating its 40-year jubilee this year. The Lily Days – June 4 to 7 – promise again to be an interesting mix of novelties to discover, contacts to be made, and brain-storming about the developments and challenges in the sector.
A lot is going on in lily land at the moment. Breeders are focussing on innovation of the assortment, in particular, creating double-bloomed lilies and pollen-free varieties and improving resistance. These breeding efforts have produced some great novelties. On the other hand, the lily market is going through rough times. Costs are rising sharply – such as cultivation, transport, energy and labour – and the sector is having difficulty coping. After a particularly difficult year for cultivation in 2023, when the harvesting conditions were terrible, several growers have thrown in the towel, and the area under cultivation is shrinking.
Meeting and brain-storming
The Dutch Lily Days offer a great moment to discuss these and other developments with industry partners. This year thousands of visitors will once again descend from far and wide to spend a week immersed in the world of lilies. They can visit no fewer than 13 Dutch lily breeders and exporters and meet the most important players and interact with them.
The spectacular opening takes place at 11:00 on June 4 at Zabo Plant in ’t Zand. It takes considerable patience to breed new, commercially available lily varieties. But it is clear that faster steps were taken in other areas, as we shall see during the opening of the 2024 Dutch Lily Days. Visitors will be amazed by the power and impact that joint efforts can deliver, with excellent results during good times and less favourable times, even for nature. Zabo Plant is organising the opening of the lily event in its 40th anniversary year.
13 participants
These are the participants in the Dutch Lily Days 2024: P. Aker, Boots Flowerbulbs, Van den Bos Flowerbulbs, Bot Flowerbulbs, De Jong Lelies Holland, Lily Company, Onings Holland Flowerbulbs, C. Steenvoorden, Gebr. Vletter & Den Haan, VWS Flowerbulbs, World Breeding, Zabo Plant and Royal Van Zanten Flowerbulbs.
