At Plant Designs we work with a range of trusted and brilliant growers and suppliers to bring our planting projects to life.

Back in May some of the team were lucky enough to pay a visit to the Netherlands where many of these companies are based in order to reconnect with those we work with and of course learn more about the horticultural industry.

From our client managers and design admin team through to marketing and our retail team, a range of Plant Designs team members joined the trip and had a great time, so here is a roundup of our visit!

Also located in Aalsmeer near the flower auction is the head office, showroom and largest warehouse of Pottery Pots, where we source many of our pots and planters for our projects. The opportunity to view so many pots in different shapes, sizes, finishes and colours all in one place definitely provided us with some new inspiration and left us excited to get stuck into upcoming design projects.

We wouldn’t be Plant Designs if Christmas wasn’t on our minds, so of course while in the Netherlands we paid a visit to Edelman who are the main supplier of the Christmas décor used within our festive design schemes. Not only was it great to get into the festive spirit but we also learnt a lot about how they are working to improve their sustainability, from adding solar panels to their showroom, to providing electric cars for employees and developing product ranges with greener manufacturing and packaging.

As one of our main suppliers based in Holland, we were very much looking forward to paying Koberg a visit. From plants through to pots and accessories, Koberg are an integral step in our process so it was great to reconnect with them in person and catch up on everything they’ve been working on.

The Aalsmeer flower auction is the largest flower auction in the world, and while it’s not somewhere we source from at Plant Designs, we had to pay a visit to such an interesting part of the industry. Every day flowers from all over the world are bought and sold here, with an estimated 43 million flowers being sold daily! One of the most interesting aspects of the flower auction is the auction clock that is used to display flower prices, beginning at the top and working their way down whilst the bidders watch.

The ideal place for any plant lover, Fachjan Project Plants is a HUGE plant nursery that grows a multitude of plant species. We were in awe at the scale of this nursery and it was such a pleasure seeing the work that goes into growing all of their beautiful plants and trees.

One of the final stops on our trip was a visit to an Orchid nursery that uses a completely mechanised process. With the orchids being touched by humans only a couple of times throughout the growing process, the number of them growing can be maximised and allows them to have around 1 million there at one time!