Our bulb farm in the Netherlands | Ruigrok Flowerbulbs

Our
family farm

Flower bulbs are not just our livelihood, they are our family passion! We still live and work in the farm complex where our business started over 115 years ago. We are proud of the product we grow and delight walking the famed tulips fields of the Dutch Bollenstreek (Bulb District) each spring, along with millions of visitors from around the world.

Today, the farm is run by Simon and Lian and their sons Carlo and Philip Ruigrok, making us 5^th generation bulb farmers! We operate the farm and export business year-round together with our loyal team, managing the production process, shipping, sales, purchasing and everything in-between. During our peak season in summer, we’re reinforced by seasonal workers.

We farm over 300 acres of tulips, hyacinths, daffodils and crocus annually, and keep the entire production, packaging and shipping process in house. For over a century, generations of our family have gained expertise in all facets of the flower bulb industry, and we maintain close relationships with many top growers around the world today.

The Tulip Barn
Our trial garden

In 2021, our youngest daughter Romy created The Tulip Barn show garden in the neighboring town of Hillegom for the first time. This yearly returning event is a true Instagram paradise, where tourists and locals are welcomed into our fields and tiptoe through the tulips. Last Spring, over 50.000 visitors to the bulb district visited us to enjoy millions of tulips in bloom and take that perfect picture among the flowers.

The Tulip Barn serves a dual purpose as a gigantic test garden for new varieties and bulb blends. Each mixture that you find in our catalog has been carefully trialed, tested and showcased at The Tulip Barn to ensure stunning results for you and your clients.

You’re more than welcome to visit us at The Tulip Barn in spring!

The Tulip
A Dutch icon

Flower bulbs are grown in the Netherlands! At the end of the 16th century, tulip bulbs found their way to the Netherlands, where the Tulip Mania would take place about 70 years later. The Netherlands turned out to be the perfect place for growing and cultivating tulips and tulips have been a Dutch icon ever since.

The culture of flower bulbs, like tulips and hyacinths, is concentrated in the coastal area of the Netherlands which has the ideal climate to grow bulbs. In these areas winters are not extremely cold so they don’t freeze. More important, our spring temperatures are also moderate, not too warm, which gives the plants a long period to grow. Tulips and hyacinths in the Netherlands are grown for the bulbs. The bulb starts growing after blooming. As long as the foliage does not die down, the bulbs will continue to grow. Besides the climate the quality of the soil is also of vital importance. Flower bulbs grow best on well drained sandy soils or light clay soils, which can be found at the coastal areas.

The Dutch are known for their high-tech, efficient and progressive agricultural sector.

Grown at
our farm

Flip through the photos below to see some of the varieties that are grown on our own farm.

The yearly cycle
at our tulip farm

Find out more about how we grow tulip bulbs!

Fall is for planting

Our planting stock is sourced from bulbs that did not reach top size the previous spring. We begin planting daffodils and crocus in late September when the soil temperature reaches 52 F. Hyacinths and tulips soon follow until our finish date in early December. To keep our soil healthy, we practice crop rotation. If a field is used for tulips one year, it will be many years before tulips are re-planted there again as we cycle numerous other fall and spring planting bulbs thru that land. As good drainage is vital, we keep water levels low. During our peak, we can plant 8 acres a day.

The fields are covered with straw after planting

Most flower bulbs are grown in sandy soil which can easily blow off during periods of no vegetation. The straw prevents this while also offering frost protection. Some bulbs like hyacinths require a thicker layer of straw as they are more susceptible to frost. This machine is fully automated and can cover 2 acres per hour!

Come spring, we walk the fields

Spring is a busy period for us. From early march when the first crocus pop up, until the end of May, we walk the fields and check all our bulb lots for signs of virus, infection or irregularities. This is critical to keep the crop healthy and ensure the highest quality of bulbs.

All bulb fields are inspected by the BKD

The Flower Bulb Inspection Service (BKD) is commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture to perform flower bulb quality and quarantine inspections and import and export inspections on all bulb crops. It guarantees the quality of flower bulbs in the Netherlands. After planting, all flower bulb lots are registered. Bulb samples are examined in the laboratory. In spring, the bulbs are inspected visually in the field at least once for viruses, bacteria and nematodes. Prior to shipping our bulbs, the BKD also carries out export inspections in our warehouse and issues export certificates for bulbs that are destined for all non EU countries.

As blooms begin to fade, we cut off the flower heads

Although the famed Dutch tulip fields attract millions of visitors from around the world each spring, we are focused on what’s going on beneath the soil. Just before the blooms start to fade, the heads are removed mechanically. This allows the remaining plant to direct its energy back into the bulb (not the flower) and stimulates the growth to produce top size bulbs.

Harvest time in June and July

The period after blooming is most important and determines the size of the crop. Flower bulbs grow until their foliage has died down. It all depends on the weather. In the bulb district we have an oceanic climate, which is perfect for flower bulbs. They prefer moderate weather in May and June, so that the bulbs have more time to grow. If it does not rain, we irrigate the fields several times before the harvest. However, an early heat period can cause the plants to die down too early, resulting in a disappointing yield. First, we dig our crocus crop, followed by tulips and hyacinths and finally the daffodils. Daffodils are lifted first and then left on the field for several days, enabling the bulbs and their roots to dry. Depending on the weather we dig around 8 acres per day.

Processing our bulbs all summer long

The dry bulbs are first processed by a machine that sifts out most of the sand that is attached to the dry bulbs. The next step is our bulb processing line that removes the major part of the old skins, roots and stems of the bulbs and separates the smaller bulbs from their large (mother) bulb. Most is done by the machine but we need our crew to clean the remainder of the bulbs. The clean bulbs are graded by size and inspected for quality before storage in our climate rooms. Large bulbs are sold to customers in the Netherlands and around the world. The smallest bulbs are our planting stock which is re-planted in the fall.

We ship our bulbs from
August to October

Our quality bulbs are packed in retail and bulk quantities. The bulbs are shipped to the USA and Canada and European countries. All our top size bulbs go thru a rigorous inspection process prior to export, including MRI scanning and USDA and Canadian pre-inspection.