We’ve visited outdoor plant nursery Van der Sar Plants in the Westland area. The company is run by Marianne and Bas van der Sar, who are siblings. Their father started the nursery as a hobby and now the company grew into a well-known nursery with 5 hectares of cultivation area. The team is run by only 5 employees and nevertheless is able to grow each year with approximately 10%. The secret? Bas: “Both Marianne and I are very hands on. If we are needed in the operation area we will work as a team to finish the job. Next to that we’re always looking for new amazing sorts to inspire our customers.”

Pretty Paeonia
The nursery is known for the many perennials, but the main production contains Paeonia. From the beginning of the season there are more than 50 sorts available in potsizes from 11 cm to 26 cm. The first 2 years of the growing process is outdoor in soil on another location in the province of Brabant. When the Pionies are 3 years old they leave the nursery. This way of producing is unique within the world of Peony and takes place for a full 100% in the Netherlands. Every year the nursery produces new Peony sorts with beautiful colours and attractive scents, to surprise the consumers with this.
A great new and exclusive sort is Paeonia itoh, a crossing between the lactiflora and suffruticosa. It’s very special because of its firm, thick buds, colours and the amount of flowers.

Not pricky Pyracantha
The Pyracantha is also known as firethorn and was the first product ever grown on the nursery. The father of Bas and Marianne bred a very unique thornless sort. As the prickly thorn were always a reason for consumers not to put in the garden Bas and Marianne now are changing the image of the great plant.

Perfect perennials
Next to Paeonia and Pyracantha the grower also produces amazing perennials like Astilbe, Phlox and Lupine. Check out the tour by Bas and Marianne around the nursery. You will see from the video that spring is slowly starting.