Get to know the peony flower cultivation process of Groot & Groot Peonies

As you’re probably already aware, Groot & Groot Peonies is cultivating peony flowers. We stive to offer our customers the highest quality and most exclusive peony flowers possible.

Peony flower cultivation at Groot & Groot Peonies

Harvesting a peony field of a specific variety can be done within a few days, depending on the weather circumstances. Nevertheless, the basis of a good quality peony flower is being laid during the long cultivation period before harvesting. In the text below we would like to explain to you which key factors play an important role within the cultivation of peony flowers at Groot & Groot Peonies.

As described above, the peony flower is a seasonal flower. At our production location in The Netherlands, all flowers will be harvested within a 6 to 8 week timeframe. The season will start with the early blooming varieties and will naturally end with later peony varieties. Having an assortment with enough diversification regarding blooming moments is very important for cut flower peony growers to manage the workload within the organization and on the employees.

A peony plant can produce up to 6 to 15 flowers per plant depending on the variety and circumstances. Groot & Groot Peonies tries to maximize productivity by monitoring the state and needs of our plants on a very detailed level. Doing detailed soil analysis is one way we try to achieve this within Groot & Groot Peonies. Using this soil analysis we can determine which fertilization and crop protection programs we should be using. We do the analysis and programs on a variety level, because every variety has its own characteristics and needs to reach peak performance and maximum quality.
Durability is one of the developments that keeps getting more important within the cut flower sector. Groot & Groot Peonies is also highly valuing sustainability and we’re constantly innovating on this topic. This includes the use of sustainable pesticides for example. From 2020 onwards Groot & Groot Peonies is also MPS certified. MPS is the sustainability-certificate within the cut flower sector that is being recognized on a global level.

Cutting and harvesting peony flowers is mostly work that has to be done by hand. Groot & Groot Peonies has made the decision not to apply large-scale harvesting mechanisms because in our belief that will harm the quality of the flowers itself. Cutting the peonies itself is a hard task that you won’t be able to learn within a few minutes. Long days of training and education are applied in order to make sure our employees are able to harvest the peony flowers in their most optimal state. Every peony variety has its own characteristics and optimal harvesting moment. Groot & Groot Peonies has access to very experienced employees that have been working with the company for many years. This is a great benefit that contributes to the efficiency and quality standards that we have as a company. The high-season of peony flowers is a very busy period that is being carried out with a lot of passion, determination and cooperation within Groot & Groot Peonies.

The wide and exclusive peony assortment of Groot & Groot Peonies

As we described earlier in this blog, having a diversified assortment is very important to spread the workload in the harvesting season. Nevertheless, having a wide spread assortment also provides many other benefits to us and our customers. Groot & Groot Peonies is constantly reviewing and innovating its assortment by adding new exclusive varieties. By doing this we can meet the demands of our customers. We can produce exclusive varieties in relatively large quantities. This ensures that we are rarely unable to meet the demands of our customers.

Global production locations and year-round supply of peony flowers

Peony flowers are a typical seasonal product. Groot & Groot Peonies strives to offer year-round supply of peony flowers. We can realize this by having multiple production locations in different climate zones. In 2021, Groot & Groot Peonies has the flowing production locations available:

– Italy (Flowers available: March and April)
– France (Flowers available: May and June)
– The Netherlands (Flowers available: June to August)
– South-Africa (Flowers available: October to January)

All our production locations are using the cultivation methods designed by Groot & Groot Peonies. By doing so, we can make sure the quality of the flowers is equal and up to standards. We’re also able to process and export directly from most of our production locations, this limits the amount of logistical handlings done and improves the quality and freshness of your peony flowers.

The different markets of Groot & Groot Peonies

Groot & Groot Peonies has many diversified selling channels for its peony roots and flowers. Because of the exclusivity of our assortment and high quality of our peony flowers, Groot & Groot Peonies is very happy to have access to some very exclusive sales channels. High-end retailers and exclusive florists are great examples. Besides that our flowers are wanted amongst event-planners and wedding parties.

Our peony flowers are also available through the more regular sales channels of the auctions in Aalsmeer, Rijnsburg and Naaldwijk. You can recognize our peony flowers by our “Grandeur” branding on those auctions. The peony flowers that are on stock on the auction of Aalsmeer are also available through the Starflor webshop.

What determines the quality of peony flowers?

By means of the text below, we would like to explain to you which factors are important for you as a customer when it comes to determining the quality of peony flowers.
Uniformity is one of the most important factors when it comes to peony flower quality. As a consumer you want your peonies to open evenly, you also want to enjoy your peony flowers as long as possible. The uniformity of the peony flowers all starts with the cultivation process long before harvesting starts. Nevertheless the most important moment that makes or breaks the uniformity is the harvesting process itself. The optimal harvesting stage differs for every variety and that’s what makes it a real challenge to master. Groot & Groot Peonies has access to very experienced employees that are able to harvest the flowers in their most optimal stage, ensuring customers the optimal peony flower experience.
The bunching process of the peony flowers is another moment which is crucial when it comes to uniformity. During the bunching process, our employees will filter out any peony flowers that will show some sort of deviation. The peony flowers of Groot & Groot Peonies are very suitable for export purposes because of the high uniformity and quality of the flowers themselves.

Besides uniformity and ripeness, color-intensity is another very important factor once it comes to determining the quality of peony flowers. The right amount of sunlight will result in amazingly bright colors on the peony flowers themselves. Sunlight intensity is one of the main factors Groot & Groot Peonies looks at when researching potential new production locations. We can even use shade nettings if the sunlight intensity is too high for the peony flowers in a particular area.

The quality of peony flowers is not only in the flowers itself, the quality of the stems and leaves are very important to create that great contrast between the bright-green colored leaves and the colored peony flowers themselves. Groot & Groot Peonies tries to optimize the quality of the leaves and stems by not using aggressive pesticides, this is also beneficial from a sustainability perspective.

By giving our full attention to: uniformity, ripeness, sunlight intensity and leave quality, Groot & Groot Peonies realizes peony flowers of a very high quality of which we can guarantee opening of the flower themselves.