It  is amazing to see the process involved in order for a plant or flower to reach your garden or florist! One of the side trips we took on our recent trip to Holland was to the FloraHolland Flower market and auction house in Aalsmeer. They have six locations in Holland and together they are the largest cooperative of this kind in the world. Large batches of flowers, with hundreds of thousands of units of each variety, are brought to auction from all parts of the world, including Africa, South America, and the Middle East. There are tens of thousands of growers. There are 14 auction halls in Holland with an average of 115,981 clock transactions per day. The flowers are exported to all parts of the world. They deliver everything from multitudes of plants to store chains to a couple of bouquets to flower shops.

Flower Auction

At the auction house, all containers of flowers are stacked on a moveable cart called a trolley. There are various refrigerated areas with different temperatures to maintain the best climate for each product. There are inspectors who regulate quality control.Speed is an important factor. Once sold, flowers move directly to the distribution  area and are then dispatched that same day. It is fascinating to watch the trolleys race back and forth through the building. No sooner did you line up a beautiful shot of red rosessituated next to bright yellow begonias, than they were being rolled out before you! We used a panning technique which catches the movement of the trolleys and gives you a sense of the frenetic movement all around you. There are also some photos taken with rotation and slap-zoom techniques. Be sure to scroll down to  the picture which looks like Dorothy’s house amidst the tornado!

Flower Auction