'Also, play primarily on smell'

Spring is bursting forth and the splash of color is appearing in the form of budding branches, bulbs sprouting from the ground and blossoms shooting into bloom. Green stylist Sjacco Gerritsen can get excited about it every year. 'Spring is the period from which we get a lot of energy at Fleur Inn green styling. New year, new opportunities and every time you notice that the customers are looking forward to making their homes and gardens cosy again with spring flowers.

'We use a lot of flared branches and a lot of natural materials. It is also very exciting and surprising to play on smell. That sometimes gets a little into the background.'

'The smell of spring: daffodils, mimosa, hyacinths, lilies: you can tell from the customer in the store that they love it. Real spring is in color, fragrance and design - we as florists can do a lot with that. And above all also seduce the customer.'

'Spring to me means color and wonder'

In addition to running her business Hilde in house, flower decorator Hilde Pit teaches four days at a VMBO green school where she introduces students to the floral profession during flower & design classes. 'Students inspire me by their wonder about certain materials, all the more fun to inspire them again with new materials.'

'I grew up with National Park Weerribben-Wieden as my backyard. This is where my love for being outdoors and beautiful materials from nature was born. Spring for me means fine materials, color and wonder. Seeing the buds coming back on the trees and the first fresh sprigs in the garden: fantastic.'

'In this season I use bright colors in combination with pastels, all mixed together. I like stubborn materials: fragile ranunculus, but also tulips that decide for themselves which way to grow. Today's customer appreciates flowers much more the way they are now: few leaves, purity. That's something we've seen in recent years, but I'm sure customers will appreciate it even more in the future.

Spring symphony

Spring is arriving. And it can be felt as early as February, although of course it can still be quite a winter well into March and even April. But for now, the outside temperature has been very mild for weeks this year, reason why the bulbs in the garden are sprouting out of the ground, the branches are budding and the birds, judging by their whistling, already have spring clearly in the air.

'One and all emotion captured in a span of time'

For florist Max van de Sluis, spring is one of the most beautiful times of the year. "A lot is happening. Different plants and flowers come up, everything gets color in the garden and nature, and above all, life gets warmer and more pleasant.'

'All of this is all emotion, and moreover captured in a time period. That is what I try to incorporate in my flower arrangements. Sometimes that means working with lots of color, so that an explosion is depicted in an arrangement, as it were. And another time I will choose for the modest transformation of dead nature into the new and young green as it sprouts in spring'.

'It is particularly intriguing and inspiring every year. The spring season has so much to offer. Just think in colors from warm to cold - each color palette depicts its own emotions and pure beauty in the process.'

'Ranunculus really gives the feeling of spring'

Floral designer Marcel van der Haar likes to work with parrot and French tulips in spring. "I also find ranunculus really gives the feeling of spring.

'What I like to show in my arrangements is the changing of seasons. I then incorporate dead winter materials such as dried grasses. These are then slowly displaced in my arrangements, as it were, by the colorful spring flowers that herald the next season.'

Apart from the fact that I enjoy working stylistically, my preference in my arrangements is to put down products as naturally as possible. Nature is my biggest source of inspiration. Even at trade fairs I see that slowly many honest materials in natural colors are being used again - although there are always colorful counterparts to be found as well'.

'Also, as a car enthusiast, I can become very inspired by a beautifully designed car, piece of furniture or building. The important thing is to take a good look around you, wherever you are - then inspiration comes naturally.'

Winter tinted

November marks the transition from autumn to winter. Still, autumn does not let itself be driven away so easily; it seems as if the leaves on trees and shrubs color later every year. But at the end of November, winter really does make its appearance.