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Euphorbia by Luiten Flowers
“One very charming aspect of visiting Luiten flowers is the bees in the greenhouse. You can hear them buzzing about!”
When Autumn comes rolling around, it’s time for Euphorbia! Strictly seasonal and a challenge to grow, Euphorbia Fulgens is a bit of a niche flower. But we love niche products here at Hukra, and we love learning all about them! Euphorbia is grown by only a handful of growers, who have mastered the art of growing it over the years. Luiten Flowers is one of those growers, and they have been growing Euphorbia for twenty years!
The journey of an Euphorbia flower starts as a cutting. Luiten Flowers has their own mother plants, from which they take cuttings for about 50% of the flowers they produce. The other 50% of the cuttings are bought, but from next year on, the company will stop buying cuttings and produce all of their own. But that’s not all! As Euphorbia is such a niche product, the growers work together as a tightknit community. Luiten Flowers will produce cuttings for all of the growers from next year on as well.
The cuttings are placed in soil and then transported to a rooting space. This is the most important stage of growing this flower! If the roots don’t develop in the right way, the plant won’t grow to produce the wished quality. But, when the roots develop and grow well, the plant is well manageable and will surely grow to produce the right quality. It takes about six months for a cutting to grow to a flowering stem.
When we say that Euphorbia is a well manageable flower, it means that the grower can steer the growth of it, the condition being that the roots of the cutting have developed well. Water management is the most important aspect in this. More water means more growth, less water means the growth will slow down. Of course temperature and sunlight play a big role as well.
Euphorbia is sensitive to sunlight, so therefore it’s grown to produce its flowers during Autumn, which is the ideal time for the flowers to bloom.
One very charming aspect of visiting Luiten flowers is the bees in the greenhouse. You can hear them buzzing about! They come flying into the greenhouse from a local beekeeper, and are drawn to the Euphorbias pollen, which they clean off the flowers. Bees in the greenhouse also mean less pests. Luiten Flowers uses organic pest control, and the bees are a nice (albeit unintentional) extra in keeping unwanted insects out of the greenhouse.
When the Euphorbia stems are fully grown, they are cut by hand and placed onto large carts to be taken to the production line. The flowers are put in bunches, and then placed in boiling water. Euphorbia stems, when cut, produce a latex like liquid that closes off the stem, preventing it from absorbing water. By placing the stems in boiling water for about eighteen seconds, this effect is countered and the stem are able to absorb water. The stems are then placed in carts with a pre-treatment agent, where they have to stay for a minimum of four hours. The pre-treatment agent improves the vase life of the Euphorbia. Afterwards the flowers are packed and send to the flower auction.
One common misconception about Euphorbia is that the florist has to put the stems in boiling water a second time, but this is not necessary at all! The grower has taken all the required steps to ensure you receive a flower that you can work with perfectly!
Euphorbia is a flower that ‘lives’ on the vase. The stems are harvested with open flowers, and this means some flowers will wilt on the vase, but new flowers open up as well! The flowers can last up to ten days on the vase, and it’s not necessary to add any flower food to the water. Euporbia has to be place outside of the cooling unit, ideally at a temperature above 12°C.
Want to work with this gorgeous Autumn flower? You can find all the available colours in our web shop!
