Over semester break, 13 students from Hortus Forum, Cornell’s undergraduate horticulture club, traveled to Holland and Germany. Sure, they spent time soaking up the local culture (including street flower markets in Amsterdam, right), food and drink.  And they stayed on in houseboats on the Amstel River. 

But the goal of their trip was to see the latest innovations in European floriculture and greenhouse technology. And they got their fill of that, too.

“Producers in Europe face very high labor and energy costs. So they are leaders in automation and energy-saving technology,” says Neil Mattson, one of the Department of Horticulture faculty who accompanied the students. “During their careers, these students will bring many of these practices to the U.S. as we cope with rising costs, too.”

The trip was paid for by Hortus Forum plant sales on campus (Christmas poinsettias, Valentine’s Day roses, houseplants, etc.), and by a generous grant from the Susan E. Lynch endowment for undergraduate travel experiences in Plant Sciences.

The group’s three days in Holland included stops at many cutting-edge companies, specializing in bulb forcing, seedling production, greenhouse vegetable breeding, seed technology and more.

In Germany, the group visited more companies and attended the International Trade Fair for Plants, the largest ornamental horticulture exhibit in the world, attracting 60,000 visitors each year.

“It was an eye-opening experience,” says Bill Miller, director of Cornell’s Flower Bulb Research Program and faculty advisor to Hortus Forum. “The show has international exhibits with all the latest in ornamental plant production, new plant materials, landscaping, floristry and marketing.”

Much of the fair focuses on ways to add value to floriculture plants, a strong focus of European growers to help stretch their very tight profit margins.

Despite higher energy and labor costs, European growers have the advantage of being a very specialized industry, allowing them to focus on what they do best, observes Miller. “The growers grow plants. They tell you they are not in the trucking, computer or retail business.” Growers also have the advantage of being able to sell through the huge Dutch flower auction, which has no equivalent in the U.S.

What else amazed the students? Specialized vegetable seed selling for $1 each. Coffee at $6 a cup. Gas at $8.50 per gallon. “And BMWs passing us doing at least 110 mph,” says Miller. “And we weren’t even on the Autobahn.”

Pictures courtesy Neil Mattson, Bill Miller and Allison Gardiner.