Reopening soon, Small discount, Open Day coming up, Private nonsense

The webshop has been closed for a few months now. The growing season is approaching. The days are getting longer. And the worst of the cold is almost over. I hope to reopen the webshop and start taking orders sometime next week.

I strongly urge you not to place any orders in the meantime. I understand it will be very tempting, especially when I'm busy restocking. But it will be too complicated for me if I have to combine too many different orders. That will definitely lead to errors on my part.

Secondly, I pay for every transaction, and especially with refunds, it's a waste of money. I'm still considering other options to prevent orders from being placed in the meantime, without having to take the entire website offline. I might be able to delete the shopping cart, or all payment options. But I'll have to add everything back, and meh, that takes quite a bit of time. So please, I know it's going to be very difficult. I'm noticing that people can't wait any longer. But please be patient a little longer.

To make it more attractive, I'll be giving away a small discount code at the opening. More information will follow... Please note that this won't be nearly as good as the last Black Friday offer. I can promise there will be no other discounts this year, except for the next Black Friday. I try to make the price of the plants increasingly attractive for everyone throughout the year.

The plants have been waiting for a while now, and with all these extra months, they're truly beautiful. Because I was able to rent extra space in the greenhouse last year, I can start the year with a very large selection. I have much more stock, so I hope more customers will have the chance to get their favorites. And some new, never-before-released varieties will be added, although unfortunately, stock is still low for these special varieties. Very recently, I was able to rent extra space in the greenhouse again. Everything still needs to be set up and grown. But that means the selection will expand considerably again in the summer.

A Hoya surprise box is coming. Because I have so many plants, some varieties always stay on the table for far too long. Because they start to climb, it's sometimes unmanageable. So what you'll find in this box are mainly plants that are much too large for their intended purpose, and therefore take up too much space on the table. So you don't have a choice in what you get, and they certainly won't be the more expensive Hoyas. But it's an ideal box for beginners to quickly and inexpensively expand the collection. Or as a gift for a new plant lover. Further information will be included with the product.

The Greenhouse Tour is also coming up. Because I'm still busy with all sorts of things at the moment, it's difficult to set a date yet. But I'll announce it as soon as I know the date. This could really take a few weeks.

A lot has happened in the last few months. For those who have read most of the blog posts in full, I've had a long time to think and make some difficult decisions. I've decided I really want to leave the Netherlands as soon as possible. This is easier said than done, because of the work I do. So, it will probably take years. The plan is to have another long winter break at the end of this year. This will give me the chance to explore the world. Due to the overheated housing market and no prospect of improvement, life on a boat is one of the remaining options. To make this life more bearable, and to be able to take my house abroad with me in the future, I've bought a new boat.

I started looking for large boats; it's going to be my home for the next few years, so it had to be quite large. In this search, which has been going on for quite some time now, there was one boat I kept returning to. However, this one is way above my budget. And it's so big that I need a boating license. Finding a place to park it with these dimensions could also be a challenge. Finally, I went to see the boat and fell in love with it. I've entered into an agreement with the seller and will soon become the owner of the Elizabeth. This is a former German customs/patrol vessel, 17 meters long and almost 4 meters wide. The vessel is made entirely of aluminum, making it very easy to maintain. Its lightweight construction allows it to reach impressive speeds, even with its dimensions. This is another reason why a boating license is required for this vessel. I took the exam and fortunately passed. I also managed to find a new mooring for the boat. This went quite smoothly. I had found two very nice moorings and had to choose between them. This choice was the hardest part. In the end, I chose a beautiful spot on the Rhine. A very short boat ride and I'm right on the beach and the sea. Katwijk aan Zee, and the distance to the greenhouse is quite manageable. Summer, I'll use the little free time I have between your orders to completely renovate the boat's interior and get it ready for my trip this coming winter.

The boat needs to be moved to its new mooring by April 1st. And it's currently moored somewhere else in the Netherlands. Therefore, I'll be closing for a short week sometime before April 1st to sail the boat over, and then take a few days' vacation to enjoy the crossing. To finance this very expensive purchase, I'm hoping for a lot of orders! After the opening, not before :) And finally, the long-promised Thomsonii spectacle. This is why I love Hoyas. Seeing this in person is truly breathtaking. Photos only show a glimpse, but I did my best to capture it as accurately as possible.