Beechill Bulbs Home

We are suppliers of top quality, top size and true variety, Spring & Autumn Planting bulbs:

• On a wholesale basis to garden centres, landscapers, tidy towns, community groups & public bodies.
• We also provide advice and planting schemes, as well as a mechanical planting service for larger projects.

If you need help choosing the right bulbs at the right time contact us for expert help or call in to our Tullamore Bulb Centre

Summer 2019 Landscape and prepack catalogues now available

Landscape Catalogue

Our 2019 Summer bulbs catalogue is now available to view online, just click on the link here or on the image of the catalogue above. As well as per species Sun/shade requirement table and flowering calender, also of interest is a short list of scented plants - because colour is only so much! Biodiversity is of course front and centre for the industry now and into the future, with our summer biodiversity mixture as well as helpful icons throughout the catalogue informing you of the suitability of varieties for biodiversity planting. The catalogue is divided by species, with each section providing lots of variety and colour. The trend towards mixtures that provide a range of colours and flowering times for longer displays and reduced maintenance, continues upward.

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Keukenhof trip 2017

Our annual trip to the Keukenhof gardens this year was on the 26th of April. We were blessed with both the weather and the display this year.

We visited the "Remarkable" breeding facility again after missing it for a couple of years. It was amazing to see the display of the varieties that are being bred and selected for further production. And of course we had to get a picture in the middle of them!!

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Time for the highlight of the day - Keukenhof. This year there was a new entrance with landscaped beds to give you a taste of whats to come on the inside. The weather gods were most definitely smiling down on us, as it was relatively mild and beautiful blue skies. Luck of the Irish I guess as there were torrential downpours and even some hail the previous evening.

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One of my top 5 favourite attractions in the garden. Such a simple little flower but the effect is completely at odds with its size or habit,

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Hyacinth Delft Blue providing a soft backdrop to the red and orange tulips,

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of course theres always Miffy!!!.

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Keukenhof trip 2016

We had our third annual trip to Holland on the 13th of April. It was a packed bus this year with 51 customers attending.

After some security hiccups - where people ironically looked younger than their passport photos, (another perk of working in horticulture), we got out of Schipol and down to the growers. A quick introduction and presentation on bulb production, then it was out to the fields.

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"Time for the highlight of the day - Keukenhof. Like last year the season was running late, although it was somewhat warmer on the day. Before we got going, the head designer of the Keukenhof came to give us a talk about whats involved in designing and running such a spectacular show every year. The show now has upwards of 1 million visitors - and its only open for 2 months!"

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The hyacinths were looking amazing,

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the Anemone Blanda were putting on a great show,

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and the combinations are getting more exciting.

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Landscape quality bulb planting tools now in stock

In response to a growing number of queries about manual bulb planting and associated tools, we have sourced a manufacturer of quality garden tools for the job. One that is used exclusively by the gardeners in the Keukenhof gardens - what greater endorsement than that. Long handled planters with steel or ash handles, planting trowels, all made out of stainless steel and built to cope the hardest workers.

Keukenhof trip 2015 - "a lovely day out"

We had our second annual trip to Holland on the 15th of April. The turnout this year reflected the growing interest in bulbs for planting schemes, with 40 of our customers coming along. As always in the horticultural industry, it was an early start with our departure from Schipol airport at 9.00, but everyone was up for the challenge.

We transferred from there to our main growers in Noordwijkerhout. Before we got down to the nitty gritty of the tour, we perked up with some coffee & pastry's. The tour began with a demonstration of the mechanical planting machine and then a walk through the cut flower production area - where tulips were being grown in crates in a climate controlled environment.

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We then transferred to the keukenhof gardens for the high point of the day. While it was mid April, the season was about 2 weeks late so while the main flush of tulips had not yet appeared, there was a fantastic display of narcissus, hyacinth and other early flowering species.

The trip was generally well received and we will be running another at approximately the same time next year. Book your place soon!

Beechill Bulbs arranges a customer education day to Keukenhof Gardens in Lisse, Holland

On Tuesday 15th April last, Damian and Janet from Beechill Bulbs, met with 19 of their customers at Schiphol Airport and brought them on an educational day, around the beautiful bulb growing region of Lisse, Holland.

The day began with a visit to our main dutch growers. They are also one of the main growers of bulbs and cut flowers in Holland. Here we got a chance to watch the mechanical planter (click to see it) in action, explore some fields of tulips, see the emphasis that is placed on quality control and also explore first-hand the processes involved with growing bulbs and cut flowers on a commercial basis.

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By the time we got finished there, it was time for lunch, but not before a trip to the top of the local "mountain". So called because it is the highest point of ground in an otherwise completely flat landscape, it is in fact a sealed landfill that has a golf course on top of and around its base. It also makes for an excellent view point to take in the landscape of thousands of acres of flowers and bulbs. And not being used to hills, we had to use golf buggys to ascend.

Following this, the group visited a Tulip breeding co-operative, where nine of the top bulb growers in Holland work together and heavily invest in breeding new varieties of tulips. We got a tour of a secure field of new varieties, and a talk on the cross breeding process, variety selection and eventual commercial production.

New variety breeding and selection is extremely important in the bulb industry for a number of reasons:

• Changing trends
• Disease resistance
• Flower vigour
• Cut flower life
• Genetic Degradation

Of the 100,000 cross breedings that take place every year, only 2% will ever make it through to commercial production - which can take between 15 and 20 year.

After an intense morning of learning, the group then spent the afternoon exploring the 79 acres of the spectacular Keukenhof gardens. Keukenhof is an international and independent showcase of the Dutch floricultural industry, with special emphasis on flowering bulbs, where approximately 7 million bulbs are planted annually. A wonderful way to get inspiration and bring home new ideas for possible plantations around Ireland.

All in all, a successful trip had by all and one hopefully to be repeated in the future.

Keukenhof Gardens

To learn more about the Keukenhof gardens click here

Opening hours

• Monday to Friday 9 to 6
• Saturday 9 to 1

Location

• Clara rd, Tullamore, find our location here