Otterlo is a small village in the Veluwe region, known and loved for decades by many thousands of tourists from both the Netherlands and abroad. The village is located on the western foothills of the large Veluwe massif.
The area was shaped by the last Ice Age, which is clearly visible in the hilly terrain to the east and south of the village. Here you can find forests, sand dunes, and heathlands. But to the southwest, toward Ede, the remnants of the Ice Age are still clearly visible. This area of over 700 hectares – the Ginkelse Heide – is crisscrossed by walking and cycling paths. It played a prominent role in World War II. https://historiek.net/operatie-market-garden-doelen-tijdlijn-gevolgen/123367/
The northwest side of the village blends into the characteristic open-field landscape of the Gelderse Vallei.
Just outside the center of Otterlo is the main entrance to the Hoge Veluwe National Park. https://hogeveluwe.nl/ This contiguous area of 5,400 hectares with a hunting lodge, farms, and a restaurant was owned a century ago by the Kröller-Müller family from Rotterdam. In 1935, the area came into the hands of the State, which, according to the wishes of the former owners, placed it under a private foundation. Beautiful cycling and walking routes lead visitors through a varied landscape with heathlands, ponds, pine forests, deciduous woods, and sand drifts. It is a living and resting area for red deer, wild boar, and various smaller animals, birds, and insects.
Right in the middle of the park is the world-famous Kröller-Müller Museum (https://krollermuller.nl/), the brainchild of Helene Kröller-Müller. The museum has an extensive art collection, ranging from dozens of paintings by Theo van Gogh to works by artists like Claude Monet, Georges Seurat, Pablo Picasso, and Piet Mondrian. In the inspiring sculpture garden, you’ll discover works by the likes of Barbara Hepworth, Jean Dubuffet, and Marta Pan.
But our own nursery is also worth checking out. Next to our house, we grow all sorts of special bulbs: from small irises in March and fritillaries in April, garden tulips in May, to dahlias, Abyssinian gladioli, agapanthus, and galtonia in the summer and fall. Even in late autumn, the impressive and wonderfully fragrant ornamental ginger blooms. We finish the year with cheerful garden cyclamens.
Our specialty is breeding South African bulbs, such as Rhodoxis and Tulbaghia.
