Netherland Bulb Company offers success in seasonality

Barry VanDyke, general manager at Cross Creek Nursery & Landscaping, has a simple dream: to one day have a bulb room. The Richmond, Virginia, IGC has offered bulbs for at least 15 years, but it wasn’t until two years ago that he investigated what other brands were out there — and that’s when he found Netherland Bulb Company.

“When I took over, we carried just the basics of the bulbs, so I jumped into the [Netherland Bulb] catalog and just started looking. I was like, ‘Oh my God, look at all these amazing bulbs!’ And I visited other nurseries and had seen entire rooms full of bulbs. And I would see all these neat things. I really changed the selection over the past couple years,” he says.

Aside from being excellent communicators, he says, the company has a constant supply of seasonal offerings. Netherland Bulb is ready for every season — from summer water plants to fall bulbs, amaryllis bulbs during the holidays and a wide array of spring bulbs, the seasonal selection is “fantastic,” VanDyke says.

VanDyke also loves the interactive displays and raised, colorful signage posters because customers can easily spot the bulbs above the aisles of plants. Another big draw is the fact that the company offers fresh, blooming bulb racks in the spring.

“We have two racks that we put on each side of the front door filled with hyacinths, daffodils and irises,” he says. “As soon as the customer comes in, they’re hit with the smell of those hyacinths — and all the other fresh flowers are sitting right there. Once they smell that hyacinth first thing in the spring, they can’t resist.”

The displays are essential for Cross Creek because the IGC also sells bulb diggers and bulb fertilizers right next to them, which helps boost add-on sales tremendously, VanDyke says. But above all, he chooses to carry them because of their quality and variety. According to VanDyke, other bulb companies don’t offer 12-month programs like Netherland Bulb.

Netherland Bulb’s communication and commitment to quality have blown him away, which makes ordering hassle-free. “In the past, I’ve received a lot of incomplete forms from other bulb companies. But Netherland Bulb sends everything over with all the information: here’s the item; here’s how many packages are in a case; here’s how many bulbs are in the package; here’s the UPC code. They have it all figured out,” he says.

VanDyke says the customer feedback has been “phenomenal,” and notes that the bulbs thrive in the region’s climate.

“Customers are just surprised at all the bulbs we have out there. They’re loving it,” he says.