2/1/2025
De Vroomen Marks Its Centennial
Chris Beytes
Congratulations to De Vroomen Garden Products of Gurnee, Illinois, for reaching the 100-year milestone in 2025. De Vroomen is a wholesale supplier of Dutch bulbs, bareroot perennials, seeds and other horticulture products.
The company was founded in the Netherlands in 1925 by multi-generational bulb grower Jacobus Theodorus De Vroomen. His three sons, Hugo, Ben and Dick, helped the company expand and establish itself as a prominent name in the bulb industry, especially as they launched offices in the U.S. and Canada in 1961. Today, they have a combined 160,000 sq. ft. of temperature-controlled space in Illinois and Kentucky from which they serve their North American customers.
Pictured: ■ Centennial Peony. ■ Centennial Tulip Blend Marcy. ■ The De Vroomen family.
The centennial celebrations for De Vroomen will include the release of two special products: the Centennial Tulip Blend Marcy and Centennial Peony. Centennial Tulip Blend Marcy is named for Marcy Simbro-Woodhouse, horticulturist for the city of Pella, Iowa, who created the colorful blend for the gardens around Pella’s Central Park fountain. De Vroomen saw the combination and loved it.
And Centennial Peony, known for its exceptionally large, pure white, double-petaled and fragrant blooms, is a tribute to De Vroomen’s leadership in top-quality perennials, offering an enduring symbol of company excellence in horticulture.
To ensure the future of gardening, De Vroomen will also launch the Sesame Street Collection, a collaboration with Sesame Street that features gardening kits, seeds, tools and activities centered around beloved characters like Big Bird, Elmo and Cookie Monster.
“We are incredibly proud of the past 100 years and our global team’s achieved success, though we remain deeply focused on both the present and future,” said Joris Philippo, head of De Vroomen Garden Products’ Dutch office. “De Vroomen’s mission is to continue providing the highest quality, true-to-name products, on-time delivery and the largest selections on the market, all while adapting to the evolving needs of the industry and its next generation of horticulturists.” GT