Video: Aalsmeer Flower Auction

The town of Aalsmeer lies on the ring canal of the Haarlemmermeer polder, a third of its area occupied by water. During the Middle Ages the town owed its importance to fishing, farming, the peat trade and, from 1450, horticulture, which became increasingly important as the nearby town of Amsterdam grew in size and population.

The town’s horticultural activity began with the cultivation of lilac, but later switched to pot plants and cut flowers. There are now well over 600 flower nurseries in Aalsmeer; the greenhouses cover an area of 1,500 acres.