苗圃起源与早期切花业务
Fransen Hostas 的苗圃位于荷兰南荷兰省 Ter Aar，由 Marco Fransen 的父亲 Willem Fransen 在上世纪六十年代创办，最初是一处为阿姆斯特丹花拍（Aalsmeer）供应切花的家庭式种植场。早期品种以菊花、郁金香和康乃馨为主，一家人靠这个小小的切花场把日子过起来，也把对植物的耐心传给了下一代。
转种宿根与玉簪的引入
大约在 1980 年前后，苗圃开始从切花向多年生宿根植物转型，先种的是 Astilbe（落新妇）和芍药：花可以剪下来卖，植株本身也可以整盆销售，两个市场都能照顾到。Hosta（玉簪）就是在这段时期被引进苗圃的，最早的种苗主要供应给美国出口——这在当时欧洲本地零售玉簪的苗圃还很少见。
家族第二代与玉簪专营化
Marco 念完书之后回到苗圃跟着父亲干，苗圃里的玉簪品种一下子多起来。1990 年代初，欧洲很少有专门面向零售顾客的玉簪苗圃，他们去英国和德国寻找新种源，并在拜访德文郡 Devon 的 Ann 与 Roger Bowden 之后下定决心——要做一个只卖玉簪、也直接面向家庭园艺爱好者的专营苗圃。
自育品种与欧美引种网络
1992 年，他们从一棵 Halcyon 玉簪的带斑（variegated）芽变里选出了自己的第一个自育品种。苗圃所在地那条路叫 Paradijsweg，妻子名字叫 Joyce，把两者拼在一起就是 Hosta ‘Paradise Joyce’——这个品种直到今天仍然被他们视为最得意的代表作。1995 年第一次去美国，一路拜访了俄亥俄州 Van 和 Shirley Wade 的玉簪园；1996 年参加了在俄勒冈州波特兰举办的美国玉簪协会（AHS）年会，与会友们一起逛玉簪园成了那几年最常见的度假方式。后来还跟华盛顿州的 Naylor Creek Nursery 形成了互供关系：欧洲的玉簪往美国送，美国最新、最稀有的品种也通过他们较早进入欧洲。
今日规模、运营与对外服务
2003 年 Marco 和 Joyce 正式从 Willem 手中接过了苗圃的日常运营，Willem 仍然在苗圃和各类植物展销会上帮忙。苗圃目前对零售顾客供应约 1001 个玉簪品种和类型，对批发客户供应约 300 个；同时通过线下展销会与在线网站覆盖整个欧洲的客户网络。年度玉簪目录每年更新一次，另设「寄主积分」、代金券、品种搜索和照片上传等工具，顾客上传自己种的玉簪照片还能换取下次购苗的抵扣。
Nursery Origins and Early Cut-Flower Business
Fransen Hostas is a family nursery in Ter Aar, South Holland, the Netherlands, founded in the early 1960s by Marco Fransen’s father, Willem Fransen. The original business grew cut flowers for the Aalsmeer flower auction, with a wide range of chrysanthemums, tulips and carnations providing the family’s living and passing a working knowledge of horticulture on to the next generation.
Shift to Perennials and the Arrival of Hostas
Around 1980 the nursery moved away from cut flowers and began growing herbaceous perennials, starting with Astilbe and peonies. With those crops, the family could cut the flowers for the auction and still sell the plants themselves, which made the operation more resilient. Hostas were added to the assortment during this period, and the first plants were mostly grown for export to the United States, at a time when very few European nurseries sold Hostas to retail customers at all.
Second Generation and the Move to a Hosta Specialty
After finishing his studies, Marco joined his father on the nursery and the number of Hosta varieties being grown rose quickly. In the early 1990s, dedicated retail Hosta nurseries were rare in Europe. The Fransen family sourced new plants from a few good contacts in England and Germany, and it was a visit to Ann and Roger Bowden in Devon that convinced them to commit to a specialized Hosta nursery selling directly to home gardeners.
Own Introductions and the Transatlantic Hosta Network
In 1992, a variegated sport of Hosta ‘Halcyon’ gave the nursery its first named introduction. The road they live on is called Paradijsweg, and Joyce is the name of Marco’s wife; combining the two produced Hosta ‘Paradise Joyce’, which they still consider one of their best plants after many subsequent introductions. In 1995 the family made their first trip to the United States, touring the famous Hosta gardens of Van and Shirley Wade in Ohio. The following year they attended the American Hosta Society convention in Portland, Oregon, and visiting Hosta gardens together became their regular way of taking a holiday. A friendship with Naylor Creek Nursery in Washington State became a two-way channel: European Hostas went west, and the newest and rarest American cultivars reached Europe through the Fransens relatively early.
Today’s Scale, Operations and Customer Services
In 2003, Marco and Joyce formally took over the nursery from Willem, who remains active on site and at the many plant fairs the nursery attends. Today the nursery offers around 1001 Hosta varieties and species to retail customers and roughly 300 to wholesale buyers, and serves customers across Europe through a combination of plant fairs, an online webshop and an annual catalogue. Customer-facing tools include a Hosta search engine, FH Hostacredits loyalty points, vouchers, package deals, a photo-upload feature that earns future-purchase credit, and a 2026 catalogue released each year.
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