About Us

In 1938, Leendert Van Staalduinen left Holland with his wife, Cornelia, and their 10 children. Originally destined for the small Dutch enclave of Eastern North Carolina known as Terra Ceia,  the family ended up spending 5 years in Hamilton, Ontario Canada because of war-time immigration policies. Finally, the paperwork was in order for moving to the States, and in 1943, the family arrived in Pantego. It was here they would establish The Terra Ceia Farm to grow cut flowers.

As was typical at that time, growers would import fresh bulbs to plant in the Fall and harvest flowers from in the Spring. Leendert realized that there was opportunity for selling bulbs as well as their bounty and in 1950 he started a mail-order business as a sideline. When he was injured in a farm accident in 1960 and unable to do much work, he devoted himself entirely to this aspect of his business.

To make a long story short, through much blessing and hard work, the business grew and has now been passed to the third generation (or 'first generation American' as the elder Van Staalduinen was fond of saying). During this time the farm has diversified by adding row crops and field-grown nursery production - currently 1250 acres devoted to row crops and 250 acres for the cut flowers and nursery.

Thanks to many loyal customers, the mail-order has become a consistent avenue for getting our products into the garden. While we remain firmly 'grounded' in our past, we have much faith for the future and look forward to the opportunity to serve your flowerbulb and plant needs.

 

Sincerely,

Carl Van Staalduinen