Remembering A Bulb Legend
June 3, 2011 Jan S. Ohms, one of the Dutch flower bulb sector’s most respected leaders, died May 27 after a brief illness. He was 85.
Over his lifetime, Ohms is credited with supplying close to one billion flower bulbs to botanical, public and private gardens across the United States. The Van Engelen and John Scheepers flower bulb companies are among the largest importers of Dutch flower bulbs in the United States.
“Jan Ohms was one of the last great men standing,” says Eric Breed, a Dutch flower bulb expert in Lisse, Holland.
With 60-plus years involvement in horticulture and flower bulbs in the U.S. and Holland, Ohms was known throughout the industry as a keen businessman who believed high quality held the key to success. He was the CEO of three American direct-mail-order gardening companies: Van Engelen, John Scheepers and John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds. All three companies are based in Bantam, Conn.
“He was very knowledgeable about flower bulbs and generous with that knowledge, but people and relationships were most important to him,” says Frans Roozen, technical director of the International Flower Bulb Center in Hillegom, Holland.
Ohms grew up working in the family’s flower bulb nurseries and bulb fields. He earned a specialized degree in ornamental horticulture from the Rykstuinbouw School in Lisse, Holland. He graduated from the University of Connecticut with a degree in landscape architecture and agricultural economics.
Ohms married Faith van Slingerlandt in 1952. Shortly after, he moved his young family to Stamford, Conn., and started Jan S. Ohms, which sold flower bulbs to private estates along the East Coast. Ohms represented the third generation of his family to carve a career in the Dutch flower bulb business.
In the 1970s, Ohms expanded his business when he acquired Van Engelen. The launch of the Van Engelen wholesale flower bulb catalog, with help from his wife, soon followed. In 1991, Ohms entered the retail mail-order business when he bought John Scheepers.
Ohms welcomed his daughter Jo-Anne van den Berg-Ohms into the business in 1994. She became president of John Scheepers.
“Our business not only represents my father’s legacy, it’s his vision," she says. "Our team has 25 years of experience working together and we will continue to run the three companies with the high standards and ethical practice my father would expect.”
Subscribe to eNewsletter
