More than 85 years of Garden Joy Founded in 1925 by Jacobus Theodorus De Vroomen, the family business has distinguished itself for over 80 years as a reliable supplier of an impressive mix of exclusive, hard-to-find and 'proven best seller' quality perennials and flowerbulbs. In 1890, Jacobus' father started growing bulbs as a hobby. This grew out to a small grower and export company. In 1918, after the First World War, his father advised Jacobus to start a company of his own. Together with his father in law and some other family members, Jacobus started "Dubbelhoven Nurseries". Unfortunately, this cooperation was not very successful and Jacobus decided to try it all by himself. In 1925 Jac. Th. De Vroomen became a fact. It started of in a small shed, but soon a bigger place was needed. In 1927, a new building was built, which included an office. The new building had modern facilities like an electric elevator and an incubator for hycinths. One year later, a piece of grassy land was bought to start a nursery on it. In the years of the big economical crisis, Jac. Th. de Vroomen had to fight for its existence and almost went down like many other companies. Fortunately the company survived and florished again at the end of the 30-ties. By that time, Jacobus got married and had five children. But than, the Second World War started. The company building was used as a storage area by the Dutch army and two officers were living in the family house. When the German army invaded Holland, an air-raid shelter was made at the company's land. The company car was used to drive around with an air-raid alarm. In 1943, Jacobus was kept in prison by German followers for two months. The war was a very bad time for all Dutch people. Fortunately, the Allied Powers liberated Holland in 1945, after five years of war. Jacobus had to do his very best to get his company back on track again. Fortunately, the personnel was glad to help. Jacobus also joined several committees of associations in the flowerbulb industry. Both his three sons and one of his daughters worked at Jac. Th. de Vroomen and later the three sons were taken into partnership. In the meantime, the nursery grew and soil optimalisation became more important. Most work on the fields was done by manpower, which was a very heavy task. Much later, machines were invented to do most of the heavy work. Untill 1958, everything went well with Jac. Th. de Vroomen and the children had children themselves. But in 1958, the family and company were struck by something less good: Jacobus died. The founder of the company was succeeded by his three sons (Ben, Hugo & Dick). By the years, the bulb company grew bigger and bigger. At the 40th anniversary of Jac. Th. de Vroomen, Dick sent a collection of peonies, hemerocallis and hosta to Lisse. A nice present, which was the start of the perennial nursery. Hugo's son Koos went to America to join the other sales representatives.

In 1974, Jac. Th. De Vroomen moved into a new building because the old one became too small. A few years later, Hugo moved to Kentucky (USA). Here, he and Koos managed to extend the company's activities. In 1979, Jack de Vroomen (Dick's son) finished his military service and set off with his father to learn the trade. The end of the seventies brought some setbacks for the company, which convinced Hugo to leave the company and just be a sales representative from that moment on. In the eighties, more and more American sales representatives joined. Eric Olson became marketing manager and Grady Bell, Doug & Cindy Gilberg and later his sister Candy did their very best to build up a great trade. In 1983, Ben de Vroomen received a medal of honour from the royal house for his merits to the company, the bulb sector and the community of Lisse over 40 years. During these years, Dick was a member of commity for the American section of the Federation of Bulbtraders. Also he was active for the Dutch ice skating team. In 1987, Dick received a medal of honour from the Dutch Olympic Commity. Later he also received a royal honour for these services. In the meanwhile, Ab Bos started travelling to Great Britain, Ireland and Greece to sell bulbs and perennials for De Vroomen. This became a great success. In 1987, grandmother Cor De Vroomen (Jacobus' wife) died. She had always been a great support for the whole family and company. The company's employees have always been very loyal: some of them even worked at the Vroomen for over 40 years. Over the years, the demand for bulbs from stock increased and a piece of land in Illinois was bought to start an American De Vroomen office. This was in 1989. In 1993, Jac. Th. De Vroomen took over a seed company. Jacques de Vroomen (son of Ben) took care of this part. Also he put much dedication into the European trade. Over the years, the nursery grew and became the first of all perennial exporters in Holland. Also the number of employees grew bigger. Dick worked at De Vroomen till 1994, then he retired. The company was turned over to Jack and Jacques. In 1999 Jacques bought the seed company out of Jac. Th. De Vroomen and carried on on his own. He still is a sales representative for Jac.Th. De Vroomen.