Jan de Graaff

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Born in May 1903 in Leiden, by William H. and Francisca de Graaff. The de Graaff family dealt with garden bulbs through a company founded in 1723 by Cornelis de Graaff. Mainly Narcissus, Iris and Tulips were grown. As a boy Jan collected all kinds of lilies commercially available at the time, but he didn’t go directly into his parents’ business, starting diplomatic training instead. Still very young, at the age of 25, in 1928 he went to the United States and became a consultant for the Oregon Bulb Farm founded in the same year in Gresham near Portland, which at that time dealt exclusively with Narcissus and Iris. In 1934 Jan de Graaff acquired the company and began with the first attempts at breeding lilies in 1938. Lilies (similar to orchids) are famously beautiful flowers but very difficult to grow and unsuitable for the mass market. After several attempts, in 1940 he was able to offer large quantities of Lilies, this allowed him to acquire a fortunate economic wealth. In June 1947 he selected the Enchantment variety, which was a great success and is considered the best-selling lily in the world. It also introduced the Stargazer variety and became a leading US producer of Narcissus and Tulip bulbs. However, the real success was that of having paved the way for the cultivation of the lily as a garden plant, a practice that until then was almost impossible. In the 1950s, Oregon Bulb Farm thrived to fill the entire farm with lilie (14, 15). In 1950 Jan de Graaff received the Thomas Roland Medal from the Massachusetts Horticultural Society and in 1962 he was awarded the American Home Achievement Medal for his outstanding work in horticulture. (16). Meanwhile, Jan’s wife, Peggy, volunteered to assist nurses at Red Cross military and civilian hospitals in Multnomah County. For her 2000 hours of volunteer service she was rewarded. (17) In 1968, de Graaff sold his company and retired to Manhattan. He will die on August 5, 1989 in New York from complications due to Parkinson’s disease. On December 24, 1998, at the age of 91, Peggy will also die. They had two children, Alfred and Joan.

The Australian Women’s Weekly - Jan 19-1966