“Vote for the First National Flower of the Netherlands: Five Finalists Announced”

This shortlist was announced this morning in the program on NPO Radio 1. Vroege Vogels is organizing the election because the Netherlands lacks a national flower, in contrast to other countries, according to the program.

The Belgians have the poppy, the Germans the cornflower, the Austrians the Edelweiss and the Finns the lily of the valley.

More than 25,000 people have voted in the election in recent weeks. From now on you can vote for the five remaining contenders. You can do so until June 2, two days later the program will announce the winner.

Here are all five:

Every flower has its own ambassador. Singer Ruben Hein, TV chef Yvette van Boven, influencer Teske de Schepper, box office presenter Amber Kortzorg and TV gardener Lodewijk Hoekstra will draw attention to their flower in the coming period.

The election is done by the BNNVARA program in collaboration with Esther van Gelder (cultural historian and curator at the KB, the national library), Baudewijn Odé (ecologist at FLORON), Norbert Peeters (botanical philosopher and researcher at Leiden University), Nils van Rooijen (plant ecologist at Wageningen University & Research), Rogier van Vugt (head of horticulture at the Hortus botanicus Leiden) and Esmée Winkel (botanical artist and scientific illustrator at Naturalis BiodiversityCenter).