Meet the grower

Meet grower Thomas from Denmark

You can find the Møllerhøj nursery in the Danish village of Stige, where Thomas Kjær Larsen and his team grow Magical hydrangeas for indoor and outdoor use.

Thomas Kjær Larsen started his nursery, Gartneriet Møllerhøj, in 1996. The Danish grower grew up in horticulture: his parents also had a nursery in Denmark’s largest horticultural region. When a neighbour wanted to sell his nursery, Thomas knew straightaway that he wanted to take it on. Møllerhøj is named after a historic monument near the nursery.

The Gardener’s Own

‘I started small,’ recounts Thomas. ‘Initially I had 3500 m2 of land to grow plants.’ However, the nursery grew steadily, and in 2006 and Thomas launched his own label: The Gardener’s Own. With this brand he celebrates his family history and grows his plants using methods based on old family traditions.

Magicals for indoors and outdoors

‘We started growing the first Magicals in the 2010,’ says Thomas. ‘What is special about Magicals is the colour change, and that they last for such a long time. It really is a quality product. For me they are beautiful, easy plants to work with. We grow both the indoor and garden hydrangeas here. The Revolution, the indoor variety, is my favourite. It really is a very beautiful plant. I also have a lot of pale pink Magicals in my own garden.’

Blooming plants, growing business

With the growth of Møllerhøj’s range the entire business is developing well. ‘We now have ten hectares of land, and we are renting another five hectares. During our high season, in April/May, we have 80 people working here. Some numbers? We grow 170,000 Magical indoor hydrangeas and 80,000 Magicals for the garden every year.’ And Thomas and his colleagues are not resting on their laurels. ‘We are always looking at innovation, at new products. That is how we modernise our business.’

Where do all those Magicals go?

The Magical Hydrangeas grown at Møllerhøj mainly end up in Danish and Swedish homes and gardens. That particularly happens through the supermarkets: in Denmark a lot of plant lovers buy their botanical favourites there. Thomas says: ‘90% of our plants head northwards, 10% go south to countries such as Spain, the Netherlands and Germany.’ So maybe you have a Danish Magical in your home!

One final tip from Thomas

‘Magical hydrangeas were always sold in a blue pot, but are now supplied in a green one. So the plant is easy to recognise!’