By the time he was starting to think about early retirement, growing perennials had become more of a way of life for Nic than just a job. So, in 1994, in a rather back-to-front scenario, he took over running a nursery owned by his own son, who had decided to get out of the business.

Nic now owns a number of fields in Hillegom, Holland, which are used to grow a range of perennials including Helenium, Astilbe, Sidalcea, Oenothera and others.

Nic gets down with Helenium 'Chelsey' in his production field.

Heleniums became the focus of Nic's attention in 2002, after he purchased a second-hand greenhouse, complete with unnamed seedlings stock of Heleniums. H. 'Chelsey' was a plant he selected from this stock.

Nic shows us a new all-yellow Helenium, which could be introduced in 2006.