As you look around Peter van Steijn's nursery, you suddenly become aware that it is full of spiky plants.

For Echinops and Eryngium rule the roost here, with some 20 varieties of the former being grown.

Echinops and Eryngium come in all sizes and degrees of spikiness

Walking though the crop rows can get you paranoid about getting scratched, though Peter is quick to point out which varieties are more vicious than others!

In fact, one of his breeding missions is to breed the spikiness out of Eryngiums to make them more user friendly.

Most of the plants in production here are taller varieties for the cut flower market, though Peter has also discovered that some shorter varieties are very effective for making good, bushy bouquets, especially for people who have shorter vases!

Bees from Eryngium fields on the other side of town are placed inside this breeding box, which traps them together with a variety Peter wants to make crossings with. The resulting seeds will be sewn out to see what emerges.

The other feature of the nursery are the breeding areas, where seeds are planted out for selection, and the chosen selections grown on.