The containers of tulip flowers in storage at Henk van der Slot’s farm in The Netherlands were supposed to go to Vatican City. The Roman Catholic Church planned to use them to help celebrate the Easter holiday on April 12. But travel and transport restrictions forced a change of plans. The church will go without the famed Dutch flowers this year. The church is not alone in that. The coronavirus is a disaster for the Dutch flower industry, said Michel van Schie. He is the press officer at Royal Flora Holland, a group of growers that sells some 12 billion plants and flowers each year. But, van Schie said 85 percent of the market turnover has disappeared.
