Daisy voted national flower of the Netherlands in radio program

The daisy was declared the national flower in the national flower election of the radio program Vroege Vogels on Sunday morning. This was announced during the broadcast of the program BNNVARA. A total of 53,000 people voted for their favorite flower.

In recent weeks, the dandelion, the lapwing flower, the pipeweed and the cuckoo flower also competed for the title of national flower. But the daisy was ultimately chosen by a "large majority," according to the radio program.

Vroege Vogels host Menno Bentveld thinks it's great that tens of thousands of people have cast their votes. "Attention to the beauty and importance of wildflowers is also attention to the vulnerability of wild flora and its role in biodiversity and the survival of insect and bird species," Bentveld said.

Vroege Vogels organized the election because, unlike other countries, the Netherlands does not have a national flower, the program explained. The Belgians, for example, have the poppy, the Germans the cornflower, the Austrians the edelweiss and the Finns the lily of the valley.

The Minister of Nature and Nitrogen, Christianne van der Wal, called the election a "sympathetic initiative that makes people aware of all the beautiful wildflowers around us. It brings people closer to nature, and that's a good thing, because nature and society need each other."

The election is an initiative of Vroege Vogels in collaboration with Esther van Gelder (cultural historian and curator at 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 Hortus botanicus Leiden), and Esmée Winkel (botanical artist and scientific illustrator at Naturalis BiodiversityCenter).