He and his brother sat in the Rotterdam Library in the early 1950s to work out where in the world outside the Netherlands tulips would grow best.
Tulips require cool temperatures, a long growing season and plenty of rain, so it's not surprising their analysis of climatic data pointed to Southland.
The Dutch economy faltered during and after World War 2, the country was overcrowded and land was scarce. Jacques, the sixth generation of a well-established bulb growing family, decided to spread his wings and try his luck in another country, his son Philip said.
He spent a short time in Argentina but ''decided their work ethic did not fit with the Dutch work ethic'' of hard graft.
Back in the Netherlands, he had time to select his next country of choice - New Zealand - and a fiancee, Tilly.
Immigration laws of the day meant Dutch married couples had to have guaranteed jobs and incomes before they could settle here, so Jacques and Tilly arrived in 1952 as singles and married soon after in Balclutha.
About two years later, they moved to West Plains, on the outskirts of Invercargill, where they grew their tulips, built a home and processing shed, and raised five sons, Michael, Peter, Eric, Philip and John, now ranging in age from 58 to 49.
West Plains is only 6km from the sea and hail-prone, and land has been subdivided into lifestyle blocks, Philip says. So for many years, most of the van Eeden tulip growing has been on leased land in Myross Bush/Grove Bush area, about 20km northeast of Invercargill, with processing still done at West Plains.
Philip's mother is 89. His father died in February aged 92.
''He was waiting for the harvest to finish. He had to wait until John got the last of the bulbs out of the paddock, then he was allowed to go.''
