Tulips!!!

Yesterday morning Glen attended some epidemiology seminars.  Not his field but he says he always learns a lot from these studies.  He was reluctant to leave the conference but we had planned a visit to a tulip garden.

Keukenhof Gardens are only open for two months each year, mid-March until mid-May.  This year because of the cooler temperatures in the Netherlands (which means low-lying land), the blooms were still vibrant.  This was the 63rd year the gardens have been open for viewing tulips and other spring bulbs.  They display 4.5 million tulips featuring 100 different varieties.  We spent 2 hours in the park and only saw half of it.

Keukenhof means kitchen and in the 15th century, the area was a hunting park and herb (kitchen) garden for the castle of Jacoba van Beleren.  Later, it was transformed into a classic English garden then in 1949, became an open air flower exhibition.  Pavilions scattered about the park and named for the Dutch royal family, continue this exhibiting tradition.

I had booked the tour on-line with the company recommended by the conference, Lindbergh Tours.  We were to catch the bus from their store on the Damrak.  They offered three tours of the gardens--4.5 hours, 7, and 9 hours.  We chose the half-day one (beginning at 2:30) which cost us 38 euros (~$50) each.

The bus drove us through the city and into the countryside where we saw just a smattering of brightly coloured fields.  Our guide told us that most tulip fields are green because it is the bulbs that are the main crop, not the flowers.  We did see fields where red and yellow petals blanketed the paths between the rows where farmers had removed the blossoms to encourage bulb production.

Our guide told us we had 2.5 hours to explore the gardens and photograph the tulips.  It seemed like a lot of time but it flew by.  The first beds we saw were colourful but the tulips had passed their prime.  This changed when we wandered further into the gardens.  As there is so much to do, we decided to focus on walking to the windmill we'd seen when entering the park.

We paused first at the walled, historical garden planted with centuries-old flowering bulbs and kitchen herbs.  Glen couldn't resist rubbing the rosemary.  It is a contemplative garden and folks were seated in the benches lining the walls enjoying the brief periods of warm sunshine on this cloudy, cool day.

The meandering paths led us past tulips of every shade, hyacinths in fuschia and white, and more varieties of narcissus than I thought existed.  Canals divided the gardens and one could board 'whisper' boats to explore it as gardeners once did.  Water is also featured in reflecting ponds and fountains.  We passed one of these and came upon a maze.  We hadn't done a cedar hedge maze since we visited Hampton Court Palace in London, England 35 years ago.

Unlike a labyrinth which has only one path to its centre, a maze has several choices.  We quickly discovered the correct path, climbed the gazebo to view the hedges then began our journey out.  Well, that was easier said than done.  We hit every dead end, I think, and ended up walking the entire maze.  When we passed a man for the second time, I remarked that I had seen him before and he laughed.  We finally exited the way we had come in after passing this way out after twice being fooled into thinking it was a dead end.

Next came the Inspiration Gardens which used different planting techniques designed to inspire you to build gardens for your backyard or balcony.  The circular garden had full-length mirrors to give a sense of space and had tulips planted in pots set on cast iron chairs.  PVC tubing formed another planting idea.  Three of these pipes hug on a wall.  Painted in bright yellow and planted with daffodils, they were a cheery way to decorate a fence.

Finally, we came to the windmill where the sails slowly swept past its viewing balcony.  We climbed up to get an overview of the canals with their whisper boats.  A man dressed in overalls and dutch clogs  monitored the sails and the people viewing them.  Glen asked if wind powered the sails.  The man chuckled and said, "Yes, otherwise we'd call them motor-mills."  We laughed but how often have you seen a windmill where the sails are propelled by a motor?  After we descended, the wind died and so did the twirling of the sails so the Dutchman had not lied.

We decided we'd see one pavilion and that was the Beatrix one.  Queen Beatrix began her rule in 1980 when Queen Juliana stepped down and named her queen.  During the war, Princess Beatrix lived in Ottawa where her sister was born (the Civic Hospital became international territory so Princess Margriet would be Dutch).  After the war, Princess Juliana, arranged to have tulip bulbs delivered to Ottawa each year as thanks for protecting her family.  We display these during the Canadian Tulip Festival held each May.

Displayed at the Beatrix pavilion were hundreds of orchids so not only did I have fun photographing tulips, I enjoyed taking picture of the rhododendrons leading to the pavilion and the exotic orchids inside.

By this time, Glen was tired of walking and I had pretty much taken all the pictures I had energy to take so we made our way back to the main entrance.  Here a calliope played the Bohemian Rhapsody (by Queen).  We watched it work then headed to a cafe to enjoy a couple of Heinekens.  I then popped into the gift shop and bought some Christmas presents.  We had to re-connect with the bus at 6:00 which we did then returned to the city.

We had supper in the hotel--fish and chips.  The fish lacked the 'puffy' batter we're used to but it was cooked perfectly and very tasty.  We've become regulars at 'The Vermont' so minutes after sitting down, two beers appeared on the table.