flower fest

THE NETHERLANDS IN SPRING

flower fest

In late March to early May, in the bulb growing areas, the fields are awash with colour - a glorious colour therapy treatment.

growing the bulbs

When farmers grow the bulbs in the open field these will be for the bulb market.

Dominantly the bulb fields are around the Kenkenhof are, west of Schipol airport. On the islands to the south of Rotterdam some farmers are increasingly planting bulbs.

Flowers for floristry are grown in greenhouses.

Tulip bulbs will be grown for a minimum of 3 years prior to selling to the markets.

Hyacinth bulbs are grown for a minimum of 5 years and 7 for the US market.

Bulbs have to be rotated round different fields.

Although they endeavour to keep colours separated rogue bulbs can be seen in (say) rows of yellow flowers you may spot the odd red one.

The fields take a lot of tending during the growing season. You will see the farmers hand weeding and checking their crops as they develop.

As they come into bloom farmers are very watchful of each field. Just as we naive peasants think they are at their best, the farmers get the tractor and scythes out and chop their heads off.

The fallen flower heads are collected up and if the grower is in the area around Keukenhof the blooms are carefully collected into huge boxes and taken to the farm where teams of enthusiasts are designing and building the flower carnival floats.

In areas too far from Keukenof the blooms are simply destroyed and not left to rot in the fields. The bulbs then gain strength and growth from the goodness of the foliage feeding the bulbs as they die back. The bloom saps the bulbs - hence why it is cut off.

KEUKENHOF

Keukenhof Gardens are only open for a few weeks each spring. For 2024 they opened from 21 March to May 12. It is around 80 acres of immaculate displays and well worth a full day to enjoy every aspect from formal to more wild areas. Throughout the gardens are beautiful sculptures and some wild and whacky displays. There is a permanent windmill in the grounds, but this is simply a display and visitor attractionnot a working mill.

Each year they have a different theme. At the centre of the gardens is a huge pavilion where one can enjoy magnificant floral displays and see the exotic and often new varieties. It isn’t 100% tulips but they are the prevailing flower.

For more information and to book your ticket go to www.keukenhof.nl/en

the splendor of Keukenhof

the

splendor of Keukenhof

CARNIVAL FLOATS

It takes 12 months to design and make the infrastructure for the huge carnival floats that are made entirely from flower heads pinned into the foam.

Here you see this person pinning hyacinth heads into the foam.

After too few weeks all is over - the blooms die and the farmers raise the bulbs, dry them, putting them in storage for the next season.