A day at the Keukenhof

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Parent Category: Travel Over There

Category: 2014 - Gap Year

Created: Friday, 25 April 2014 16:56

The Keukenhof is a 32 hectare garden in Lisse, Holland that only opens for two months of the year. It is often quoted as being ‘The most beautiful spring garden in the world’, and it shows.

We spent 6 hours wandering through the garden and delighting in the constant beauty and incredible variety of tulips. The brochure says there are over a thousand varieties of tulip as well as varieties of narcissus and hyacinth. It is easy to believe these claims as we wandered the many paths we never tired of tulips as there seemed always to be a new flower in bloom.

The Keukenhof is remade every year with 7 million bulbs by a team of 30 craftsman over two to three months working from the plan of single designer. The bulbs are supplied by local producers and is an excellent advertisement for their wares. Dutch artists also provide new sculptures each year that are distributed throughout the garden and available for sale.

Each plot is painstakingly planted with layers of bulbs that flower at differing times throughout the season, enabling the garden to stay in bloom. We took a tour around the park and our guide pointed out beautiful beds of yellow that were purple two weeks previous. The entire garden is alive and in transition, colour fading from one plot while it erupts directly opposite.

The garden is not only the three types of flower I listed but includes hundreds of other varieties of plants interspersed adding depth and contrast. There is an avenue of Beech trees, a Japanese garden, permanent forested areas, and other plants throughout. It was in one of these areas that we came across rhododendrons in bloom.

The Keukenhof also has a number of pavilions highlighting the plants, their history, as well as flower arranging demonstrations, a petting zoo and a children’s playground. There are plenty of places to eat and drink although it is costly and you could bring your own and picnic.

When people think of Holland, they often think of Tulips, and the Keukenhof is the pride of this image displaying in incredible detail the wonder and variety of this plant, as well as garden architecture. It was an incredible place to visit, and if I ever return to Holland I will probably do so again.

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