道圖豐說: See Tulips and More in Kuekenhof, the Netherlands in 2019

See Tulips and More in Kuekenhof, the Netherlands

in 2019

(Travel Story Series @ Hon Too Fang 2021)

Prelude

On 28 March 2019 we were coming back from our 3-week tour to South America. We flew with KLM the Royal Dutch Airline from Santiago, Chile to Amsterdam, the Netherlands. We had a transit stop of over 8 hours before the connecting flight to Kuala Lumpur. So we took the opportunity to pay a visit to the tulip gardens in Kuekenhof. The direct bus service from the Schiphol Airport to Kuekenhof took about 45 minutes. We were there for about 3 hours.

Kuekenhof
The original ground was a hunting ground for the royalties since the 15th century. It became a private garden during the late 19th century. Keukenhof, the park as it is now known, was established in 1949 by a consortium of bulb growers and flower exporters to showcase their products and support the export industry. The garden first opened to the public in 1950. It has a size of 32 hectares, one of the largest gardens in the World. Every year 7 million tulip buds are planted in autumn to bloom in spring. 1.4 million people visited the garden in 2018, including 20% locals.

The Tulip plant
The tulip is a type of spring-blooming perennial bulbous plant. It has big and brightly coloured showy flowers. Tulips, believe it or not, originates from the valleys of Tian Shan in Xinjiang, China. The Persians started its cultivation in the 10th century. It is a favourite of the elites of the Ottoman Turks. The West took notice of it in the 16th century. The Netherlands has been the main producer of tulips since the 17th century. Currently the Netherlands produces about 3 billion bulbs a year.

The flowerbeds are synchronised to the different bulb flowerings to ensure blooms throughout the duration of the park's 8-week opening. To ensure continuous bloom, three bulbs are planted in each location. The shallowest bulb will bloom first for three weeks, followed by the subsequent layers.

We were a bit early for the viewing season. The best time would be 2 weeks later. The tulips were not in full bloom yet, but we could smell the fragrance of spring.

The Gardens

The set up consists of several gardens, like the English Landscape Garden, the Nature Garden, the Japanese Country Garden, etc. There are also several big pavilions for some indoor display. First 2 photos to remind us we are in the Netherlands.

All the gardens are beautifully set, no abrupt demarcation. We would not know which garden we are in, the Nature Garden or the English Landscape Garden, for example.

Tulips

There are 15 groups and over 3,000 species. We are in no position to accurately identify them. The group as mentioned in this story might be incorrect.

The following should belong to the more common groups, like the Darwin Hybrid Tulips and the Triumph Tulips.

Three more groups: Kaufmanniana Tulips with the long stripes, the Fringed Tulips with the petals having finely cut edges and the Parrot Tulips with the petals heavily fringed.

These are the Double Tulips with more petals, like the peonies.

And more colourful tulips to brighten up your day.

Other flowers

There are other flowers on show too. Those bloom in spring of course.

First the Hyacinth, a small fragrant bulbous, spring-blooming perennials.

Next the Daffodils, a spring flowering perennial plant with conspicuous flowers with 6 petals (or petal-like tepals) surmounted by a trumpet-shaped corona.

Another plant is the Arum Lily, also perennial, with flowers of many colours.

And lastly the best of the rest. First the Crown Imperial of the lily family, a type of Guzmania which is from the Tropics, the Japanese Astilbe with feathery flowers and a type of Azalea, a common flowering shrub.