Keukenhof Gardens, Netherlands

The Keukenhof Gardens are a very special area in the Netherlands.  Keukenhof, the name means "kitchen garden", goes back to the 15th century. Countess Jacqueline of Bavaria, Jacoba van Beieren (1401-1436) gathered fruit and vegtables from the woods and dunes her for the kitchen of Teylingen Castle. Keukenhof Castle was built in 1641, and the estate grew to an area of over 200 hectares. Since this the garden has become a showcase of Netherlands floral culture.  Open for only 6-8 weeks, depends upon the weather and flower blossoms, this park is an international attraction drawing thousands of visitors. Planting begins in the fall in preparation for the blossoms.  The roads leading to this area are flanked by fields of tulips. We can attest to the popularity as it was crowded the day we went. the photos that follow really need no comments and so I hope you can sense the incredible beauty of this sensory overload of smells and sights.

Another interesting feature of this season is that the growers are not interested in the tulip flowers, they are cut and treated as debris, but interested only in the bulbs which can be sold and shipped internationally.  Tulip flowers were available in Amsterdam for 1-5 euro for a dozen blooms.