Are tulips your favorite flower? They are at the top of the list for me. So our spring trip was a river cruise to Amsterdam with our great friends from California, to see the tulips—cancelled due to Covid, but we carried on by car.
If you love flowers, you’ve heard of the famous Keukenhof gardens, outside of Amsterdam: tulip-viewing central. We were late to the game, and they had beheaded the bright bulb-growing fields of tulips around the gardens. But no matter, the garden itself was a big surprise: huge, lushly landscaped, and still brimming with tulips in endless varietites.
A lot of the tulips were breathing their last gasp of beauty, exploding into a full, blowsy, frill of petals, floppy or feathery, which I loved.
But others were just popping out, because they use the “lasagna method” of planting. Early blooming bulbs get planted at the top, then later bloomers go below. That way, you get months of flowering.
A bit of lasagne layering:
I’ve waded through my gabillion photos to tantalize you with the best. Gaze at the gardens, and test your tulip trivia.
The gardens were beautifully landscaped:
Here are some lovelies:
Looks like a peony, but it's a tulip.
Tulips weren’t the only beauties in this park.
The garden featured lots of flora, but fauna too.
Tulip Trivia: the word “tulip” comes from a Persian word meaning “turban”.
Little white turbans:
The elusive black tulip, not yet achieved. These are black in the shade, but the sunlight reveals their aubergine genes.
In the early days, tulips were a pricey Dutch luxury item.“Flamed”, or striped tulips, were all the rage. The coloration actually originated as a virus, carried from one bulb to the next by insects. In the 1600’s, you could buy just one of these bulbs for the price of a luxury car or a house!
Try this at home! This picture shows the “lasagna method” of planting, used in these gardens to extend the season.
Some bulbs on display
Not surprisingly, the Dutch Masters loved to paint tulips 
.
We saw these traditional blue Delft-ware tulip vases all over Amsterdam.
And then, of course, there was ice cream.
Favorite READS: News flash: Our loyal reader Francine Chough has written a book! And a cookbook at that, our favorite sort of livre. Even better, they are her French family recipes. It has an intriguing title: Bricks in a Pebble Sauce.You can order the book here. Felicitations, Francine!
33 thoughts on “Amsterdam in Bloom!”
Photos are fabulous, Lynn! Thx for sharing so generously. Glad you could default to car mode. Covid, we’re gonna beat you! 🌷Thea 🌷
Photos are fabulous, Lynn! Thx for sharing so generously. Glad you could default to car mode. Covid, we’re gonna beat you! 🌷Thea 🌷
Photos are fabulous, Lynn! Thx for sharing so generously. Glad you could default to car mode. Covid, we’re gonna beat you! 🌷Thea 🌷
Beautiful pictures! Looks like a lovely trip. With Joan and Bennet? Xoxo
Virginia
Beautiful pictures! Looks like a lovely trip. With Joan and Bennet? Xoxo
Virginia
Beautiful pictures! Looks like a lovely trip. With Joan and Bennet? Xoxo
Virginia
What a spectacle! How wonderful that you were able to get there. I’ll have to check distance between Beaune and Amsterdam by car. Can’t really be all that far. Spoken like a California transplant who thinks nothing of driving from Sacramento to Los Angeles. Thanks for sharing.
What a spectacle! How wonderful that you were able to get there. I’ll have to check distance between Beaune and Amsterdam by car. Can’t really be all that far. Spoken like a California transplant who thinks nothing of driving from Sacramento to Los Angeles. Thanks for sharing.
What a spectacle! How wonderful that you were able to get there. I’ll have to check distance between Beaune and Amsterdam by car. Can’t really be all that far. Spoken like a California transplant who thinks nothing of driving from Sacramento to Los Angeles. Thanks for sharing.
8 hour drive, and the tulips are over, sadly. Do try for next year!
8 hour drive, and the tulips are over, sadly. Do try for next year!
8 hour drive, and the tulips are over, sadly. Do try for next year!
Remarkable. I understand that Holland imports tulips from Africa and ships them on, although they grow most of them. The bicolor tulips, I guess everyone knows, are caused by a virus! I sound like a spoilsport, don’t mean to be, I’m always just very interested in the “backstory”. Friends and I will be in Beaune for a couple of days end of next week. Other than the Hospice (which I visited some years ago), are there other “don’t miss” things in Beaune?
Looks like a great trip!
bonnie in mazan
Remarkable. I understand that Holland imports tulips from Africa and ships them on, although they grow most of them. The bicolor tulips, I guess everyone knows, are caused by a virus! I sound like a spoilsport, don’t mean to be, I’m always just very interested in the “backstory”. Friends and I will be in Beaune for a couple of days end of next week. Other than the Hospice (which I visited some years ago), are there other “don’t miss” things in Beaune?
Looks like a great trip!
bonnie in mazan
Remarkable. I understand that Holland imports tulips from Africa and ships them on, although they grow most of them. The bicolor tulips, I guess everyone knows, are caused by a virus! I sound like a spoilsport, don’t mean to be, I’m always just very interested in the “backstory”. Friends and I will be in Beaune for a couple of days end of next week. Other than the Hospice (which I visited some years ago), are there other “don’t miss” things in Beaune?
Looks like a great trip!
bonnie in mazan
Lynn, this is nothing short of spectacular!!
My gosh, your photos absolutely take my breath away!!
And! Make me even more appreciative of Nature’s generous kisses to us!
Felicitations to Francine! Her book looks both inviting and (for certain) filled with delicious recipes
to temp us. I am looking forward to enjoying it!
I do have a book which was highly recommended to me–The Anomaly,by Herve Le Tellier–
and I’m sorry to report that for some or another reason,this story just missed me.
Perhaps my age (76) has something to do with it(??)
Lynn, this is nothing short of spectacular!!
My gosh, your photos absolutely take my breath away!!
And! Make me even more appreciative of Nature’s generous kisses to us!
Felicitations to Francine! Her book looks both inviting and (for certain) filled with delicious recipes
to temp us. I am looking forward to enjoying it!
I do have a book which was highly recommended to me–The Anomaly,by Herve Le Tellier–
and I’m sorry to report that for some or another reason,this story just missed me.
Perhaps my age (76) has something to do with it(??)
Lynn, this is nothing short of spectacular!!
My gosh, your photos absolutely take my breath away!!
And! Make me even more appreciative of Nature’s generous kisses to us!
Felicitations to Francine! Her book looks both inviting and (for certain) filled with delicious recipes
to temp us. I am looking forward to enjoying it!
I do have a book which was highly recommended to me–The Anomaly,by Herve Le Tellier–
and I’m sorry to report that for some or another reason,this story just missed me.
Perhaps my age (76) has something to do with it(??)
Oh, I’m so glad you got to the gardens! I could have spent a week just discovering another gorgeous swatch of beauty. Thanks for the new way of planting! Not sure it does so well here in So Cal!
Oh, I’m so glad you got to the gardens! I could have spent a week just discovering another gorgeous swatch of beauty. Thanks for the new way of planting! Not sure it does so well here in So Cal!
Oh, I’m so glad you got to the gardens! I could have spent a week just discovering another gorgeous swatch of beauty. Thanks for the new way of planting! Not sure it does so well here in So Cal!
While the fields of tulips in bloom are predictably lovely, I find the rivers of color flowing through the woodlands of the Keukenhof to be much more enchanting! It’s been a decade since we popped up there from our duty station near Kaiserslautern, Germany; but those curvaceous blankets of color through the trees are still my favorite memory of a chilly April weekend so many years ago!
While the fields of tulips in bloom are predictably lovely, I find the rivers of color flowing through the woodlands of the Keukenhof to be much more enchanting! It’s been a decade since we popped up there from our duty station near Kaiserslautern, Germany; but those curvaceous blankets of color through the trees are still my favorite memory of a chilly April weekend so many years ago!
While the fields of tulips in bloom are predictably lovely, I find the rivers of color flowing through the woodlands of the Keukenhof to be much more enchanting! It’s been a decade since we popped up there from our duty station near Kaiserslautern, Germany; but those curvaceous blankets of color through the trees are still my favorite memory of a chilly April weekend so many years ago!
What a feast for the eyes Lynn with these gorgeous tulips! All these photos are absolutely glorious! Thank you for the mini trip! X
What a feast for the eyes Lynn with these gorgeous tulips! All these photos are absolutely glorious! Thank you for the mini trip! X
What a feast for the eyes Lynn with these gorgeous tulips! All these photos are absolutely glorious! Thank you for the mini trip! X
Thanks, Lynn for the visual treat! My tulips were delayed by an unusually cold April—temperatures averaged 20F below normal. They finally opened 2 weeks ago—just in time for a record setting heatwave with tempertures reaching the low 90’s. Their brief blooming season was shortened even further by the intense heat.
Oh well , there’s always next year!
Thanks, Lynn for the visual treat! My tulips were delayed by an unusually cold April—temperatures averaged 20F below normal. They finally opened 2 weeks ago—just in time for a record setting heatwave with tempertures reaching the low 90’s. Their brief blooming season was shortened even further by the intense heat.
Oh well , there’s always next year!
Thanks, Lynn for the visual treat! My tulips were delayed by an unusually cold April—temperatures averaged 20F below normal. They finally opened 2 weeks ago—just in time for a record setting heatwave with tempertures reaching the low 90’s. Their brief blooming season was shortened even further by the intense heat.
Oh well , there’s always next year!
Gorgeous!! Always enjoy your photos!!
Gorgeous!! Always enjoy your photos!!
Gorgeous!! Always enjoy your photos!!