Keukenhof tulips in the spring

IN SPRING, NOT JUST TULIPS IN HOLLAND'S KEUKENHOF GARDEN
Centuries ago, the gardeners working for Jacoba van Beyeren, the Countess of Holland, were probably harvesting cabbages and herbs in the very place where I sat on the edge of a pond in Holland's famous Keukenhof garden.  In the 15th century this was the great lady's kitchen garden, a vital resource for Teylingen Castle where entertaining during the hunting season was a daily occurrence.

Windmill at the Keukenhof

An now, 600 years later, the Countess's kitchen garden has been supplanted by drifts of tall elegant tulips, brilliantly coloured hyacinths, a golden rain of forsythia, crocuses, fritillaria and dozens of other spring bulb varieties.  In shaded dells, yellow trout lilies and cowslips floourish in an informal woodland setting.  Trees heavy with spring blossom, ponds with fountains and a corn windmill with gently turning blades, draw almost a million visitors to this garden each year "The Keukenhof" (the kitchen garden) with an annual planting of 7 million bulbs is reputedly the largest bulb garden in the world.

Photos copyright Anne Gordon

Posted by Anne Gordon on Tuesday, February 8th