The main reason for going to The Netherlands was to make sure Vivi got to see tulips. And boy, did she ever! We went to Keukenhof Gardens.

Keukenhof, the most beautiful spring garden in the world

Facts and figures about Keukenhof

• Keukenhof is open for eight weeks each year
• Annually, Keukenhof welcomes 1 million visitors
• 75% of visitors to the park come from abroad
• The park covers 32 hectares
• Every year, 7 million bulbs are planted
• Keukenhof features more than 20 flower shows
• The bulbs are supplied by 100 exhibitors
• There are eight inspirational gardens featuring gardening ideas for consumers
• Sculpture garden with approximately 100 works of art

on the bus to Lisse to see Keukenhof Garden

Rain was due, but we lucked out

The park

Keukenhof originally focused almost exclusively on flower bulbs, but now has much more to offer. The historic park, which dates from 1857 and was designed in the English landscape garden style by Zocher, forms the perfect backdrop for the flower bulbs. Visitors can become acquainted with cut flowers, plants and tree nursery products.

Each year, fourty gardeners plant bulbs at reserved locations throughout the park. At the end of the season, these bulbs are harvested, and a new cycle of planting, blooming and harvesting begins again in the autumn.

In order to ensure that Keukenhof always has a new look, the planting is redesigned every year. The plants are carefully selected so that visitors can enjoy bulbs in full bloom throughout the entire period Keukenhof is open. The seven million flower bulbs are supplied completely free of charge by a hundred exhibitors who could hardly imagine a better showcase for their products.

Keukenhof inspires its visitors with a range of different styles of gardens and interiors, in which flower bulbs and bulb flowers always play a key role. The different parts of the park vary from the English landscape garden to the renovated Japanese country garden. The garden offers surprising perspectives and exciting vistas and brings out the very best of the ancient trees. In the natural garden, shrubs and perennials are combined with naturalised bulbs. The historic garden is home to old varieties of tulip and uses these special varieties to demonstrate the tulip’s long journey prior to its arrival in the Netherlands.
The seven inspirational gardens give visitors the unique opportunity to gain ideas for their own gardens.
For children, Keukenhof has a maze, a playground, a Miffy house and a petting zoo. A treasure hunt takes them along the most beautiful places in the park.

Keukenhof has its own sculpture garden. A network of artists will be exhibiting around 100 pieces. The art exhibition is characterised by a wide variety of styles.

Wow. We were impressed right away.

As usual, Viv took lead so we navigated the gardens based on her winding

When I tell you there were no weeds, I mean there was not one weed.

Flower shows at Keukenhof

The pavilions feature a changing selection of 20 flower and plant shows. Growers exhibit a wide variety of flowers and plants in all different colours and shapes. Of course, all of them are of the highest quality! This is the pinnacle of the competition among the growers to decide the best horticultural product, varying from tulips to roses. An expert judging panel will choose the best flower in each category. Consumers will also have an opportunity to judge the flower shows and choose the most beautiful product.

For years, Keukenhof has reserved the thousand square-metre Beatrix Pavilion specifically for orchids. This show is the most beautiful orchid show in Europe. Another traditional leading attraction is the lily show in the Willem-Alexander Pavilion. In its 6,000 square metres, visitors can admire approximately 15,000 lilies in over 300 different varieties.

The Oranje Nassau Pavilion showcases the use of flower bulbs in interiors. It demonstrates how flower bulbs can be applied in different styles of interior design, from classic to modern. Several well-known arrangers will stage demonstrations of how the flowers can be used in surprising ways to create original bouquets.

We like it here!

Millions of flowers and she finds one with a heart. I love that kid.

Tulpomania

The tulip is the distinctive icon of Netherlands throughout the world. And Keukenhof can do no other than give the tulip centre stage. The Willem-Alexander Pavilion is full of tulips in bloom. An exhibition being organised in the new Juliana Pavilion shows the history of the tulip, 17th Century tulip mania and today’s tulip as contemporary icon. The renovated Historic Garden contains extra information about the origin of the tulip.

Vivi said I should take a picture of the trees, but we needed her in the picture so you could see how big they are. And these weren't even the biggest ones in the gardens! These were the ones she could get closest, though.

"And I wish for World Peace."
Here you go.

Theme for 2017 Dutch Design

The Keukenhof theme for 2017 is "Dutch Design". Dutch Design is characterized by Dutch sobriety combined with innovative solutions. Famous artists and designers such as Mondriaan and Rietveld, have laid the foundations for Dutch design. Even today, Dutch designers are appreciated worldwide for their industry-leading designs in fashion, graphic design, architecture and furniture design. They are the source of inspiration for the theme of the next Keukenhof season.

Dutch design is incorporated in the flower bulb mosaic, one of the highlights of the theme year. In addition, the flower shows in the Oranje Nassau Pavilion are entirely in the style of Dutch Design. Two of the inspirational gardens are also dedicated to the theme: the Mondriaan Garden with its primary square color patches will be a great attraction to the international public.

I bet you can't see this tulip. What tulip, you ask? The ninja.

The history of Keukenhof

Keukenhof started as an initiative on the part of ten flower bulb growers and exporters who create a showcase for the flower industry. In 1949, they opted for an ideal location: the gardens around Keukenhof castle.

For many years, Jacoba van Beieren was the hostess of Keukenhof. In the 15th century, she was the owner of the land where Keukenhof is now located. At that time the area was still a piece of untouched nature, used only for hunting and to gather herbs for the castle’s kitchen, which is where the name Keukenhof originally comes from. Countess Jacoba van Beieren was born in 1401 and died in 1436. During the period from 1417 to 1433, she ruled Holland, Zeeland and Henegouwen. ‘Never a dull moment’ is perhaps the best summary of the life of this somewhat tempestuous woman, who married four times, spent a couple of years in prison, and lived in exile for some time in England. One of her favourite pastimes seems to have been waging war – she was even willing to go to war with former husbands. In 1433 she was forced to abdicate from all of her Counties. She withdrew from public life and, at the age of just 35, she died of tuberculosis in Castle Teylingen, not far from Keukenhof.

Following the death of the Countess Jacoba van Beieren in 1436, the large estate passed through the hands of several wealthy merchant families, including Baron and Baroness Van Pallandt. They asked the landscape architects Zocher, who were also responsible for the Vondelpark in Amsterdam and the gardens of Soestdijk Palace, to design a garden around their castle. The English landscape garden they created in 1857 still forms the basis for the Keukenhof park of today. The windmill at Keukenhof is more than a century old. It was built in Groningen in 1892, and was used to pump water out of a polder. In 1957, the Holland-America Line bought the mill and donated it to Keukenhof.