Keukenhof | digwithdorris.com

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garden visit, Holland, in a vase on Monday, Keukenhof, the Netherlands, tulip Angelique, tulip Antraciet, Tulip Ballerina, tulip Brown Sugar, tulip La Belle Epoque, tulip Spring green, tulips

I fear I am having my own tulip mania thanks to my trip to Keukenhof last week.

It was my first visit and I was completely blown away by the beauty of the bulbs. The weather was warm which let’s face it, always helps.

Against a blue sky, the bulbs were beneath trees in full blossom which created a perfect haze of pink or in this case white. The warm air carried the heady scent of hyacinths which were planted in thousands.

I think I was expecting regimented rows of bulbs in blocks or bands of colour.

This was the case in some places but elsewhere the bulbs were planted in glorious colour combinations mixed with muscari or hyacinth or anemones.

Keukenhof plants about 7 million bulbs every year, admired by some 1.5million visitors, over the eight weeks that it is open. Mind blowing figures. Certainly it is a busy place to visit but its 32 hectare site copes well.

The bulbs are planted in nets as the soil is heavy clay and these are all lifted at the end of the show.

The lifted bulbs are sorted, the larger ones are kept for another year, the rest are disposed of. Mature trees cast shade once in leaf and the grass is reseeded each year for the show. The work that goes into this show is remarkable.