Tulip land, with an English touch

Place: KEUKENHOF

The entrance to the garden

Keukenhof. The name may not roll off the average Indian Bollywood fan's tongue that easily, but show them an image of Rekha and Amitabh Bachchan running through spectacular tulips, and few will fail to identify the place, even if they do not know its name. That film, Silsila, released in 1981, but even now most Indians visiting the Netherlands go to Keukenhof when it is open.  

Well, there is little that I can actually add to the fame of the world’s most iconic tulip garden, and one of the best known gardens globally. So instead, let me give an idea of how the gardens are looking this year. 

Welcome to the gardens - an early view

This is a huge garden. This year has seen a much colder winter in Europe, so the flowers are slightly late, but there enough in the garden to satisfy tourists. For anyone who hasn’t seen the gardens earlier, this is a treat like few others. This is done up as an English garden, and a vast manorial one at that. The theme this year too is English gardens, so very appropriate. 

The gardens were started in 1949 by the then mayor of Lisse. Tulip growers needed a place where they could display their increasingly diverse hybrid tulips, and a garden was an ideal solution. 

And despite all the prep, nothing prepares for the hundreds of varieties of tulips, and other flowers that are laid out in thousands of combinations. 

Budget at least three hours if you want to explore
the gardens well

There are pavilions in different directions, and outdoor and indoor gardens. The pavilions are named after members of the royal family, including the present queen and the incoming king, Willem Alexander. There is also a little Japanese garden and pavilion. 

Plan your itinerary before you go, for the 32-hectare garden has apparently 30 flower shows, 7 gardens, will take you time to see and each area of the garden is different. Also, the gardens are only open two months a year, from mid March to mid May, so check the dates before you go. 

Masses of flowers are part of the displays at Willem Alexander pavilion

The tulips themselves are all over the gardens, both outdoors, in innovatively designed flower bed, in places seeming to to intricately woven carpets. 

In others places symmetry takes over, and the flowers are uni hued. There are rows of single coloured rows or columns, and they can be spectacular to look at. The tulips are also in pots big and small, and in bunches in indoor gardens. The indoor gardens are where you can see the flowers at one go, as vast numbers are placed together in pots. 

Yes, these tulips on the left are the ones that referred to
as the 'black' tulips, though  violet would be a better description

The colours - well, given that there are seven million of them, even starting on enumerating them will be an impossibility. est assured, any colour you can think, they have the tulips in thousands of combination in that colour! Yes, there are tulips that will be pointed out to you as the famous 'black' ones, though they are more a deep violet!

There are many charming topiaries 

The gardens are in no way limited to tulips, and there are many more flowers -hyacinths, nasturiums, daffodils, irises, geraniums, petunias, amaryllis, crocuses, cherry blossoms, and many more. Then there are topiaries, plant arches, and ornamental gardens. As in most of the Netherlands, water adds its own considerable charm to the whole garden. There are a lot of shows and competitions during the months the gardens are open, and check out which ones are on the day you visit, for they will have a special effort. 

Water and cherry blossom in bloom - another winning combination

Works of contemporary art that dot this vast garden, adding a special feature to the garden. They are done by Dutch artists, and are done afresh every year. 

In fact each year, a lot of planning goes into the preparation of next year starts immediately after the gardens close in May. Also the gardens are very popular, and if you want to enjoy the solitude as well, go early, or on a weekday. The weekends can get really crowded, and lines to enter the garden can be long, with wait times up to two hours! The gardens are not far from Amsterdam, and there are buses connecting the two. 

Even in end April, not all the outdoor tulips were in bloom. This vista is going to get even more spectacular 

To enjoy the gardens, pace yourself, get food if you want, you are allowed to get your own, and budget for plants and souveniers. There is a tulip named after Amitabh Bachchan's daughter in law, Aishwarya, now. Catch the Indians making a beeline for that! 

PHOTOESSAY: Assault of colours

Place: DELHI

The Garden Tourism Festival is an annual pilgrimage for us, thanks to my mother's insistence. Held annually   over the third weekend of February, the festival is timed to show of the season's prolific floral outpouring at its best. Dahlias, geraniums, azaleas, pansies, chrysanthemums, daisies, gerberas and a whole lot more whose names remain unknown to me.

That brings me to my grouse over this festival, since I have been seeing it from its early years at Talkatora Gardens, it has remained fairly static in its format. There are potted plants usually sent by Rashtrapati Bhawan and a handful of corporate houses such as the Munjals, who bag almost all prizes. There are hardly any new names. The labelling is poor, with not even the names of flowers mentioned! The labels only mention the category of prize and rank, so you may read labels like - 'Garden Perennials - Second Prize', and be non the wiser on what the flowers actually are.

But anyways, flowers are always a delight, and my mother's love for them ensures we go every year, if only to buy plants for our terrace garden.

Here is a look at some pics from 2012's edition:

Purples are a favourite among flowers and gardeners clearly. A huge variety of flowers in numerous shades light up the show in royal hues.

PLTs

Place: NORTH BENGAL

Hill flowers are just amazing. Or rather, flowers in the hills are amazing. just beautiful - the colours are vibrant, they last longer, all due to the weather of course.

Of course, we plains folk only see them in summer, not when they are asleep in winter.

This is somewhere enroute to Darjeeling on an April early afternoon

Flowerworld

Place: DELHI

This is the annual flower show at the Garden of Five Senses, organised by Delhi Tourism. It used to be earlier held at the Talkatora Gardens, but has since shifted. This is in 2009, one of the first years at the new venue.

This is a flower show rather than a garden show, so basically there are a lot of potted plants. Lots of spring flowers multihued, in many shapes and sizes, make this a great visit for the average visitor. For a flower expert, not so much!

For more pics click here