Someone Emailed Me Tulips

Easier than Tulips in Southern California

A friend emailed-me the following outstanding photos of Keukenhof Garden

(Special Thanks to Diana from False Bay, SA for the link!

 

  For these blogger's eyes, the Keukenhof is alien in some ways.  The garden is very much a human creation, and obviously so.  No solitary gardener did this--it takes many, many  people working full time to plant, design, and care to create this botanical showcase that lasts for a few weeks.  The flowers themselves, the tulips at least, are hybrids developed over decades by commercial growers.  Flower bulbs are a major export of the Netherlands, so this garden is both a garden and an advertisement promoting a national industry. 

 I recently read 'Second Nature' by Michael Pollan.  The book points out that no garden is completely apart from nature, because gardens are created by humans, and we, just as tulips created by the hand of a hybridizer, are no less a part of nature than is a species tulip.  The searing, intense fields of saturated tulip color arranged in geometric patterns, apparently entirely artificial, express some of the most ancient portions of our DNA--for our distant ancestors, bright color meant ripe fruit, and ripe fruit meant food.  The more "natural" gardens, say Piet Oudolf's Lurie Garden in Chicago are as artificial as the Keukenhof. 

 There's more to an eyeful of color than--meets the eye.  

Comments

  1. Here you are. With the photographer and his few lines which had been edited from the top.

    https://www.albertdros.com/post/the-most-beautiful-flower-garden-in-the-world-without-people

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    1. Diana, thank you so much!

      I wasn't comfortable with copies of the pictures. I've replaced it with a link. I should searched for the original and linked it in the first place, but often things like this are on sites I don't have access too. I was thinking about gardens like this because of the Pollan book and wanted to continue the thoughts before I lost them.

      Thanks again!!!!

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    2. Rightclick on Google, search by image. Wade thru unacknowledged Pinterest reshares. Find the photographer's site. (Sorry - one of my rants ;~)

      What a wonderful opportunity for a professional photographer - all the flowers, and none of the people messing up his view!

      PS thanks for the link

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    3. Agree, would have been heaven to have the place to oneself. I'm not a crowds fan.

      Many thanks again, Diana.

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  2. Now THAT's a tulip display. It's beautiful and I'd never turn down an opportunity to see it in person but it does feel very artificial to my eyes. I've seen it featured on GardenSmart, more than once as I recall, and on at least one occasion the show's host followed the head gardener who demonstrated how they plant and maintain that display. If I remember correctly, rather than just deadheading flowers, they pull the whole bulb up and pop in a replacement so the beds stay perfect throughout the season. That's labor intensive on a scale I can't even fathom.

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    1. You know your comments about the local BG's "super bloom" and reading the Pollan book was exactly what prompted this post. That BG you described needs some education on what a tulip display is supposed to look like!

      Wowza the maintenance you describe at Keukenhof is incredible. Being as it is in the Netherlands I am assuming they get a great price on all those bulbs. ;^) It is their national industry, so there's an economic aspect and also national pride. Imagine having plants and flowers being an economic driver, instead of--oil and gas, or creepy privacy-robbing "apps".

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  3. Hello Hoover Boo,
    I can imagine that there are a lot of people excited to see De Keukenhof with it´s explotion of color in springtime. But to me it is artificial. I´ve seen it once and I never felt the need to go back (terrible me). How different that is with the gardens of Piet Oudolf. I've seen it and it is breathtaking what this man created. It's a pitty that his private garden can't be visited anymore. Closed for the public in 2018. Piet is 76 years old now and I am wondering what is going to happen with his beautiful garden when he is leaving mother earth. His children are not interested in the garden. There is one garden left that's created by his hands and that is "Vlinderhof"(butterfly court) a short video about Piet can be found at this page https://vlinderhof.com/achtergrond/piet-oudolf. Beautiful to see.
    I wish you a beautiful day
    Rosehugs Marijke

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    1. It is not my favorite type of garden, though the setting of the beautiful trees and the curving paths, I think I would like that even more without all the tulips and other flowers--a scattering of wildflowers here and there would be enough under those trees. I do like the intensity of the colors, because I love colors, but the geometric layout is so hard and strict.

      I have been enjoying many Piet Oudolf gardens on YouTube. They are wonderful! The Lurie Garden which he made in Chicago is very famous. I hope to see it one day in person. His gardens are so wonderful to photograph!

      Thank for the link and thoughts, Marijke.

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  4. Bittersweet to see those photos, stunning displays that are normally admired by tourists in the flesh. Quite haunting too.

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    1. It must be interesting to watch all the myriad reactions to the flowers by all sorts of people. It may be open again next spring...we all hope there will be an end to this Covid-19 situation eventually.

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  5. I have seen pictures of this garden over the years. It is an amazing place. All of that color. It is like a person took their tubes of paint and started putting large swathes on a green canvas. These photos really capture the grandeur of the plantings. I also like the drone photos. I would love to be one of the millions some year to see this wonderous display of color and form. I am glad you shared it.

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    1. Happy you enjoyed it. The saturated colors are like ice cream for the eyes, without all the calories. My brain likes to gobble up all that color.

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    2. Descanso's bulb show is just starting. Should peak in a week or so. I went in the rain today and it was nice. Many times I was by myself. Kitty M.

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    3. Descanso does a nice bulb show, as I remember. Have not been there in such a long time--the drive is just too far, the traffic just too arduous. Glad you get to see it, Kittymoonbeam!

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  6. It's funny, I never paid much attention to tulips until I tried to grow them myself in the Sacramento Valley. It's HARD!! Of course since then I've been wanting tulips, at least a few. But it's a losing proposition. As you said, Kniphofias are way easier!

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    1. They are so beautiful, but here they seem to flower right when there is exactly enough of a heat wave to ruin them the first day they open. This happened in our neighborhood a week or two ago. I had to laugh/cringe at the sight.

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