Keukenhof Gardens in the Netherlands
Realizing a dream held for many years, I was able to visit the Netherland’s wonderful Keukenhof Gardens in 2014 on a trip with my husband. We were fortunate to time our visit for early April, when the daffodils and hyacinth remained in full display and hundreds of thousands of tulips bulbs had opened and were in prime condition.
We walked through and around the Keukenhof Gardens’ 32 hectares of gorgeous parklands, pausing under magnolia trees, strolling alongside breathtakingly beautiful stretches of rhododendrum, lingering by streams and ponds, and drinking in the array of colours and stunning scenery around us. The “Garden of Europe,” as it is referred to, is the largest spring flower garden in the world. It is second to the largest in terms of the volume of bulbs, after the unique Dubai Miracle Garden.
The Keukenhof groundskeepers, which number about 750 people during the peak season, tend to over seven million bulbs that are located throughout the park. We watched some of these gardeners at work while we visited the park, and I can imagine the immense pride they must feel when they see the look of awe on the faces of their visitors. It is truly stunning to see this garden in full bloom and we felt privileged to be here.
The grounds where the Keukenhof Gardens are situated lie in Lisse to the southwest of Amsterdam. In the 15th century, according to Wikipedia sources, the parklands were used for hunting game. There was an early “kitchen courtyard,” or keukenhof, as it would be named in Dutch, nearer to the castle of the family of Jacoba van Beieren. The castle gardens that were built a few centuries later, in 1857, were designed by landscape architects Jan David Zoker and his son, Louis Paul Zocher, in the style of English landscape gardens. These early designs influenced the layout of the gardens through to the present day gardens, which were established in 1949 to showcase flowers of the Netherlands. This was an aspect of the gardens that I particularly appreciated, along with the beauty of the trees, many of which were very old.
When timing a trip to these gardens, which are open for eight weeks each spring, it is helpful to have some flexibility in your scheduling, as the timing of the blooms is completely dependent on the weather. There are the indoor displays as well, so you are guaranteed to enjoy your visit even if the weather doesn’t quite cooperate for you. For details to help plan a future visit to the Keukenhof Gardens, visit www.keukenhof.com .
You may also wish to visit these sites to learn more about the gardens:
http://www.21stcenturyamsterdam.com/keukenhof.html
http://www.iamsterdam.com/en-GB/Ndtrc/Keukenhof
Photos: by NK; also by AK; copyright Cookie Buxton
Photo location: Lisse, Netherlands
Text: NK
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