Tulip Time in Holland!

Guests are finally here!  We welcome brother-in-law Gary and his lovely wife Bonnie from Pennsylvania. They've had a rough winter, so it was time for a quick trip to the tulip fields of Holland.

I rave about this trip to anyone who will listen.  We've gone multiple times and never failed to be stunned by the beauty of this little country.

The place to go for breathtaking beauty is Keukenhof Gardens.  Northwest of Leiden, it lies in the middle of one of the major bulb-producing regions in the Netherlands.  Bulb growers plant their new varieties in the fall for a stunning display every spring.  

It's far more crowded here now than it used to be ten years ago when we would visit, but it's still an amazing place.  We arrived at 10:00.  Parking was right outside the park and was well-organized (think Disneyland, but instead of cartoon characters to remember our row, Keukenhof has flags from different nations.  We parked at South Korea.)

The park has lakes, fountains, meandering paths, birds, and of course, food concessions and souvenir shops.

And flowers.  Holy cow, the flowers.

Purple and orange, anyone?  Yes, please!

Purple and red?  I'll take some of that, too!

The sun was dodging in and out of clouds all morning.  I caught its bright rays shining through these beauties.
Intense.

 The visitors were generally well-behaved.  Not too many flowers were being trampled, and the gardens wisely provide little walkways so you can go and crouch next to a bed for photos.

Bundled up in the 50-degree morning.  These tulips were ENORMOUS.

Keukenhof also has the obligatory Dutch windmill, although it's for show only.  (We saw real windmills, in action, at a different stop.  Blog post to follow!)

Amongst the gardens are pavilions displaying flowers in other ways.  Check out the size of this hydrangea!

And here's a low-cost idea for floral displays.  The sticks were wedged into a shelf unit.  Flowers inserted into bags of water got ribbon necklaces and were wired to the sticks.  Could this bag-o'-flowers idea be adapted for inexpensive table decorations?  Say, at a wedding?

After leaving the gardens, we took a drive in the area.  Fields of bulb flowers around every corner.  Those with more time can rent bicyles or take walks along the paths next to the fields.  Those of us on a tighter time schedule enjoy the drive-by flower fields.

This field was ALL HYACINTHS.  Pink, purple, white, and the smell was AMAZING.

I hope your spring is full of beauty, too.

Spring Flowers in Germany

So, winter?  We didn't really have one.  Every day, we would check the weather in the States and think, "Holy Cow!  We picked the right year to move!"  Usually, winter in Germany is gray, cold, drizzly, and miserable.  This winter, we had mild temps, sunny days, only a little rain, and thus far have had a GORGEOUS spring.

The forsythia is almost done, its yellow flowers being slowly replaced by green leaves.  It's been blooming for weeks, in gardens and out in the wild, and I've been amazed by how long the blossoms have lasted.  

Forsythia, with aging blossoms and new leaves coming on.

At the same time as the forsythia came the almond blossoms and cherry blossoms.  We enjoyed an afternoon in Gimmeldingen on the Rhein Weinstrasse on about the 15th of March, walking through the vineyards, the charming village, and the Mandelbluten which give the fest its name.

We also visited the gardens at the Schloss in Schwetzingen to see the cherry trees.

I love seeing all the colors in the German gardens.

Does anyone know what this orange bush is?  Its flowers also come on early, and are then replaced by leaves.  

Unknown orange bush.  Not knowing its name in no way detracts from my enjoyment of its beauty.

These bushes started flowering just as the forsythias started wilting.  It's a nice segue.  They are absolutely exuberant with their yellow puffball flowers!

Not pictured, but common in local gardens?  Azaleas and rhododendrons, also wildly colorful and full of blossoms.  

We call these "tulip trees" in Nebraska.  They are, I believe, related to magnolia but have a slightly larger zone tolerance.  Gorgeous purple flowers.

Tulip Tree?  Anyone know a better name?

But of course, all this glory is leading up to one very important event:

The lilacs are almost ready to bloom!  It's a terrible picture, but wait a few days and it'll be gorgeous.

Lilac is my very favorite fragrance in a flower, and they are so plentiful most places we've lived, but lilac bushes are almost non-existent in Oklahoma.  Oh, how I've missed them!  And look out, here they come!  I see bushes everywhere, just a few days away from full bloom.  I'm carrying plant scissors with me, because many times the bushes are in places where it's okay to cut from them.  

I can't wait for my house to be full of the smell of those gorgeous purple blooms!