A friend sent me these extraordinary images of the tulip fields of The Netherlands. Enjoy!
“With more than 10,000 hectares devoted to the cultivation of these delicate flowers, the Dutch landscape in May is a kaleidoscope of giddy colours as the tulips burst into life. The bulbs were planted in late October and early November, and these colourful creations are now ready to be picked and sold as bunches of cut flowers in florists and supermarkets. More than three billion tulips are grown each year and two-thirds of the vibrant blooms are exported, mostly to the U.S. and Germany. In the first picture, an extraordinary 60 million tulips can be seen coming into flower.
Tulip fields
The fields of northern Holland explode into a colourful springtime display. Their dazzling colours are thanks to the years in the 17th century when Tulipmania swept the globe and the most eye-catching specimens changed hands for a small fortune.
Brilliant colours
But like a rainbow, this colourful landscape is a short-lived phenomenon. When the flowers are gone, the land will be cultivated for a rather more mundane crop of vegetables.
A patchwork quilt of colourful tulips
… and a view from eye-level.”
A ground-level view
When Richard was in the Netherlands in March this year, he visited the extraordinary Keukenhof. The tulips weren’t all in bloom yet, but it was still magnificent. I really like this photo:
Tulip display at Keukenhof
They are very beautiful. I love the colors.
So do I.
Wow, This must be a blessing for people flying over this
Yes, gosh, can you imagine coming in to land at Schiphol? Not sure how much one would really see from those huge planes, but after flying across the African continent through the night, and then seeing something like this just after sunrise… definitely wow.
i love tulips……
i like the picture…….
is there more????
Sorry, I don’t have any more.
Oh Reggie – These pictures really reminds me of the tulip-fields in my childhood around my hometown in Denmark, Ribe. And of the Tulip-festivals here. The festival has a homepage http://www.tulipanfest.dk/news.php – but the photo-gallery here is out of function right now, so only one photo is there. If you want to, check later around 21-14. May
Thank you for the link, Truels. I’ll try to check again closer to those dates. I had NO idea that there were so many different colours of tulips!