Trifter

Photos by the Author

Keukenhof is the largest flower garden in the world and most of Europe’s flower varieties can be found here. It was originally a haunting ground in the 15th century and also became a harvest ground for herbs used for the kitchen of Jacoba van Beieren’s castle. Years passed and the property became part of the estate of Slot Teylingen who commissioned gardeners J.D. and L.P. Zocher to create the landscape. In 1949, through the then Mayor of Lisse, the first flower exhibition was done in Keukenhof and now on its 60th year, it is the most photographed place in the world.

Near the entrance, the flowers were not so grand yet, just small rows of different floras which are mostly tulips. Each flowerbed has names but it will take a genius to memorize all of it. I never knew that there are hundred varieties of tulips and they are not limited to white and red colors.

As we go deeper to the garden, with thousands of other people, mostly Chinese and Japanese, all I can utter were wow, mooi (beautiful) and prachtig (beautiful). Even the all the adjectives of beautiful wouldn’t be able to describe how gorgeous the flowers are in Keukenhof. The colors and color combination are brilliant, the diversity is very huge and their appearances are like nothing you have seen before.

It will actually take you almost the whole day to go around every nook and cranny of the garden. It has an exhibition hall called Oranje Nassau where you can find the biggest roses in different colours plus especially arranged flowers. There you can literally lay down on a bed of roses. There’s also a bulb store if you want to take home and plant some in your garden. There are flowers are big your face and also a flower design inside a flower and I don’t mean artificial ones. There are small ones, medium and huge flowers and every colour imaginable.

The garden also has a small maze, a park with deer’s and llamas, a huge fountain surrounded with chairs where visitors can lounge to eat their packed lunch, several souvenirs shops, a couple of greenhouse garden with orchids and tropical plants, a viewing deck for the tulip fields and of course the exhibition hall. They also built small bridges and monkey bars on the man-made streams for children and adults alike, and even a small hanging bridge.

At one side of the garden was an old windmill where guests are allowed to climb but you have to wait in the line for a long time. Outside of that were stacks of hays where you can sit or jump depending on your mood. I saw a lot of Indians sitting in the hays eating their lunch while some other nationalities are drinking beer.

You will be laughing at finding several women dressed in very colourful attires and wearing flower hats. There are even some who stitches flowers in their pants. There are ladies dressed in old English gowns carrying those tiny umbrellas or girls in fairy clothes. There are also awesome sculptures but one thing one wouldn’t miss are the people posing in almost every flower bed.

For me, the most beautiful part of the visit is realizing how lovely the world is and being more dedicated to taking care of this world so that the next generations can still marvel at its beauty.

And like other beautiful things, this doesn’t last for long. Keukenhof only opens from March 19-May 21 this year and then afterwards, all the flowers will wither away. Beware though, because despite its hugeness, this is one garden where you can’t pick the flowers.

Note: My camera didn’t do justice to the beauty of the flowers but this is that I can do to capture that extremely beautiful panorama.