Tiptoe through the Tulips

I don't know how many bulbs are grown each year in Holland but I can tell you that 7 million of them are planted by hand in the Keukenhof Gardens near Amsterdam. The gardens are open for only a few months each spring and bulb growers from all over Holland  showcase their flowers. Bulbs seem to me to be the ideal flower for this cultivated, tidy country. Each perfectly coloured and shaped bloom standing erect and lending itself to precise arrangement in an orderly landscape. For a horticulturally challenged person such as myself whose plant growing ablities could be overshadowed by the average garden gnome I fully expected to be impressed during our visit. To say it was stunning would be an understatement.

Interesting Fact (apologies- it's the teacher in me).
Tulipmania. In the 1600s tulips were a luxury item and status symbol.The bulbs began to be sold for ridiculously high prices making fortunes for the traders. Ordinary people sold their houses and businesses to take part in the get rich quick market. In 1637 a single bulb sold for more than 10 times the annual income of a skilled craftsman or the price of an Amsterdam canalside house. You can guess how it all ended. Sound familiar??

As well as gardens there are several pavilions filled with flowers. My favourite was the one filled with 30 000 lilies. Breathtaking.

Madonna has one named after so why not.......

And finally, there are lots of sculptures around the gardens. Here's Rob making friends......

...looks a bit stony faced to me.