Tourists on holiday in Amsterdam are travelling outside the city to the world famous Keukenhof park to see the flowers in bloom.
Each year between March and May, the expansive fields of tulips surround the park in colours, and visitors from all over the world come to admire the beautifully manicured gardens.
“The park and the indoor exhibitions are in themselves examples of landscape art and horticultural art,” Keukenhof director Piet de Vries said at a press conference.
“But Keukenhof has also built up a tradition in the visual arts, with artists of international renown exhibiting their work in our park. This year, too, a route taking visitors past sculptures has been created. It is entitled ‘Even the shadow side is interesting’, and who am I to doubt that for even one minute?”
Keukenhof has more than 15km of footpaths lined with some 4.5 million tulips in 100 different varieties for visitors to explore, and in addition, there are also 2,500 trees in 87 different varieties around the park.
“Visitors will be immersed in the world of flowers in the indoor exhibition halls, even if the weather is disappointing,” Mr de Vries said. “There they get to feast their eyes on the extensive range and great beauty of the flowers cultivated in the Netherlands, witnessing the amazingly skilful achievements of Dutch plant breeders.”
Avid gardeners can also glean tips from the park’s seven ‘inspiration gardens’, each with its own unique character and theme. Specially planted gardens with tulips and other flowers can also be found around the park, and are particularly popular for tourists with a camera.
“The lily exhibit, which can be viewed from 10 to 20 May in our Willem-Alexander Pavilion, is set to become a sensationally lavish showpiece. It includes over 30,000 lilies in three hundred different varieties,” Mr de Vries said.
Keukenhof will remain open until 20 May.
http://www.keukenhof.nl/en/435/introduction-by-piet-de-vries-at-keukenhof-press-conference-21-march-2012.html
