Daily Times

Last month my family and I took a trip to Europe. Our itinerary also included Amsterdam. A visit to Amsterdam must include a trip to Keukenhof, provided it is tulip season. One of the main reasons for selecting the timing of the tour was to coincide with the period when Keukenhof is open i.e. from mid-March to mid-May. My family is known for its green thumb; my mother has authored a well-researched book on houseplants and my wife has been grabbing the trophy for the best garden in this category for many seasons during the spring flowers competition organised by the Islamabad Horticultural Society.

Before reaching Keukenhof, we read books, browsed through the famous Garden of Europe’s website and even purchased our tour tickets in advance but we were not prepared for the sight that met our eyes as our flight approached Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. Acres upon acres of tulip fields, with the king of flowers planted in neat rows, each field representing a different colour, hue and shade of tulips. This was was so inviting that it whetted our appetite for the tour we had planned the next morning. We had even made hotel reservations close to Schiphol Airport so that we could commence our tour without much ado.

Keukenhof is located in southern Holland in the small town of Lisse, south of Haarlem and southwest of Amsterdam, which is accessible by bus from the train stations of Haarlem, Leidon and Schiphol. According to the official website for the Keukenhof Park, approximately seven million flower bulbs are planted annually in the park, which covers an area of 32 hectares (79 acres). Even the drive from Schiphol Airport to Keukenhof was so picturesque that before we realised it, we were at the gates. The hundreds of buses and cars that were already parked there and the hundreds that were in queue reminded us of Hajj, when a sea of humanity rushes towards Mina from Mecca to perform the religious rites. On this day, ours was a spiritual journey of a different kind, where faithful flower lovers were rushing to view one of the most beautiful creations of the Almighty: tulips in their full splendor, presenting a glimpse of the promised garden of paradise.

Keukenhof in Dutch means kitchen garden and the name is derived from its origin. Situated on 15th-century hunting grounds, it was also a source of herbs for Jacqueline, the countess of Hainaut’s castle’s kitchen. Rich merchants took over the grounds after the countess’s death. The Dutch East India Company’s captain and governor, Adrian Maertensz Block, lived there in his retirement years in the 17th century in the country house (now known as Castle Keukenhof), which he built in 1641. In the 19th century, Baron and Baroness Van Pallandt assigned the landscape architect, Jan David Zocher, and his son, Louis Paul Zocher, who had also worked on the Vondelpark, to design the grounds around the castle.

The garden was established in 1949 by the then mayor of Lisse. The idea was to present a flower exhibit where growers from all over the Netherlands and Europe could display their hybrids, and help the Dutch export industry (the Netherlands is the world’s largest exporter of flowers).

Purchasing the tickets in advance helped in entering the premises, avoiding long queues, but the vast grounds of the garden absorbed the sea of humanity in such a manner that there was never any rush or jam at any one location. The Keukenhof features a variety of different gardens and garden styles. The English landscape garden features winding paths and unexpected see-through points. Somewhere one will find flaming red bunches of tulips, in other places pastel pink, a delicate combination of whites, yellow and blues with exotic names representing either the grower or named after a famous personality, e.g. a unique patch comprising a variety of vermilion with fragile white streaks and curvaceous petals is aptly named Marilyn Monroe. The historical garden is an enclosed garden where we saw many old types of bulbs. The nature garden, consisting of a water garden where shrubs and perennials combined with bulbous plants, presents a pleasing sight with swans, ducks and other water creatures swimming majestically through the serene ponds. The Japanese country garden is the recreation of a tranquil garden retreat in an authentic Japanese natural habitat.

At Keukenhof, we were keen to visit the sprawling tulip fields we had caught a brief glimpse of from the air but, on arrival, we were informed that the fields were outside the premises and were not included as part of the Keukenhof ticket. Every few yards, one is greeted with new delights and beautiful flowers like hyacinths, lilies and irises also present breathtaking vistas. Even a whole day is not enough to absorb all the delights of this Eden on earth.

The writer is a former group captain of PAF, who also served as air and naval attaché at Riyadh. Currently, he is a columnist, analyst and a television show host