Tulip capital of the world
On Sunday 30 April 2023, I visited the famous spring garden at Keukenhof in the Netherlands along with nearly 50000 other visitors from around the globe – a new record. Every year, about 7 million tulips and other bulbs are planted here by 20 leading growers and exporters of flowering bulbs, and they use the spring exhibition as a marketing event.
What a spectacle! Neat paths, a forest of verdant trees, streams and blooms as far as the eye can see in artfully laid-out flowerbeds. It’s sensory overload: the colours, the scents… In one place, you even “walk on water” across a stream that is about 10m wide! (Thick wooden slabs lie hidden just under the surface of the water.) People lined up to experience it. In an indoor pavilion, world-class orchids were displayed and offered for sale. Here you can find new ideas and inspiration for your own garden.
Keukenhof Castle was built in 1641, and the estate grew to encompass an area of about 200ha. In 1857, landscape architects Jan David Zocher and his son Louis Paul Zocher redesigned the castle gardens.
from Strand will receive an Ina Paarman gift pack worth more than R1200 for his winning letter. It contains a copy of Ina’s new hardcover cookbook, , a gift bag with her four new Curry Cook-In Sauces, and a small stainless-steel rack with eight of her spice mixes. Convenience is key when it comes to Ina Paarman’s for a variety of recipes and some online shopping. Also try Ina’s recipe for papino, lime and chilli sambal on page 127.
