"... Come tiptoe through the tulips with me...." -- Tiny Tim
=====(in the Netherlands) Found in the town of Lisse, near Amsterdam, the Keukenhof ("Kitchen garden"), also known as the Garden of Europe, is one of the world's largest flower gardens. Once a rural retreat for wealthy city merchants, in the 19th century Lisse's manor houses were sold and their land given over to what this pocket of South Holland is best known for -- the cultivation of bulb flowers. Today, flowers and the tourists they attract are the town's main industry, and the main attraction, the Keukenhof Gardens (normally) host more than a million annual visitors during its eight-week season, when its fields and planted displays of multicolored tulips, daffodils and hyacinths are in bloom. when its colorful tulip fields come into bloom. A trip here in Spring (preferably in the month of April) will likely prove to be one of the highlights of your time in the Netherlands. Although Keukenhof, which dates back to 1857, is widely known for its millions of tulips, it also features numerous other flowers, including hyacinths, daffodils, lilies, roses, carnations, and irises. The Museum de Zwarte Tulp displays much about bulbs, including why there’s no black tulip, a mythical bloom that helped drive Tulipmania in 1636.
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