21 April 2024 – Sunday – Flowers, and more Flowers, and a Canal Ride

Finally a sunny day! We were going to see the Keukenhof gardens, an 80 private park that is open for 8 weeks a year. It is planted with 70 million bulbs, mostly tulips and daffodils. The park has about 20,000 visitors each day. We arrived by bus that parked in a lot with a few hundred other buses. Our group leader gave us a map of the place and took us a short way beyond the entrance gates so that we could start our own walking tour. In addition to outdoor plantings, there are several greenhouses with indoor flowers like orchids, amaryllis and calla lilies. Since the park is so large, once inside the crowds disperse a bit in many directions. 

After the 8 weeks of being open, the 36 full time gardeners remove all the bulbs and dispose of them. The entire park is newly replanted in 3 months beginning in late September. Bulbs are given by growers to show off their specialties. 
I took tons of photos. Samples are here:

In the afternoon we went on a canal cruise. It was a chance to see Amsterdam from a different perspective.