We lived in the Netherlands, Holland Province, in the late 80s. The little village of Wassenaar was just a suburb of the Hague and all the wonders that cosmopolitan city had to offer. But surrounding our village were tulip fields, real honest-to-goodness tulip fields. In the spring we watched the fields as the bits of green pushed up through the furrows and began to grow taller and taller. Soon we could see the bulbs begin to form on the stalks as we drove by. We were getting more excited each day about seeing our first bulb fields up close. Then one day there they were...row upon row of bright red tulips bobbing their beautiful little heads in the breeze. I hurried home, gathered my daughter and off we drove with cameras in hand ready to record this awesome sight. As we approached the fields I couldn't believe my eyes. The red tulip heads were laying in a huge pile next to the road. In the distance we could see large machinery cutting the heads off of each and every tulip plant. Close by us were workers with huge baskets, loading the heads of the flowers and tossing them into the backs of trucks. It was surreal. The stems were short, maybe two inches, so the cut flowers were not intended for florists. Finally one of the men came over and explained that these fields were for bulb production. If the flowers are left on the stalks, they will drain the strength of the bulbs. the flower heads are left on the plant after opening just for a few days and then are cut. Tulips for florists are generally grown in greenhouses.
The short stemmed tulips showed up a few days later in roadside stands as "slingers", (a garland of flowers) to be added to the front bumper of one's car or truck. I loved seeing so many cars festooned with this Dutch debris, as we called it in our house. The Dutch never waste anything! They looked like big Hawaiian leis.
The Dutch export several billion flower bulbs a year and over 10 billion cut flowers a year all over the globe. From the time they are cut in Holland to showing up in a US florist shop can be as few as 48 hours! This is accomplished through the Dutch flower auctions. I visited the Aalsmeer flower auction outside of Amsterdam. It was truly amazing. Be sure to visit the auction no matter what season you there. The public is welcome.
As much as I love tulips, I have had such negative experience with them trying to enjoy them before the deer eat them. I know we have deer at our house, so I will not be planting them here, but they are in bloom around town and I am so enjoying everyone else's floral displays.
Great story Ginny. I stayed in Den Haag for a week while I was in Holland, also went to Rotterdam and surrounds, then up to Amsterdam for another week. We visited the Keukenhoff (sp?) gardens and also saw many tulip fields while we were there. I loved seeing the sea of color! I didn't know about the bulb production though - so that was interesting! Thanks for sharing! (LOVE your photo too! Great angle!)
Posted by: Rachel Greig | Monday, 05 May 2008 at 07:09 PM
While not the Netherlands, Holland Michigan is pretty dramatic in the spring as well. In fact, the Kalamazoo/Holland area is FULL of folks of Dutch descent and flower growers of all types abound. The city I live in, Portage, has volunteers that plant all the public spaces (highway medians, around the library and city hall, etc etc) with massive plantings--right now it's tulips. The people that volunteer get to keep the bulbs when they clean out the bed after bloom season. Seems like a good deal to me. My personal favorites, pink bleeding hearts, are just starting to bloom and the arch and wave gently over the walk leading up to my front porch and door. I have a friend who is a professional landscape designer and they came up and did a custom design for us. They told us at the time to consider it a "5 year plan". We're on year 4 now, and it's almost done. It is fabulous. I feel kind of guilty spending all that money on landscaping, but when people walk past my house, stop, stare and point stuff out to each other, it sure feels worth it.
Posted by: Amy | Monday, 05 May 2008 at 07:10 PM
Now I know why some of my bulbs don't come back,duh! HI nice to meet you Ginny.
Posted by: Joy Logan | Monday, 05 May 2008 at 07:24 PM
That's so fascinating about the tulips in Holland. I would have freaked if I saw them all being be-headed. What a bizarre sight but how cool you got to witness it. If the deer eat tulips does that mean they're edible? Hmmm...I wonder.
Posted by: TACE | Monday, 05 May 2008 at 08:57 PM
When I read Michael Pollen's THE BOTANY OF DESIRE
I found out that the bulbs you buy in the store are 7 years old and they poop out several years after planting. The whole cycle starts by planting a tulip seed in Holland. So your experience (that he did not write about) makes sense. I was fascinated by your account, what a remarkable event! There's so much we don't know about everything around us.
My neighbor at the lake puts chicken wire around his tulip beds, otherwise they are deer potato chips!
Posted by: Shirley Ende-Saxe | Tuesday, 06 May 2008 at 07:56 AM
what a beautiful photo and interesting story. love them both! makes me want to go to holland.
Posted by: NotSoccer Mom | Tuesday, 06 May 2008 at 12:43 PM
I am heading to The Hague the first week in June for work - thanks for the tips !
Posted by: SandyB | Tuesday, 06 May 2008 at 03:18 PM
I have been looking through your art work and I am so inspired. The textures and design in your pieces are so imaginative. Thanks for sharing, Roxanne
Posted by: rivergardenstudio | Tuesday, 06 May 2008 at 06:36 PM