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Tulips in Holland update #1 – Opening of spring season 2013

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Springtime 2013 has official started, we passed the 21^st of March, the Keukenhof has opened its doors and it is cold, very cold. I have to bring bad news for everyone who is travelling in the next week. We have an extremely late springtime. 🙁

Normally around this time of the year you can see fields of yellow daffodils, some early tulips, the different colors of the hyacinths and the purple of the crocuses is normally over their peak. This morning I have seen just one (!) crocus field and the rest is still in a big winter sleep.

The Keukenhof itself is no exception. I spoke with several people and they are trying their best to put some flowers up. Around the park they placed a lot of crates with tulips and other flowers straight from the glass houses to give it some color.

Outside you will find some crocuses and that is it. Everything else is still green or trying to be green. (Even the grass is still not growing). The temperatures are too low for the time of this year; people are wearing thick winter coats, warm hats, mittens and scarfs so please bring them with you.

Indoors there are some nice exhibitions. The Oranje Nassau Pavilion had a lot of nice fresh cut tulips on display. And the Willem Alexander Pavilion had some nice tulips (but still lots of green even indoors!) Click here for a Keukenhof map.

Will it be worth to visit Keukenhof next week?

Please decide for yourself after seeing the photos. If I had traveled from far I would be disappointed to see no flower fields and very less flowers inside the Keukenhof. But some people still enjoy it. But it might be a good idea to think about an alternative activity for your itinerary.

The weather forecast predicts an up in temperature from Tuesday/Wednesday. At nighttime it won’t freeze anymore and daytime it will go above the 10 degrees. Bring warm clothes (thermo, scarf, mittens, hat, etc.) a waterproof jacket and an umbrella.

This still doesn’t change the fact that most flowers are in a winter sleep and still needs to grow before blooming. Unless we have a sudden heat wave of 30 degrees I don’t expect a lot of difference in blooming at the Keukenhof next week.

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Is there some good news?

The good news is, when the temperature will get up to normal levels and the sun will shine that all the fields will be blooming all together. But that is only positive news for the people travelling in April.

For all people with the question: Will the tulips/flowers bloom at date X ?

I am sorry we can’t tell. Due to the extreme cold it is difficult to make a precise forecast this year. The weather is an important factor in this. Just follow the weekly updates and decide for yourself if it is worthwhile to travel to the Keukenhof area.