“Daffodils and early tulips are in full bloom”

The 4,500 different types of bulbous plants are about to be renovated in the Hortus Bulborum in Limmen. The oldest bulb garden in the Netherlands can be visited again for weeks from Friday. “They come here from all over the world.”

That’s what 95-year-old Hortus Bulborum Foundation Board Max Nuyens proudly says when addressing a media partner NH News already gives an overview of the flowers that can be seen. They are swept away and the name tags of the flowers are straightened, so that everything is tidied up for the opening on Friday afternoon. “The public is welcome from Saturday.”

The Hortus Bulborum is the treasure trove of bulbous plants and a popular place for breeders to tag pollen to create new varieties. “And the garden receives visits from enthusiasts from the Netherlands and the rest of the world: they come from New Zealand, Australia and an impressive number of Americans.”

Normally the garden opens around April 6, but for years it has been possible to open earlier. “Due to the mild winters and early springs, we are more flexible with this date. I think we will soon set this ‘fixed’ opening date to April 1. Although it remains natural, and we will continue to watch how the garden is determining when we can open.”

“There are already enough beautiful flowers to see. Daffodils and crocuses are in full bloom. But also a number of early tulip varieties, such as our pride, the Duc van Tol tulip. It is the oldest tulip that we have, from 1595.”

This year, the bulb garden has the misfortune that precisely during the six to seven weeks of opening there are roadworks on their main access route via the Rijksweg. “They were supposed to start in September, but unfortunately they were postponed to today.”

“We advise people who are not local to take the Akersloot exit on the A9 motorway, then follow the signs for Limmen and then the ‘hortus’ signs which we are going to put in place. This makes it easy to find us. “

Travel advice and more information about the garden can be found on their website.