Fabulous tulip flight above Bollenstreek, lost in Dutch spring colours 2015

 

Its difficult to (even try to) describe the magnificent flower-glory one could see this year end of April while flying over the Bollenstreek. Luckily for us, tulips and hyacinths were decorating the fields at the same time  in all possible colours. Add a clear blue sky, nice sunshine and a friendly pilot and you have a great spring experience for years to remember. Enjoy the colour flower-power!!!

Dutch tulips (and flowers) fields 2015...

This year, as of mid April the Dutch flower fields around Haarlem,Noordwijkerhout and Sassenheim became an amazingly colourful mosaic again! Happily for us, photographers, most of the bulb flowers (daffodils, hyacinths and all sorts of tulips) decided to come out and bloom at the same time. From white to dark purple, from light lavender through yellow and orange till flashy red and romantic blue, the Bollenstreek-area and parts of Flevoland are currently magical places to visit! Have a look for yourself...A lot of my visitors have difficulties to believe that most of the flowers are simply cut as the reason why they are planted is to get the bulb, not to sell the flower themselves.Once you are in the flower field the question comes: how to take the best pictures. Some love to take the lines, otherwise go for close-up/ carpets of colours. This year I tried more exotic positions, such as going down on the ground for a full portrait of flower+blue sky and for some macro fun with my toy (35mm, f 2.8)...

Tulips in Flevoland 2014, Noordoostpolder is a colourful corner to see!

 

Second half of April tons of tourists come over to the Netherlands to see the spring park Keukenhof and also the flower fields. Most of them however only travel around in Bollenstreek, the flower-bulb-area between Leiden and Haarlem. HOWEVER there are some amazing tulip fields a bit more north in Flevoland. The wide and long fields in this flat and new Dutch province are perfect for growing of potatoes and .... flowers! There is space, abundance of colours and guess what: no other tourists. So if you are curious to spot and photograph some amazing tulips fields just drive to Noordoostpolder and enjoy the view. There are also sign for a bike tulipfestival-route, so you cant get lost:-)

Colourful Dutch tulip fields 2012 edition, around Noordwijkerhout

 

One of the most colouful and fantastic ways to enjoy tulipland Holland in the second part of April is a walk/bike through the flower-bulb area...My favourite/secret place is Noordwijkerhout. Around this village every year the tulip and other flower bulbs paint the fields in amazing colour combination and nature masterpieces!

We even flew over the fields into picture above, have a look here:

Dutch flower/tulip fields 2012: seen from the air with Dakota DC3

 

Welcome to Tulipland 2012! Its is again this colourful (however extremely chilly) time of the spring, when the flower-bulb-area between Leiden and Amsterdam offers tons of different colours...So how about looking down at all this beauty from the air? Today I am taking you with me on board of the Dakota DC 3 (built in 1944 in USA) for a flower-tour in the air!

 

This trip starting in Schiphol-Oost will take us over the blooming Bollenstreek, the spring garden Keukenhof up to the beach resort Noordwijk, then we will fly over Noordwijkerhout; Sassenheim and Lisse! Enjoy the geometry of the flower fields, the flashy colours of those tulips, daffodils and hyacinths...In my next entry we will visit the same fields from the ground:-))

 
Can you try zo fidn the word "love" in one of the tulip fields on the pic below (I am helping you by saying: reeeed:-):

 

And last but not least lets have a quick look in the waiting hall&another second look on the fantastic Dakota DC3! A hug thanks goes to the captans& the weather for the sun and blue sky...

Tulip fields in Flevoland 2011

Last weekend, on the way to the island Ameland I was really impressed to see tons of colourful tulip fields from the highway driving in the Dutch province Flevoland, (passing by Lelystadand Noordoostpolder). This part of the Netherlands was literally added to the country in the 1960-ies....

Flevoland consists of two areas, both under the sea level, up to minus 14m. This area has been gained by draining the Zuiderzee once after the Afsluitdijk had been created and finished in 1932. The land in Flevoland is mainly sand and what grows best on sand ground: flowers!:-) Enjoy the amazing colours and geometric forms...

Dutch flower fields 2011 and baby pigs...

It is again flower fields time! Last weekend one could enjoy tons of colourful flower fields: tulips, hyacinths, daffodils....btw its me in the picture above, posing in the middle of the hyacinths:-) It was pretty busy as you can see in the back: tons of people doing the same as me...

While enjoying the tulip fields, in the garden in front of a house in Noordwijkerhout, I saw a pair of baby pigs...They were really cute and curious and having fun with all the people passing by.

Dutch tulip fields...

As every year end of April is the time one can bike, walk or drive in the middle of the Dutch flower fields...Usually one may admire first the daffodils, then the hyacinths and last but not least the famous tulips...But as last winter was so long and cold this spring offers all fields at once:-)

Some visitors still get completely shock when the experience the "cutting tulip head"-rituals. Yes, the Dutch dont bother or sell the flowersone see, they plant them for the bulbs.

The Netherlands produces some 4.32 billion tulip bulbs, of which 2.3 billion (53%) are used as the starting material for the cultivation of cut flowers. No fewer than 1.3 billion of these (57%) are grown in the Netherlands as cut flowers. The remainder goes to countries within the EU (0.63 billion) and outside the EU (0.37 billion).

The main buyers outside the EU are Japan with 179 million, the US with 147 million, Norway with 60 million and Canada with 48 million bulbs.

Flower power during Bloemencorso 2010 in Haarlem

Last weekend was again THIS special time of the year: the weekend of the flower parade Bloemencorso. Starting Saturday morning from Noordwijkerhout and arriving in the evening in the 40-km-far away city of Haarlem. This year the topic of the parade was "travelling through Europe".

One could see the French Moulin Rouge, play Spanish guitar, see the Portuguese cocks...and meet the Swedish viking and sail away on his ship:-)