From my research, the consensus seems to be that the best time to see the tulip blooms at Keukenhof is around Mid April.
But, the date for peak bloom will vary every year because of the weather.
Is there any website or source that's looking at the weather this year and predicting when the peak bloom will be for in 2024?
I know its still early to make accurate predictions and probably why I couldn't find such a source, but wanted to confirm that nobody else was able to find something.
From tulipsinholland.com:
“Around mid March we can tell if the winter was cold, average or warm. That is the moment when the weekly flower updates starts to give you accurate information about the flower status in Keukenhof and around it. You can sign up here.”
I seem to recall that the Keukenhof website gives weather and therefore blooming updates, too, closer to opening day. If it helps to reassure you, we were there on the very last day the Gardens were open and it was still gorgeous. There was one small bed where the blooms had passed their peak, but heaps that had not. Be sure to visit the orchid house as well. It is lovely.
It’s way too early to say anything remotely meaningful about the expected blooming of the tulips. However, while it’s true that the peak blooming of the tulips varies every year, we’re talking about days not weeks. And once in bloom, the flowers bloom for several weeks not just 1 day. So if you aim to be here in the 3rd week of April you will definitely be able to see the endless rows of tulips in the fields as well as be able to enjoy the flowers in the Keukenhof.
It is our experience that a visit timed to coincide with Kings Day will land you at Keukenhof at what must be a peak. I cannot imagine the gardens being more perfectly at peak than what we experienced.
Having said that, what seems to be overlooked is that there are many varieties of bulbs (not just tulips) planted in the beds. These all have somewhat variable peak times. There are early, mid and late varieties. Some hold the flowers for a long time. Some do not. The gardeners are continuously deadheading the blooms so unless you are intimately familiar with the varieties, it would be almost impossible for you to know if you are looking at the peak of early, mid or late. One of the marvels of these gardens is the mastery of timing the different bulbs to result in such a brilliant and continuous display, Keukenhof is as much about skilled gardening as it is flowering bulbs.
Point being, you do not need to overthink this, someone else already has.
Absent extremes of unexpected weather, your figuring is less important than you may imagine. Keukenhof is a thoroughly cultivated and engineered public garden facility. Like Longwood Gardens or Huntington Gardens, plants are rotated in and out, and bulbs are planted more than one deep, in order to provide a "quality" experience to all visitors. They know how to do this. It is true that there are also perennials, evergreens, and (easy to plant) annuals on display as well. But perennials only bloom once a year. I suggest that you consider how to avoid the crowded weekends and the most crowded parts of each day, instead.
If you are going to a commercial bulb/flower production field, it's a different matter. (Several fields are visible from the fences at the edges of Keukenhof.)
