Tulips

Check the website or call. We were ther a month ago and about 25 % was in bloom. Gorgeous.
They plant them in layers so that new blooms are continually coming up for 4 mo. Also the farmers fields are adjacent to keukenof.

The commercial fields around Keukenhof have been cut but they do that because they are growing the plant for the bulb not the flower.

There are still flowers on display in the gardens which are massive altho it might not be as impressive as a few weeks ago. I was there on an RS tour in mid-April and the guide said the gardeners actually plant bulbs 3-deep so they last the season. There are also pavilions with flower displays.

Here is the link to the flower report from the Keukenhof website.

https://keukenhof.nl/en/flowering-report

Hi Judy,

This is from the Tulips in Holland newsletter from this Tuesday, May 7th:

"Current status of the flowers

From the summer like temperatures two weeks ago, we went back to winter temperatures last weekend. There was even some snow in the South of The Netherlands! Normally this is not something that you hope for at the beginning of May, but now it causes some longer blooming for the tulips that are in bloom.

As we are heading towards the end of springtime most of the flower fields are gone. You might find one field left, but I couldn't find any fields during my drive through the Keukenhof area last Sunday. The Keukenhof was nearly empty on Sunday morning during opening time, it was a perfect opportunity to make a lot of photos.

The final layer is in bloom and throughout the garden you can see from the flowers that we are heading towards the end of springtime. Luckily there are still a lot of good spots to find the gorgeous blooming as you can see on my social media in photos and videos. Especially in the old part of the garden underneath the tall trees, the flowers still look beautiful.

In the pavilions the flower shows are getting to a lovely peak with the world famous Lily show in the Willem Alexander Pavilion, where you can see gorgeous lilies on display in beautiful settings. At the Oranje Nassau pavilion you can see the Lisianthus show until the 13th of May and after that you can see the Carnation and summer flower show until the 19th of May. At the Willem Alexander Pavilion you can also see the potted plants show and the potted bulb show (with also some tulips in bloom).

Weather

For the upcoming week temperatures between 3-14 C / 37-57 F are forecasted. Cold but perfect for the blooming of the flowers. After May 12th, Mothers Day in The Netherlands the temperatures are expected to go up again. So if possible visit earlier rather than later. Now there is still some flowers in bloom. With the some days of warm weather it might be over quickly."

We took the train from Rotterdam to Amsterdam Zuid on Monday of this week. There were still scattered flowers in fields, but not too many. We were at Trompenburg Gardens and Arboretum here in Rotterdam today and there were a few bulbs left. Mostly we really, really enjoyed the rhododendrons, which were spectacular. There are plenty of those at Keukenhof, it's not all just tulips. So go! Have a great time!

And so you can learn, bulbs are not plowed under. The flowers are removed in a process called deadheading. In these flower fields that's done mechanically. The purpose is to channel the plant's energies into the bulb as opposed to making seeds, as in this case, the bulb is the actual crop. So you'll see large fields that look horrible, as the foliage dies back in this process. Later in the season, at the appropriate time, the bulbs are lifted and set out to cure before being sold or replanted in the autumn for the following spring's shows.

Thanks everyone. Since the weather was nice we went this morning and it was lovely. At the tail end of the season but colors were great and the the displays beautiful and creative. No flowers in the fields but still glad we went!
Judy

I read somewhere Kerkenhof plowed them under?

I just want to note that the term Keukenhof usually refers to a very cultivated, professionally landscaped "theme park" (I mean that in a nice sense, like a Botanical Garden with food, drink, and a few modest amusements). There are "production" bulb fields nearby, and many are visible from the perimeter of the Keukenhof park. But it is inconceivable that Keukenhof the garden would ever plow anything under. In fact, they have elaborately staged "succession plantings" to provide a (paid ticket) experience to visitors throughout the entire tulip season.

Keukenhof the Botanical Garden has very limited weeks each spring, and not the rest of the summer. In 2019, the park operates 21 March 2019 - 19 May 2019. I would not hesitate to go on the last day if that's your first day in Amsterdam. (We went earlier in the season. It was almost "too early" because the many Perennial and Evergreen plants in the gardens were not fully blooming. You take that risk with any botanical garden.) Crowding can be very bad at Keukenhof.