Spring has sprung (finally!), which means itβs time to head to Keukenhof to check out the tulips. If youβre thinking, what are you talking about, Keukenhof is closed due to COVID-19, well… youβre right. But Keukenhof isnβt about to let a pesky virus get in the way of us enjoying the national symbol of the Netherlands!
Have a different garden youβd love to tour from home this spring? Skip below.
How to smell the flowers at Keukenhof from home
1. First things first. Go and buy some tulips. If youβre in the Netherlands, you can order fresh tulips online from BOLT Amsterdam with free delivery and bonus karmic points for saving them from the rubbish dump (see below!). If youβre not in the Netherlands, any tulips will do. Just remember to stay at a safe social distance of 1.5 metres from your fellow flower shoppers.
2. Take those bell-shaped beauties home and pop them in a pretty vase beside your laptop. If you donβt have a vase, use a cup, or one of those empty wine bottles you have lying around (weβre all the same at this point, donβt worry).
3. Flowers in place? Good. Now click onto Visit Keukenhofβs YouTube channel and open one of their video virtual tours. The first to be uploaded stars the handsome and tremendously tall Managing Director Bart Siemerink, who takes us through a quiet Keukenhof to his favorite place β the flower hill.
4. Keep your eyes on the screen, and your nose by your wine bottle/vase. Breathe in. Aaaaaaah, doesnβt that garden smell good?
5. Press replay. Or watch another video. Over the coming weeks, Visit Keukenhof will be uploading more virtual garden tours, and weβll get to see different parts. How cool is that? Also, ordering more tulips helps the industry out, and itβs a great excuse to keep your house nice and colourful as the days in quarantine progress.
6. Donβt forget to leave a nice comment for Visit Keukenhof on their channel, to let them know youβve stopped by. They planted over seven million bulbs and 800 varieties of tulips, after all! You can also follow and tag us in the Instagram posts of all your virtual visits to Keukenhof. We love to see your faces with the flowers.
βWe have an exquisite park that’s only getting more beautiful and blooming every day. Our motto is: ‘If you cannot come to Keukenhof, we will bring Keukenhof to you.”
Bart Siemerink (Keukenhof MD)
Explore more virtual gardens
New York Botanic Garden
New Yorkβs most popular gardens might be closed, but you can still see the rhododendrons, daffodils, magnolias, and more on a First Day of Spring Walk. Green-fingered fans can also follow their Plant Talk blog. Come back later for tickets to the New York Botanic Garden
Dubai Miracle Garden
The biggest natural flower garden in the world might take a long time to explore on foot. But you can do it from your armchair with this 360-degree virtual tour. Think giant peacocks, OTT floral archways, cantering horses and candy canes. Come back later for tickets to Dubai Miracle Garden
Waddeston Gardens, UK
Soak up amazing English countryside views, walk around the sculptures and spot the one made for the gardens of Versailles on a virtual tour. You can also zoom in on paintings, furniture, doll houses and more inside Waddesdon Manor. Come back later for tickets to Waddeston Manor Grounds
Spreading flower power during COVID-19
With over 7 billion of the worldβs population on lockdown, we have never needed flower power more. We love this news story. Dutch flower wholesalers Fred and Henk Magendans had purchased two trucks full of flowers at auction when the cancellations came pouring in due to the coronavirus. They decided that rather than letting the flowers go to waste, they would donate them to hospitals in Eindhoven and Helmond. Bravo, guys!
Save the tulips from going to waste with BOLT Amsterdam
Do you live in The Netherlands? Help the tulip industry out at this time and make someoneβs day by saying it with flowers.*
The kind-hearted horticulturalists at BOLT Amsterdam have already saved half a million tulips from ending up in the rubbish dump, by letting you order them online at a cut price. Theyβll even deliver for free. Check out BOLT Amsterdamβs tulip delivery offers!
*By βitβ we mean βSorry youβre in quarantine/dire need of cheering up, here are some beautiful tulips to remind you how blooming marvellous you are.β