5

From the guides I read they state that from March to May you can visit the Keukenhof.

If the winter is warmer flowers will bloom earlier. What happens in such situation? will Keukanof close earlier (before may=, will it still be open and "shiny"? If open are there still blooming flowers?

Eg.: 2014 was a warm winter. I heard some people comenting that the Tulips bloomed much earlier and the Keukenhof was not so beautiful anymore. I am not sure how reliable this was, and if they knew this for a fact.

Note: I rephrased the question and made it a bit more generic.

6
  • 3
    I don't know about Keukenhof itself, but some friends of mine went to see the tulip fields "in the wild" around Lisse and were disappointed. They said that almost 80% of the tulips were already cut. You can search Flickr for photos of Keukenhof taken in the past week to get a feel on how it looks now. May 1, 2014 at 15:04
  • 1
    @BartArondson I think your ideas is very good. You should consider transforming it into an answer.
    – nsn
    May 1, 2014 at 16:08
  • @Flimzy I don't think it is particularly relevant, because the situation is different per year.
    – Bernhard
    May 1, 2014 at 18:11
  • 1
    @Flimzy I made the question a bit more generic. Comments are welcome.
    – nsn
    May 1, 2014 at 19:50
  • 1
    @nsn I know people who went there today. It is not worth visiting anymore, most flowers seem to be gone by now.
    – Bernhard
    May 10, 2014 at 17:53

2 Answers 2

8

Yes, the 2014 winter was very warm, tulips were already being cut mid-April and everybody was speaking about that. Still, I am pretty sure Keukenhof will not depart from its planned opening (to wit, in 2014 it will be opened until 18 May) and going early or late in the season is always a bit more risky. There will in any case be flowers in the park, even if the fields around it are bare and some of the open-air exhibitions are already less spectacular. Obviously, a big part of the experience is enjoying the park itself and its surroundings but you will also see many many flowers, including orchids, in the various pavilions.

Note that the park is actively maintained and the flowers you can see in the pavilions or in florist's shops everywhere are mostly grown in greenhouses. The tulips grown in the fields are used to produce bulbs, the flowers are discarded, which is why they can be left to bloom all at once, depending on the weather.

4

To answer my own question. Yes, it's open.

Regarding if it's worth it or not to go there in late May:

Many flowers will not have the flower any more - this gets worse over time. The fields around (planted on purpose I think) are also empty. The garden itself is still very beautiful but like @annoyed said less spectacular. Spread around the park they put boxes with tulips. I think that's to compensate the lack of flowers in the park. It felt a bit disappointing though. It's like arriving in the end of the party. You will still have the pavilions with flowers of course and those are quite amazing. The theme field (with a flower drawing) will probably not be there anymore.

To wrap this up: if you're one time in the Netherlands, you have time and dream on going there. Go there! It's still very nice. If you can skip it and go there another time, than wait for next year and go there in April. It's for sure a lot more amazing.

2
  • (+1) Yes the flower drawing is one of the things I had in mind. I once went in March and it was not blooming yet…
    – Relaxed
    May 14, 2014 at 7:59
  • As the flower heads in the fields are cut as soon as open, always 80% of the flowers in the fields will not be in bloom. It is very rare to see a lot of flowers in the fields at any one time.
    – Willeke
    Jul 19, 2015 at 18:38

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .