smetz1

My wife and I are considering going to Amsterdam in the spring, but the only week we have available is the week leading up to Easter - 3/28 to 4/4 or thereabouts. One attraction for us would be the flowering gardens & fields in Holland, though research indicated that prime time for tulips is usually later in the month of April. I see on the website for Keukenhof that the park opens March 20 - are there normally flowers to see at the end of March and the beginning of April - if not tulips, perhaps daffodils or some other early bloomer?

jamikins

We went easter 2008 and easter was very early - 20 March or so - and had snow!

It totally depends on the weather in the spring but even with snow there were tulips and other flowers, lots in the large greenhouses.

hetismij2

If the park is open there are flowers to see. Maybe not swathes of tulips, but plenty of early spring bulbs, and it will smell wonderful too, since early bulbs are more likely to have scents.

smetz1

Thanks - sounds like it would still be a nice place to visit, even if the tulips aren't in full bloom. I suppose the later we're there the better, even if we plan it at the end of the week, like April 4-5, versus the beginning.

menachem

yes, that's true. it so depends on the weather, and that, in march and april, is fickle.

HappyTrvlr

We were at Keunkenhof a few years ago, April 22, and flowers were at their peak. Depends on weather conditions.

hetismij2

The closer to Easter the busier the park will be. There is no way of knowing at this point what exactly will be in flower that week, but there will absolutely be flowers, and plenty to see in the greenhouses too.
The weather last year was warm around those dates, but we didn't really have a winter. This year we are having colder weather, though nothing too horrible (yet!). We don't know what weather tomorrow will bring us with any degree of certainty so can't begin to offer any predictions on how early or late blooming will be, or whether it will be warmer at the beginning or the end of the week.
Go and enjoy what is on offer. As I said, maybe not swathes of tulips (and tourists) but certainly flowering bulbs of some sort.

annhig

beware that you don't fall in love with something you see there. after our first visit I got into tulips in a big way, and after the second one, I am gone on hothouse orchids.

I daren't visit a third time!

smetz1

Exactly what I wanted to know, thanks so much to everyone. Good luck with your gardening obsessions annhig, did you buy bulbs in Holland?

annhig

smetz - no I didn't buy any bulbs in Holland as I wanted time to look at my garden and decide what I wanted to go where. Our last visit co-incided with us making a large shrub border to commemorate our 30th wedding anniversary [including a lovely wedding cake tree] so we filled it with tulips for the spring - pinks, purples and whites - and add to them almost every year. I suppose there must be well over 200 by now.

This autumn I renovated part of an older shrub border that we first planted about 12 years ago, and with the help of my artistically minded DD, planted loads of bulbs including tulips in there. So i'm hoping that it will look as spectacular as the other one, come April.

Challiman

We went in March 2004 and the gardens were beautiful! The fields outside the gardens, almost nothing showing.
We ordered bulbs to be sent for fall planting, and I selected mine based on what we saw in the gardens. I loved watching them come up the next spring, a great reminder of a wonderful trip.

smetz1

Challiman, love the idea of bringing bulbs back as the reminder of a trip, esp. since they come the same time of year, every year!

Huggy

May be too late for you but just returned this last week from Haarlem. Visited Keukenhof on Mar. 22. Few tulips blooming but should be robust now. Weather was very cool and windy but what else to expect from mid March. Our second visit and was enjoyable as our first visit in mid May.