Tulpentag 2019: the Holland tulip day

Thinking of Holland, one of the first things that comes to mind, together with windmills and Flemish painting, is certainly the tulip, a symbol of the country. Amsterdam, like every year, organizes the National Tulip Day for lovers of this beautiful flower.

The national Tulip day

On 19th January  2019 Amsterdam lights of colors to celebrate this flower so loved by the locals and not only hundreds of local farmers gather in the central Dam Square to create a temporary garden with at least 200,000 tulips of every kind and color, from natural to hybrid ones created by crossing different varieties.
Anyone who goes there can collect them freely, up to 15 flowers: the entrance is at 1 pm, but the most curious can go on the spot since the morning to see the birth of this picking garden, with unloading of goods and floral arrangements.
The National Tulip Day was born to open the season in which the tulips bloom, that is from January to April: this awaited event is also enriched by a series of initiatives related to the world of gardening and nature, suitable for everyone, from the largest to the children.

Amsterdam and the tulips

Finding the tulip in Amsterdam, in full bloom, is really easy: not only in Dam Square during the National Tulip Day, where one can enjoy the surrounding beauty from one flower to another, given by the Royal Palace and Nieuwe Kerk.To get a bunch of tulips just go to a supermarket, stalls or Bloemenmarkt, the characteristic floating flower market that takes place on the Singel canal.
Another place where you can admire expanses of colorful tulips is the park of Keukenhof, the largest flower garden on the planet, located in Lisse, 35 km from Amsterdam.On an area of 32 hectares, 7 million tulips are cultivated, all of which bloom at the same time, between the end of March and the end of May: the visual impact is truly extraordinary, among flowerbeds, ponds and bridges that seem to come out of a painter’s canvas.

Between history and legend

The origins of this flower are Persian: it was a Dutch diplomat who gave the bulbs to the botanist Carolus Clusius at the end of the 16th century. Immediately the tulip conquered the population, so as to become a real luxury good from the cost of 1000 florins. Think that this fashion led to the crack on the stock exchange, thanks to which, however, prices fell, making the flower accessible to everyone.
In the language of flowers, the tulip symbolizes the inconstancy of love in the West, while in the native East it means eternal love.
This bond with the feelings is due to poignant legends that cover the tulip, all of Persian origins. For example, the beautiful Ferhad in love with Shirin: the young man goes in search of fortune and Ferhad waits for him in vain for a long time, until wounded by sharp stones, weep because aware that he will die without seeing his beloved. Her tears mingled with blood and, fallen on the ground, turned into red tulips.