Behind the scenes: The making of Tulip Festival

Before the tulip fields and the Keukenhof tulip garden blossom in spring in the most brilliant colours, a lot of work has to be done. From autumn onwards, the flower bulbs go into the ground. In the case of the tulip fields, this is done mechanically, but in the case of the Keukenhof tulip garden, more than 7 million bulbs are planted manually. A gigantic job that takes dozens of gardeners 2 months.

The making of Tulip Festival

In ‘the making of’ we show various aspects of the work of the gardeners at Keukenhof and the tulip growers in the Bollenstreek. With photos and videos you get a good idea of the amount of work needed for a blossoming spring.

Making of Keukenhof Gardens

To get millions of blooming tulips and other spring flowers in spring, gardeners and bulb growers have to work throughout the year. The videos below will give you an idea of the hard work that goes into getting spring blooming tulips.

Making the designs for Keukenhof

Already during the tulip season the designs for the season the following year are being considered. Keukenhof Gardens has more than 100 suppliers of flower bulbs and based on the designs Keukenhof receives the flower bulbs.

As soon as the Keukenhof gates are closed and the tulip season comes to an end, the flowers including bulbs are removed from the gardens. The park will be prepared in August and September so that the new bulbs can be planted.

Also check out our FAQs for making your own tulip garden.

The 7 million flower bulbs for Keukenhof arrived

Each year, Keukenhof receives no less than 7 million bulbs for the Keukenhof Gardens from 100 Dutch flower bulb companies. It’s quite an operation to check all the bulbs for quality and to classify them in the designs of the gardens for the coming spring.

Keukenhof Autumn vs. spring

Making of the tulip fields

The tulip fields are not laid out for tourists but are intended for growing tulip bulbs. From October the growers will start planting the bulbs. This is mainly done by machine so that the tulip fields get straight lines. This is useful for the production but also produces beautiful images in the spring.