Every now and then, a request is made to use one of my photographs and I gladly comply…especially if they’re nice enough to credit me. Yesterday a digital lifetime magazine, ScoutieGirl, used one of my photos from a trip to the Netherlands a couple of years ago. From her article I learned something new: last weekend was National Tulip Day celebrated in Amsterdam, the official kickoff of tulip season that lasts from January until the end of April.

Organized by growers, about 200,000 tulips are displayed in Dam Square in Amsterdam where visitors can browse the blooms and pick a free bouquet for their home. Last year, there were about 10,000 folks who happily tiptoed through the tulips picking their favorite colors.

A youtube video of the 2013 Nationale Tulpenday gives us a peek into the joyful event.

We were lucky enough to accompany Virginia bulb growers, Brent and Becky Heath, for a once in a lifetime adventure through public and private gardens and behind the scenes look at the operation and fields of several growers who are associated with the Heath’s business. Here are a sampling of my photos that give me a little hope that spring will eventually come to this frozen New Hampshire landscape.

Click on any photograph to enlarge.

Muscari Fields