It’s nature, dressed in its finest, flaunting magnificence: thousands of blushing brides in white silk with their arms outstretched, proud princesses draped in velvety reds and blues dancing, twinkling fairies flitting about in sparkling pastels, bucking stallions, trumpeters on parade, zebras in pink tuxedos. During spring, they all come alive inside the fleeting magic of Keukenhof. From the boldest narcissi to the most demure iris, acres of greenery dappled with 7 million of the most splendid flowers to see the light of day come alive each spring in a Holland farm town called Lisse. For nine weeks, thousands come to see the orchids, gerberas, hyacinths, chrysanthemums, begonias, English roses, and, of course, the tulips. But under the veil of flora is Keukenhof the business: a staff of creative marketing professionals whose goal it is to make Keukenhof the most-visited flower festival in the world. Petal to the Metal Holland is an obvious choice for a Garden of Eden of this magnitude because of its history-bound love affair—almost obsession—with flowers, particularly tulips. The swarms of people who flock to Keukenhof in spring suggest that the Dutch aren’t alone in their appreciation for stunning plant life. In just over two months, close to 1 million visitors stroll through the gates, which is a dream scenario for most parks and attractions. And since the major cast of characters—the flowers, trees, and plants—are donated by Dutch growers, most of Keukenhof’s profit is plowed back into the facility, which is in a constant state of grooming, maintenance, and improvement. The 79-acre sprawl has a history of its own, long before it became an attraction. During the Middle Ages, the land was part of an estate belonging to Jacoba van Beieren, a Countess of Holland who was married at one point to a Duke of Gloucester and later, a Dauphin of France. She grew vegetables and herbs on part of the premises, so her kitchen was stocked with fresh herbs and produce daily. “Keuken,” meaning kitchen and “hof,” Dutch for garden, became the chosen name for the estate. Centuries later, in 1949, when 10 prominent Dutch growers and exporters requested land from the mayor for an open-air flower exhibit, Keukenhof became the perfect choice. They wanted land for a park where they could plant their bulbs every fall and exhibit their flowers to the public every spring. The municipality of Lisse eagerly provided the acreage. Today, a foundation of growers, not the municipality, owns Keukenhof, which has become the largest flower garden in the world. The number of Dutch growers who support the facility increased throughout the years, and today Keukenhof receives bulbs from about 100 local growers, according to Jan Willem Wessel, Keukenhof’s managing director. But everything else is done in-house. “We plant the flowers, we make the design for planting, we maintain them, and we take them out after the season and most of them get thrown away,” he says. Planting new bulbs each season ensures the healthiest and most vibrant annual crop. “We could reuse the bulbs again but then we’d end up with smaller bulbs. If we decided to reuse them we would have to take care of them, store them in the right conditions, and replant them. That’s what the professional growers do, but we don’t. We get fresh bulbs every year because we need a good flower on the bulb. It avoids any type of disease that might come on.” The facility earns its money—about € 8 million ($9 million) annually—from the entrance fee (€ 11.50), and from patrons spending money in the restaurants, shops, and cafes. Of the 750,000 visitors that pass through Keukenhof each season, about 70 percent comes from abroad and 30 percent comes from Holland. These aren’t bad numbers for a park filled with plant life. Wessel says he wants to see the international numbers grow even more in the coming years. Wessel also intends to strengthen Keukenhof’s brand as the authority on cultivating and arranging the most beautiful flowers. To that end, the park encourages visitors to grow their own plant life at home—seven Dutch growers each have their own point of sale in the park, offering bulbs, gardening books, and other flora accessories. Keukenhof also has a web site, www.keukenhof.nl, which offers exhibition and park information, historical insight, and links to horticulture sites. But the site’s potential is what intrigues Wessel. “We don’t sell bulbs online, but that’s something we could do in the future.” Tour guides speak Dutch, German, English, French, Spanish, Japanese, and Swedish to give patrons from a wide spectrum of nationalities the chance to experience Keukenhof in full-bloom. And Wessel says patrons travel to Keukenhof from all over the world because of its annual offerings, and because Holland is the flower bulb capital of the planet. “Holland is still the biggest bulb-producer in the world, and the tulip is the most important crop. Even today it is seen as the symbol of Holland,” Wessel offers. The numbers suggest he speaks the truth: The Dutch bulb exports amount to about € 725 million ($820 million) annually and employ more than 17,000 people in Holland. April Showers Bring May Flowers With only nine weeks to earn enough profits to propel Keukenhof into the next year and with the looming risk of foul weather, park planners pack as many exhibits and events into the season as possible. Wessel says the four indoor pavilions give patrons the opportunity to see Keukenhof even if the weather doesn’t cooperate, but the success of the season, like the plant life, relies on the appearance of the sun. “The weather has an impact. When it’s raining or storming in Holland—we can have very rough conditions—it doesn’t stimulate people to go walking into the park. We have the pavilions, but that’s not really what people come to see,” he explains. “We grow a nature product. So depending on the weather conditions during springtime, we may have an early bloom, a late bloom, an average bloom.” However, the pavilions, each bearing a royal name, like the Prince Willem Alexander pavilion, offer visitors something different every time they come, so Keukenhof often gets repeat patrons, Wessel says. Professional flower arrangers come to the park every week to create exhibits, and each week a new plant or flower takes center stage at the various facilities. During the 2003 season, the park offered 16 different flower exhibitions. One of the most popular exhibits was “The Splendiferous Orchid Show,” a display of the world’s most charismatic and exotic flower. Inside the pavilion were hundreds of Georgia O’Keefe paintings brought to life—orchid faces painted with bursts of color on white palettes. The magnificent flowers lined the walls, tables, footbridges, heads held high in enormous vases and pots. Last season, Keukenhof ran four art exhibitions. The first, “Gnome, Sweet Gnome,” featured 12 international artists expressing their views on the mindset and perspectives of gnomes and dwarfs. At the other side of the park another pavilion held an exhibition of about 50 paintings that were gathered from Dutch and international artists who painted the Dutch bulb fields from various time periods, so visitors could compare how they looked many decades ago with how they look today. At the end of this season, Keukenhof launched a new exhibit that turned the spotlight on lesser-known summer bulbs like the star-shaped oxalis and the tender climbing lily called the gloriosa. Jurgen Smit, Dutch host of the TV show Tuinieren met Kijkers (Gardening with Viewers) and other well-known flower designers gave presentations on trendy packaging, arranging, and eco-potters. This was a departure from the traditional events, such as the annual flower parade—the busiest day of the year—and it blossomed almost instantly. “We also did a few workshops for readers of a woman’s magazine in Holland in which they could arrange their own tulip bouquets. It was sold out within five minutes,” Wessel says, matter-of-factly. “We will expand on that next year because we see there’s a market. People want to do something or want to learn something or want to take something home. These ladies probably wouldn’t have come to Keukenhof otherwise, so it’s also an answer to the part of the market that says, ‘OK, this is interesting. It’s flowers, it’s bulbs, it’s nice, but what’s in it for me?’ “So what we will do in the coming years is go into these markets and offer flower arranging, garden design, and try to make it as interactive as possible.” Swingtime in Springtime Regardless of what’s on the agenda for the season, preparing the property is a daunting job that requires a sizable staff and the help of international flower experts. Although dozens of garden architects work full time at Keukenhof, the original design for the park was created in 1850 by Zocher, the architect of the Amsterdam Vondelpark, a park similar in design to Keukenhof. Beyond the scattered ponds, decadent gardens, and trees that extend over several hundred acres, Keukenhof shares the same curvaceous, sweeping pathways, scenic footbridges, and encircling exhibits. Preparation for each spring season begins after summer comes to an end, Wessel says. The bulbs and grass all have to be replanted so they can blossom and grow in time. “Every year it’s a project to get things started up again. Year-round we have about 50 staff members; 35 people work in the park—gardeners, people who maintain the trees—and about 15 to 20 people work in the office, most of them work in marketing, sales, and public relations,” he explains. “We have to sell our products to the tourism industry worldwide and to individuals who we want to visit our park every spring.” Off-season preparation is a major departure from what other attractions and parks go through. The process is akin to what a farmer would go through to recultivate the land. Before they can even begin to prepare for a new season, however, gardeners tear up the grounds, disposing of old plants and bulbs. Along with the Keukenhof staff, they come up with layout concepts for next season based on the latest trends. Then they prepare the soil, which is particularly suited for growing bulbs. “In the western part of our country we have a lot of sandy soil, not very rich, not very nutritious. But it’s fine for bulbs. They don’t need very much humidity or rainwater. When they get too much they drown and you never see them again. Sandy soil does not hold on to the water, it’s like a sieve.” Just passed its fifty-fourth spring, Keukenhof’s off-season planning is more intense than ever. But regardless of how much promotion Keukenhof does throughout the year, Wessel says there is a visitor base that returns to the facility year after year because they have a passion for flowers. Others pass through as part of a travel itinerary. “Tourists go the bulb fields, they go to Keukenhof, they go to Maduradam. You see them at the Van Gogh Museum and the Rijks Museum in Amsterdam, things like that. It’s a spring package, you could say,” he explains. A Budding Future Wessel says he plans to increase the visitor base, bringing people from farther away in the coming years. He wants to take advantage of social changes that might work in the market’s favor. “As of next year we have 10 new member states coming into the EU. No borders, no customs, they can just come out, which means the potential of 80 million people. We’ll shift our attention to Middle Eastern and European countries. There is a part of the market that’s there and you have to be there. “We have some saturated markets: France, the U.K., Germany, they all know about us. So another thing we have to do is go to other markets with potential, even for group arrangements and organized trips.” As the Internet becomes more user friendly and an increasingly important aspect of travel planning, people will require less hand-holding, a change that Wessel says has forced them to shift their marketing campaigns. They used to target tour groups and travel companies, but now they focus more on the individual, a more daunting task that requires larger, more visible campaigns, a significant Internet presence, and an abundance of eye-catching information. In the future, the park will aim higher than just getting people to the park, Wessel says. The focus will change to education and inspiration. “In 10 years’ time I see Keukenhof as the up-to-date display of the Dutch floricultural production with emphasis on information, education, and fitting entertainment, where people get inspired to buy and work with bulbs, flowers, and plants. They will come to understand the historical, cultural, ecological, and emotional aspects of these specific parts of nature.” When it was introduced to Holland, the tulip caused an almost delusional and freakish frenzy that made normally judicious Dutch go into near financial ruin to populate their boudoirs and foyers with tulip bulbs. Property, family heirlooms, and jewels changed hands to procure tulip bulbs to display in people’s houses. During this craze, known as tulipomania, the flower became wildly overvalued: It had the same anomalous success as the Internet, and a similar market free fall. In 1593, botanist Carolus Clusius brought tulips from Constantinople to the University of Leiden in Holland, planting bulbs in a garden in his home for medicinal research. He refused to give or sell these bulbs to the locals and a few of his neighbors broke into his garden, stole some bulbs, and started the Dutch tulip trade. In his book Tulipomania Mike Dash explores this phenomenon that occurred in the 1630s. “Visitors to the prosperous trading cities of the Netherlands couldn’t help but notice that thousands of normally sober, hardworking Dutch citizens from every walk of life were caught up in an extraordinary frenzy of buying and selling. For almost a year rare bulbs changed hands for incredible and ever-increasing sums, until single flowers were being sold for more than the cost of a house. Historians would come to call it tulipomania.” But the downfall occurred almost as quickly as the tulip’s rise. Wessel says, “People began buying and selling on futures, the promise of a rare and exotic tulip that never materialized, and so the flower, much like Internet sites, quickly devalued, but not before threatening to upstage precious metals as objects of desire.”
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