FILE - In this Tuesday, May 4, 2016 file photo, farmers work in a field of blossoming tulips in Den Helder, northern Netherlands. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen, File)
The Associated Press
LISSE, Netherlands (AP) - Nothing says springtime like the tulip season in the Netherlands. The vast Dutch sky hangs low against rectangles of color- majestic purples, regal reds, bright yellows, eye-popping white.
Tulip fields dot the countryside from Haarlem to The Hague but the centerpiece of tulip-watching is Keukenhof park, located in Lisse, some 30 kilometers (20 miles) southeast of Amsterdam. Here, the tulip hunter is rewarded with artistic compositions of tulips with their seasonal brethren, hyacinths, daffodils, crocuses and other springtime varieties.
Gardeners begin planting the 32 hectares (nearly 80 acres) with over 7 million tulips, daffodils and hyacinths in mid-September to prepare for the eight-week spectacle that runs at Keukenhof from mid-March through mid-May. The hand-planting by 40 gardeners takes three months. More than a million tourists visit the gardens each year.
FILE - In this May 4, 2016, file photo, fields of blossoming tulips are shown in Den Helder, northern Netherlands. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen, File)
The Associated Press
This April 14, 2017 photo provided by Martino Masotto shows a closeup of tulips in the in the Keukenhof park in Lisse, Netherlands. (Martino Masotto via AP)
The Associated Press
This April 14, 2017 photo provided by Martino Masotto shows a tulip field near Lisse, Netherlands. (Martino Masotto via AP)
The Associated Press
This April 14, 2017 photo provided by Martino Masotto shows tourists snapping photographs of tulip fields near Lisse, Netherlands. (Martino Masotto via AP)
The Associated Press
This April 14, 2017 photo provided by Martino Masotto shows a closeup of the Fritillaria imperialis 'Rubra Maxima' tulip resembling a pineapple against the backdrop of daffodils in the Keukenhof park in Lisse, Netherlands. (Martino Masotto via AP)
The Associated Press
This April 14, 2017 photo provided by Martino Masotto shows show a field of spring-flowering bulbs near Lisse, Netherlands. Martino Masotto via AP)
The Associated Press
This April 14, 2017 photo provided by Martino Masotto shows a garden of tulips and other spring-flowering bulbs in the Keukenhof park in Lisse, Netherlands. (Martino Masotto via AP)
The Associated Press