Been crazy-busy around here and I'm not sure where to start.
In mid-May, went on my annual trip to Ottawa to visit my brother. In past years I've visited during the freakin', frigid, Winterlude Festival. After my last sub-zero visit I declared that I would not be returning to Ottawa in the winter.
So this year, I timed this visit for the Tulip Festival.
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| My nephew Keith and his family came up from Toronto. |
One day after I arrived the temperature hit a scorching 29 C. (That's VERY hot in Fahrenheit !)
The sudden heat brought the Tulips instantly into full bloom. Luckily it didn't stay that hot or they would have been dropping their petals in no time !
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| The displays of Tulips were stunning and the crowds that came to see them swelled when the weekend arrived. |
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| I loved this colour combination. |
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| Don't know who this is but she was cute as a button in her sun hat. |
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| Yup. It's a Tulip Festival but those are ... |
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| Lots of uniquely painted, overly-large, Tulips. |
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| I loved this one, that was created by the E.B. Eddy matchstick company. |
In 1945 the Dutch Royal family sent The City of Ottawa 100,000 Tulip bulbs to thank Canada for shielding the Princess Juliana from the Nazis during the previous three years. In 1943 she bore a child -- Princess Margriet at the Ottawa Civic Hospital. To ensure that the baby would inherit only her Dutch citizenship from her mother, the maternity was was declared be officially a temporary part of international territory !
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| And oh, the marvellous scent wafting off thousands and thousands of Tulips! |
That initial gift has been augmented with 10,000 more Tulips arriving annually from The Netherlands, resulting in the over one million Tulips that greet the 500,000 visitors that attend the Festival each year.
Thank you to The Netherlands for this wonderful gift.
The Dutch are just the coolest. Of course, my 1/4 Dutch 3/4 German second cousin wouldn't agree, but I think they're cool. I had no idea about this Canadian/Dutch connection. Thanks for teaching me something new.
ReplyDeleteYou are very welcome ma'am. ;-) It's an interesting connection. Of course the Tulips go to Ottawa because it's Canada's Capital -- should I have mentioned that ?
DeleteWow, absolutley gorgeous! Yes, I think visiting for the Tulip Festival is a much better idea than Winterlude!
ReplyDeleteKarma my dear, I heartily agree. No more winter visits to Ottawa for me. Gosh it's a lovely city.
ReplyDeleteIt is a glorious sight. I knew part of the story about the tulips, but didn't realize that the Netherlands continues to send them. The real tulips are beautiful, but I was taken by the large painted ones. Very nice.
ReplyDeleteThe large painted ones varied widely in appearance. Some were really kitschy -- others more artistic. There was one with Lady Di and the boys and then William and Kate. Not sure about that one ...
DeleteIncredibly beautiful tulip pictures, Sybil. Wow! Some of these could appear on a calendar. The little girl is so cute. As for Ottawa, do you think it's colder than the UP? Yikes!
ReplyDeleteColder in Winter ? I suspect it's a tie. Ontario has some big extremes. VERY cold in Ottawa in Winter and VERY hot (and humid) in Summer. Nova Scotia (along the coast anyway) has fewer extremes. Rarely hot or that cold. (we're ignoring this winter past OK)
DeleteThat little girl was just perfect. So darn cute. Thanks.
I sometimes think it would be nice to live in a place without such extremes. However, it doesn't look like that's gonna happen if I'm still married to this guy. He's addicted to Lake Superior. Just sayin'.
DeleteBeautiful! I thought only we in Michigan did a tulip festival! (Outside of Holland of course!) This was spectacular!
ReplyDeleteDawn, I had to go learn about your tulip festival and learned that it's held in Holland, Michigan ! How kewl is that !
DeleteBonjour Sybil,
ReplyDeleteWow you were lucky to be there at the perfect time. One can't always predict the spring.
I didn't know that the Dutch are still sending tulips every year.
love rosie
(I always have trouble signing in to blog spot. I was just told I don't own the dearrosie identity.)
Rosie, I no longer get feeds of your posts either. What happened to "Dear Rosie" ?
DeleteNothing's wrong with my blog - I'm just not blogging much these days.
DeleteThe swaths of tulips are cheerfully bright and very lovely and that little girl IS as cute as a button. We don't have a Tulip Festival here in Connecticut, but we do have a Daffodil Festival in April. Thank you for sharing these gorgeous pictures and for the interesting local history.
ReplyDeleteThe scent of the Tulips was wonderful ... but I actually prefer Daffodils. That must just smell heavenly in April.
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