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Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Guess What This Is...

..image credit - arden_nl
Scroll down for answer.













This is a tulip field. Would you have guessed!?

On our way to the Schiphol Airport from Keukenhof in Lisse, we passed fields like this with rows upon rows of tulips.

Sharing this video of tulip fields taken with a drone by Youtuber voomedia.



FUN FACTS

Tulips only bloom for a short period of time. In the spring, growers remove the top of the flower: this is referred to as tulip topping. But how is this done?

Why are tulips topped?
The flowers are not actually important to growers. All they are interested in are the bulbs. The thicker the tulip bulb, the more money it raises. That is why blooming tulips are topped.

The process
Growers plant bulbs in October and allow them to bloom in spring. They then pass through each row to inspect the tulips. This involves checking them all and removing incorrect tulip species and tulips suffering from diseases.

The eventual sale
Once they have been approved, the tulips are topped; this means cutting the flower from the stem. This is done because flowers actually consume a lot of food, and this food is needed to grow the bulb.

The more food a bulb receives, the bigger it gets. The larger bulbs are sold to garden centres and other growers. They then use them to cultivate tulips, which are sold as cut flowers; exactly like the ones in your home!

source : https://www.tuliptoursholland.com/the-tulips/what-is-tulip-topping/

Off with their heads!


It's sad to see a monstrous machine rolling into a colorful tulip field and chopping off these beautiful flowers from their stems, leaving rows of green behind. And an occasionally tulip that is to small to be topped.

Musings Of A Tired Mummy

22 comments:

  1. SPAM??

    I imagine that is quite the sight from the air!

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  2. Wow I learned something today. I didn't know this about tulips nor do I remember seeing a purple tulip. I can see why they have to do this for sales, but I would just enjoy seeing the fields with the tulips blooming without being topped off. Gorgeous sight I would imagine.

    betty

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  3. I was close with my guess. I guessed a microscopic image of denim!

    (kidding)

    What a sight that would be to see ...great tulip info too.

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  4. It's disheartening to see the rows and rows here of trees being chopped down for building we don't need, so I get it about the tulips. My grandfather's favorite flower was a tulip. :)

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  5. I love Tulips, but they don't last long enough to truly enjoy them. I had no idea what the first picture was, so thanks for peaking my curiosity and thanks for sharing #TrafficJamWeekend

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  6. That was interesting, they look beautiful lovely colours :-)

    Have a tuliptastic week :-)

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  7. I was way off! I thought it was carpet or fabric!

    #GlobalBlogging

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  8. I understand why they do it but it makes me very sad to see the photos.

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  9. I would never have guessed tulips from the photo! I would love to go to the Netherlands at tulip time. The photos of the tulip fields are gorgeous! So sad to see their heads chopped off!

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  10. Wow...I never would have guessed what the photo was! Too bad they can't sell the tulips as cut flowers...but I can understand why they top them.

    I saw your post on Tuesdays with a Twist and would love to have you share it with us on Farm Fresh Tuesdays. :)

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  11. I thought it was carpet! Great game - and good analogy. From a distance, things and people might be boring, but if you look closely, they're beautiful and interesting (and surprising!)

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  12. Veronica,

    I thought it was close up of carpet. I was way off base. :) It would make me sad to see such beautiful flowers topped. I'd love to see fields filled with blooming tulips. We were in Asheville, North Carolina a few years ago and the entrance to Biltmore estate had a grand show of tulips in bloom. It was a gorgeous sight! I'd love to visit Biltmore in the spring. They have some amazing gardens. Thanks for visiting today, dearie!

    Views from my window...well, almost ww!

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  13. I thought it was a garage door. :)

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  14. I would never have guessed what that was! So sad about the 'topping', the flowers are so pretty.

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  15. That's gorgeous (before) not so gorgeous after!

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  16. I thought the image was a painted wall! ☺ Tulips are so lovely. It is a shame they have to mow so many of them down. Thanks for this informative post!

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  17. I never would have guessed what that was! I love the beautiful colours that are avaialable. Thanks for linking up with #globalblogging

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  18. Thanks so much for sharing your tulip post on Farm Fresh Tuesdays! Our new party is up and ready for your fun posts this week! Hope to see you there :)

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  19. WOW I would have never guessed that was a flower field! Amazing!

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  20. and they are purple! I love Keukenhoff as well..I remember coming here taking the bus from Den Haag when I stayed in Netherlands for 3 months :)

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