Hortus Bulborum - Limmen

The Hortus Bulborum is the only garden in the world where by now more than 4,000 different spring bulbous plants have been collected, and is thus unique in its kind. The collection consists mainly of tulips, daffodils and hyacinths. In addition, collections of fritillaries and crocuses have been planted, mainly from the Vernus group.

A special feature of this museum garden, which is also an interesting gene bank, is that hundreds of old varieties can be seen from before 1900, which are hardly, if at all, cultivated commercially any more. The oldest tulip species date from the 16th century; Fritillaria persica was described as early as 1577. The earliest known daffodil dates from many hundreds of years earlier. Thus, the garden provides an interesting overview of the development of these infinitely popular spring flowers over the centuries.

It is thanks to headmaster Pieter Boschman, who laid the foundations for the collection in 1924, that we can still enjoy legendary tulips such as the 'Duc van Tol Red and Yellow' (1595), the 'Zomerschoon' from 1620 - wildly popular during the Tulipomania period - or the whimsical parrot tulip Perfecta from 1750.