If there’s one bucket list item all Road Trips Gardeners have in common, it’s a springtime trip to Keukenhof in Lisse, the Netherlands.

This year brings the 69th edition of Keukenhof, with “Romance in Flowers” as its theme. It opens to the public Thursday (March 22, 2018) and runs through May 13, 2018. Hours are 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. daily.

It’s hard to explain just how lavish this show is, with acres and acres of (mostly) bulb flowers in bloom. The crocuses, daffodils, hyacinths and early tulips flower at the start of the season. Other flowers bloom later in the season such as the (larger) tulips. Inside pavilions feature flower shows from the first to the last day of the season.

The 2018 Flower Parade Bloemencorso will take place April 21, 2018.

Here’s a brief history of the most lavish floral extravaganza in Europe:

The history of Keukenhof dates back to the 15th century. Countess Jacoba van Beieren [Jacqueline of Bavaria] (1401-1436) gathered fruit and vegetables from the Keukenduin [kitchen dunes] for the kitchen of Teylingen Castle. Keukenhof Castle was built in 1641 and the estate grew to encompass an area of over 200 hectares.

Landscape architects Jan David Zocher and his son Louis Paul Zocher, who also designed Amsterdam’s Vondelpark, redesigned the castle gardens in 1857. That park, in the English landscape style, still constitutes the basis of Keukenhof.

In 1949 a group of 20 leading flower bulb growers and exporters came up with the plan to use the estate to exhibit spring-flowering bulbs, signalling the birth of Keukenhof as a spring park. The park opened its gates to the public in 1950 and was an instant success, with 236,000 visitors in the first year alone.

(Photos courtesy of Keukenhof)