By Dorvall Bedford
After
years of waiting, the Dutch Ambassador has finally brought back tulips to his
residence and DC for this year’s #DutchTulipDays.
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| Ambassador André Haspels |
Wednesday, March 30, was Ambassador André Haspels' first Tulip Days event he hosted during
his almost three years here in DC. He said at the event that he has been
looking forward to hosting Tulip Days because everybody told him when he was
first appointed ambassador to the United States that it was a big event in DC
and the diplomatic circuit.
“It was a
pity that we couldn’t organize it in my first and second year [due to COVID-19],”
Haspel said. “But now I’m very happy that we can organize it in my third year
here.”
This
excitement was certainly displayed in the decorations at the Dutch Ambassador’s
residence. If you were walking by the building you would immediately recognize
it by all the tulips surrounding it. Tulips also led up the interior stairway
to the second floor and covered almost every tabletop and window sill in the
residence. They came in several different colors as well, including orange,
pink, white, and purple. It was a beautiful design which Chief Florist Susanne
Schrijvers expressed pride in.
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| Tulips line the staircase at the the residence of the Dutch Ambassador to the United States. |
“It’s always an honor to design with more than 15,000 tulips here in the embassy,”
she said.
At the
press event that I attended, Haspels made a few remarks and florist Schrijvers
led a tour through the residence. Also part of the event was a presentation by
Frank Cornelissen, Chief Commercial Officer of Floriade. He discussed the
Floriade Expo 2022 exhibition beginning in the Netherlands this month.
The focus
of this year’s Floriade exhibition is growing green cities since roughly 68% of
the world’s population will be living in cities, according to Cornelissen. So
as part of an effort to promote making cities more eco-friendly, other
countries have participated in Floriade by building their own pavilions on-site
made of sustainable materials. Notable examples include a pavilion made of a
growing fungus and the Japanese pavilion with its traditional thatched roof.
Dr. Dwane
Jones, Dean of CAUSES at the University of the District of Columbia, was also
present at the press event and made himself available to attendees to discuss
the urban agriculture and sustainability work of CAUSES as well as the Urban
Greenhouse Challenge being done in collaboration with Wageningen University and
Research.
After the
remarks and presentations, Cornelissen discussed with me how residents here in
DC can make their city more green. He mentioned that personal gardening could
promote a healthier city and that he grows his own tomatoes on his balcony back
in Amsterdam.
“Choose
your plants wisely,” he said. “Try and find things that work well for insects,
bees, and butterflies to help support those populations because they are crucial
to our ecosystem.”
Haspels
also provided ways of making DC a healthy community, such as walking or biking
instead of driving, eating less meat, and using green energy like solar panels.
“Those
are small things that you can do as an individual,” he said.
Haspels
said that although he couldn’t invite everyone in DC inside his residence, he
hopes people still enjoyed the flowers outside and took pictures.
You can view an album of additional photos from the event at -
facebook.com/WashingtonGardenerMagazine.
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| Tulips at the Floral Library |
And for even more tulip viewing, see the Floral Library on the National Mall (between the Tidal Basin and the Washington Monument), planted by the National Park Service. Additional nearby tulip-viewing spots include the Franciscan Monastery in Northeast Washington DC and Sherwood Gardens in Baltimore. See more about growing tulips locally at our Plant Profile.
About the Author:
Dorvall Bedford is a journalism major at the University of Maryland, College Park, and an intern this semester with Washington Gardener. He is a native of Frederick, MD.
