“I love creating new colour

The Dutch are famous for planting tulips en masse and this dramatic spring garden is no exception. Owner Hetty van Baalen shows us around

schemes” Dutch gardener Hetty van Baalen doesn’t hold back when it comes to tulips

This eye-catching spring garden makes a feature of tulips of all shapes and sizes. But it’s hardly surprising that tulips take a starring role here – this garden lies in the Netherlands, where these beautiful bulbs are the national flower. “The garden is in the south west of the Netherlands, just one mile from the sea, so it enjoys a very mild climate,” explains owner Hetty van Baalen. “When we first arrived here more than 25 years ago there was nothing – just poor, bare soil that had deep cracks in summer. I really didn’t know what to do but fortunately my neighbours told me how to dig this heavy clay soil before the frosts and improve it with compost or sand or manure. “At the start I was a complete beginner. You make mistakes and learn from them. I also spent lots of time watching Geoff Hamilton on Gardeners’ World!” One of the first things Hetty did to organise the space was introduce garden rooms. “I wanted to make the layout more interesting,” she explains. “At the time I was reading a book on colour in the garden, which is why I made the rooms separate so I could give them a different colour scheme.” For height Hetty planted fruit trees so she could enjoy the blossom in spring, shade in summer, fruit in autumn and structural form in winter. “I’ve got two apple trees, a pear, plum, walnut and hazelnut tree,” says Hetty. “They’re all very productive, but you have to keep an eye out for mice! They tend to take the nuts and then hide them away, so I’m forever finding buried hazelnuts – even in the barn.” Tulips create the main spectacle in spring. “I’ve been experimenting with different colour schemes every year for the past ten years,” she says. “Every autumn I plant about 2,500 bulbs – 2,000 tulips and narcissus, plus a few other small bulbs. Then around 1,000 of the previous year’s tulips come back again, adding to the display. I buy them from my tulip guru – Jan Deen at deenbloembollen.nl.”

“I made the garden rooms separate so I could give them a different colour scheme”

PACKED TO PERFECTION (clockwise from top left) Narcissus ‘Thalia’ with white violas in pots; a Lutyens bench overlooks narcissus ‘Thalia’ and tulips ‘Exotic Emperor’, ‘Flaming Purissima’, ‘Judith Leyster’ and ‘Negrita’; Tulipa clusiana ‘Cynthia’ with red bellis and calamagrostis; tulip ‘Mickey Mouse’ with yellow ‘Bellona’ and ‘West Point’ beneath lilac trees In spring Hetty opens her show-stopping tulip displays to the public. “I open the garden for two days in April and take bookings from mid-April to the end of June,” she says. “I’m in the same area as two other big tulip gardens so it makes the trip more worthwhile for overseas visitors. “Few Dutch people are very interested in tulip gardens,” she says. “There are so many in the Netherlands, but visitors from Germany and the UK love the garden.” Hetty’s main showcase is her back garden, where a smart Lutyens bench overlooks a throng of multi-coloured tulips planted under fruit trees. “The combination of tulips and white plum and

COLOURFUL VISTAS (clockwise from top left) White tulip ‘Exotic Emperor’ with narcissus ‘Thalia’ in the parterre; grass paths lead under climbing roses; view toward the barn with ‘Exotic Emperor’, ‘Purissima’ and ‘Hakuun’ tulips; narcissus ‘Thalia’ indoors; the house, framed by a gnarled oak tree; hyacinths, black tulip ‘Vincent van Gogh’ and orange ‘Ballerina’ apple blossom looks wonderful,” she says. “It gives the garden a real wow factor. In spring, the geraniums are just starting to grow, helping to hide the tatty tulip foliage after the tulips have gone over. Narcissus and forget-me-nots also grow here.” Each year Hetty likes to ring the changes with her tulip colour schemes – a cumbersome task when she has to remove all the tulips from the previous season. “Planting all the bulbs in the back garden takes about two weeks, digging for just a few hours every day. “Last autumn I changed the colours in the front garden too, which was red and yellow. Now I’ve removed all the yellow tulips so it’s all dark red and very dramatic. You have to do this when they’re in flower though – otherwise you have no idea what colour the bulbs are.” Hetty doesn’t have a favourite scheme. “I like every colour – but not all together. My favourites are ‘Exotic Emperor’ (green-striped double white); ‘Queen of Night’ (dark purple-black); ‘Flaming Purissima’ (perfect with the apple blossom) and ‘Blue Diamond’ (it goes so well with erysimum ‘Bowles’s Mauve’). “I’m always looking for plants that perform well in spring – but often the nursery staff don’t know. By trial and error I’ve found that good partners include wall f lowers, Lunaria annua (annual honesty), geraniums and forget-me-nots. All kinds of euphorbia look good with red and yellow tulips. I’ve also partnered grasses such as Briza media with copper-coloured tulips, Paeonia officinalis with red tulips, and tree peonies with ‘Apricot Beauty’ and black ‘Queen of Night’.” To save her back and knees, Hetty uses a long-handled bulb planter with a step on it, which she can lean on as leverage to make the bulb holes; it saves getting blisters using a hand planter or trowel. “The garden isn’t low maintenance but then I don’t really see gardening as work,” she says. “It keeps me busy from spring up to June, then I take a break until autumn when all the bulb planting starts again.” Roses follow Hetty’s spring tulips. “I like to combine them with geraniums and other perennials – I’m always searching for new plants and ideas. David Austin roses are good – I like ‘Scepter’d Isle’, ‘Munstead Wood’ and ‘Wollerton Old Hall’.” Which just goes to show that a tulip garden doesn’t have to be a one-trick pony: you can extend the season with summer perennials and evergreens for year-round interest. “I’m always on the look-out for colourful new planting combinations,” agrees Hetty. “Gardening is so creative and so much fun.”

“Every autumn I buy about 2,500 bulbs from my tulip guru Jan Deen”