Flower markets and garden centres in Amsterdam

One of the things that most people (including myself) would want to see in The Netherlands are the Tulip gardens that the country is so famous for. 

As much as I complained about my trip to The Netherlands this year, I was hoping that I would be able to go see the Keukenhof gardens. As luck would have it, my trip got delayed and I ended up flying out in the end of May and the gardens were already closed for the year.

To console myself of my misery and disappointment, I managed to get out and check out some local garden centres in the city of Nijmegen. I was surprised to see a wide variety of plants and here are some of the interesting ones I saw.....

In the football spirit......orange ornamentals

and these were not just orange flowers but berries or the like that were like small orange soccer balls

Amazing Orchids that seemed to grow and survive on thin air (I am an Orchid killer and am always envious of folks who can grow these)

some pretty pinks

and a very interesting looking flower that looked ominous and sort of cat like

And some amazing vegetable sapling

and Eggplants

and my all time favourite the Hibiscus

I also drooled at the variety of flowers at the flower market in Amsterdam

and some really cheap bulbs that you can't bring back to the US (never mind that it is not Tulip season. If I had it my way...I might have planted them indoors)

And I spotted a black Calla Lily which was truly black unlike the ones in our house that are blooming pink instead (Read that post here)

I also shopped around quite a bit to see if I could get some interesting seeds....and I did. I haven't started any of them as yet. But I will report on the progress (hopefully next spring/ summer when our irrigation system is fully set in the garden)