We’ve been to the Netherlands a few times and on any of those visits that happened to be in the early spring we were always on the lookout for blooming tulips. In fact, on one trip at exactly this week of the year we went twice to Keukenhof, described as “The most beautiful spring garden in the world”. They showcase 7 million spring-flowering bulbs with probably none better known than the tulip. There are express buses that go directly from downtown Amsterdam to the garden, some passing by endless fields of yellows, reds, pinks, and purples, and maybe even the elusive black flowers. What we didn’t realize until recently was that some of those bulbs that end up in the Netherlands actually start out here in France.

Lavender is probably the first flower that comes to mind when you think of Provence. After all, that fragrant, blue/purple tint can be seen around the world in soaps, oils, candles, and potpourri. It’s grown in much of Provence with the peak season being the summer, particularly in July. Tulips, however, also brighten up the landscape but in a much smaller part of the countryside and earlier in the year. Depending upon the weather, around the first week of April, some fields near the towns of Lurs, Forcalquier, and La Brillanne could make you think of Holland. While there might be many weeks, later in the year, to admire all of that lavender, you only have a fortnight or less to see the rainbow of tulips.

It’s true that flowers on growing tulip bulbs only last at the most, two weeks, but in the French fields it’s even less because they are beheaded soon after they bloom. Once the color and healthy condition of each plant is confirmed, the flower is removed to send all of the nutrition to the bulb below ground. That’s because these tulips are destined to be returned to the Netherlands where they can supplement the supply of bulbs for the worldwide market.

To my surprise, there’s another area of France that might devote even more acreage to growing spring bulbs. In Plomeur, Finistère, Brittany, the Kandoorp family from Holland invites you to their 100 hectare (247 acre) farm to see tulips, hyacinths, and irises. They wisely say, “Access to the farm is free, on the sole condition that you respect the area and do not enter the fields, of course.”

We’ve seen plenty of tulips and other spring bulbs around this country but we haven’t yet visited the fields in Provence or in Brittany. While having your own car would make these visits easy, I see that there is at least one company in Uzès that offers tulip field tours and there is a train station in La Brillane that Google Maps shows as a 20-minute walk from the fields. In the meantime, please enjoy these springtime flower beds that we’ve found around France. Each one has some tulips hidden within while in the Luxembourg Garden in Paris we found that entire bed of purple and pink tulips you see across the top of today’s post.