Garden of the Month, March 2003
Floral Parade--Holland 
Each spring floral parades (bloemencorso) are held the middle of April
in Holland, in the bulb region around Lisse and elsewhere. The following
sample photos, and videos, are from the Bloemencorso Bollenstreek which
begins in Noordwijk, the North Sea coastal resort, and passes through 10
towns on a Saturday on it's way to Haarlem. This parade, and the
others, feature floats, as well as the traditionally decorated vehicles
with flower arrangements and garlands, and marching bands. Float
flowers are generally a base of individual hyacinth flowers, tulip and
narcissus petals. Arrangements on these and vehicles use most any
flower, from bulbs to asters, amaryllis, tropicals flowers and greens.
The evening before, these floats are on public display in Lisse, with many
of the following photos taken there.
For a quick overview, check out the
Slide
Show.
car
peacock float
peacock
peacock close up
music float
cars
arrangement on
car (asters, daisies, gerbera, snapdragons, lillies, other...)
truck and flower
crates
Native American
float (headdress in glads)
float arrangement
(gerbera, tulip, fritillaria, roses, ivy, more...)
red SUV
bamboo and amaryllis
on car
RealMedia streaming video clips
(no audio):
parade--birds
float, tractor
parade--carousel
float (with Dutch audio)
parade--butterflies,
moving wings
parade--eagle,
native American (close up photo above, below)
float--native
American float on display, close up
float--peacock
float on display
more details and photos at the Bloemencorso
Bollenstreek website
