The biggest Tulips in the world
The world’s biggest tulip garden opened to the public on Thursday for its 75th edition, with hundreds of thousands of people expected to enjoy a bewildering array of seven million bulbs in the western Dutch city of Lisse. Keukenhof park, southwest of Amsterdam in the heart of “bulb country,” contains millions of tulips of every color as well as other flowers across 80 acres. Starting in early March, dozens of large, futuristic-looking white machines started slowly trolling through farmland in The Netherlands. The machines are fully autonomous, AI enabled agriculture robots tasked with spotting and eliminating diseased tulip bulbs ahead of the country’s iconic and financially significant Spring tulip bloom. The Dutch-made Selector robot is just one of many new autonomous tools quickly making their way onto farms and ranches around the world. The “Selector” uses GPS coordinates to autonomously drive through tulip fields and onboard cameras to take thousands of photos. An AI model then combs through those images looking for signs of potentially diseased bulbs which often are identifiable by distinctive red stripes on the bulb’s leaves. The Selector machine then picks out the diseased bulbs and separates them from the others to prevent the disease from spreading.
Keukenhof dates back to 1949 when a group of bulb exporters and growers inaugurated it as a showcase for their wares. Tourists from more than 100 countries prove it is a draw for royalty, with kings and queens from several European nations attending the gala opening down the years. This year, one of the many highlights of the show include a golden yellow tulip, named after King Charles III, and a musical extravaganza to celebrate 75 years of Keukenhof featuring Dutch opera singer Laetitia Gerards.
The Keukenhof park is a popular tourist attraction that claims to be one of the most photographed spots in the world. “This is my first time here and I’m so excited to witness the 75th anniversary,” said Rocelle Brewer. She had bought a flowing pink dress embroidered with flowers specifically for the occasion. “It’s really cool here. I love the way the air smells,” added Cam Upton, a first-time visitor from Colorado. But the opening was also not without some controversy from rotten bulbs. Outside the entrance gates, seven naked protesters of the climate group Extinction Rebellion briefly staged a protest against the use of pesticides in the bulb-growing industry. Most visitors however, said they were just enjoying the outdoor flower garden. “We went around and were like playful kids, like ‘oh look at this flower, oh the bridge’ and just looking around,” said Esther Brandt, 37, from Cologne.
Flowering funnies
It’s a real Bidenomics dilemma for millions of Americans: Do you spent 50 bucks for a dozen roses for your mom or for a full tank of gas to go visit her?
My friend Gerric had the solution to forgetting his wife’s birthday and their wedding anniversary: He opened an account with a local florist and provided it with both dates as well as instructions to send Flowers and a card signed your loving husband Garrick. For a few years it worked. Then one day Gerric came home on their wedding anniversary. He saw the flowers on the dining room table and asked, “Nice flowers, where did you get them from?”
I accidentally planted the wrong flowers in my garden:
Oopsie daisies.
The wife has just phoned me to tell me that 3 women in her office have received flowers today and they are absolutely gorgeous.
I said, “That’s probably why !!”
March 28th Birthdays
1991 – Laura Harrier, 1982 – Julia Stiles, 1976 – Kate Gosselin, 1955 – Reba McEntire
1944 – Ken Howard, 1971 – Vince Vaughn, 1899 – August A. Busch, 1966 – Jason Garrett