Since 1953 Ottawa has had a Tulip Festival. It claims to be the largest of its kind in the world.. It might be, but the Keukenhof Garden in Holland is likely a larger attraction. About a million tulips are planted for the festival (which I think is lower than in the "old days" as I am sure there are fewer beds now).
The Festival runs for 10 days in mid-May. Mother nature plays a large part in deciding whether the tulips bloom at the correct time. Some years everything times well, some years it is a "bud" festival and some years a "stem" festival😊. Organizers lately have planted some early bloomer and late bloomer beds which ensures there will always be blooms during the Festival.
With an early warmish spring this year, it looked liked the tulips were progressing very quickly, but some cool weather slowed things down a little.
The photos below were taken 10 days ahead of the festival, the early bloomers were in full bloom and there were lots of buds showing.
What caught my eye were the many different shapes and sizes of the opening buds/blooms.
The beds were in different stages of blooming
One of the beds was a mix of narcissus and bright red tulips
The red tulips in the bed were just finishing their bloom. They were covered with raindrops from an overnight shower.
Some of the plants had up to six buds on one stem
In tune with the spring tulips, the trees were showing fresh growth and pigeons were nesting under the nearby bridge
