HAL’s Very Own Tulip at World-Famous Keukenhof Spring Gardens
On Nov. 16 2012, Captain Edward van Zaane and Martin Schröder, Loyal Mariner and member of HAL’s Dutch advisory board, took part in the planting of HAL’s exclusive tulip at Keukenhof Spring gardens in the Netherlands. HAL partnered with the world-famous garden to develop the exclusive tulip for HAL’s 140th anniversary celebration next year. Master grower Jan Pennings, exhibitor at Keukenhof Gardens, chose a white-petaled variety to honor HAL, which was originally founded in Rotterdam on April 18, 1873. The tulips are scheduled to bloom in spring and an official christening and naming of the new tulip will be held in April 2013 at Keukenhof.
To launch the planting of the new tulip, Jan handed over the first bulbs to Captain van Zaane by a windmill that was donated to Keukenhof Gardens by HAL in 1957. Here are photos from the occasion:
From left: Nico Bleichrodt, Captain Edward van Zaane, Jan Pennings and Martin Schroder.
Congratulations to ‘Team HAL’ for the new tulip to commemorate the 140th Anniversary.
Looking forward to pictures next spring of the gardens in bloom.
This is very exciting! I really admire that HAL is proud of and celebrates its Dutch heritage including proudly registering your ships in the Netherlands and being able to fly the Dutch flag from the stern rather than a flag of convenience like so many other lines. It’s really one (of many) of the reasons I prefer to sail HAL. As the graduate of a maritime academy myself, and a bit of an ocean liner buff, I have long admired HAL. It has a great history that must continue to be honored and celebrated.
Hi there, Congrats to HAL and their new tulip!! My wife, Jean, and I spent a couple of days at Keukenhof Gardens, near Lisse. We always knew that The Netherlands (Holland) was famous for its tulips. As gardeners, seeing the gardens at Keukenhof, just simply took our breath away! It was amazing. Without a doubt, Keukenhof Gardens is the world’s biggest outdoor gardens. For those who might like to see some pictures from our trip, they are at: http://frametoframe.ca/photo-essay-tulips-keukenhof-gardens-holland
While in Holland, Jean and I also spent a day at the village of Zaanse Schans where we got to see their large collection of windmills. For us, a trip to Holland just wouldn’t have been complete without seeing windmills in action. If anyone would like to check out the variety of windmills that we saw, they are at: http://frametoframe.ca/photo-essay-windmills-holland