The 2024 Dutch Tulip Days celebration was held April 10-12 at the Dutch Ambassador’s residence in Kalorama, with Ambassador Birgitta Tazelaar hosting the showcase dedicated to the themes of freedom, innovation, and sustainability. The Netherlands has over 54,000 acres of flower bulbs, and exports nearly half a billion tulip bulbs to the US yearly.
Dutch Floral Master Susanne Schrijvers, who has arranged the exhibition previously, as well as served as a florist in the Obama, Trump and Biden White Houses, arranged the nearly 15,000 tulips. For the exhibition, Schrijvers used Bloomia, a Virginia-based American company with Dutch owners that imports its bulbs from the Netherlands. To emphasize the relationship with the U.S. and honor the residence’s place in Washington, D.C., Tulip Days also incorporated native plants displays from the mid-Atlantic region.
Read about the history of the residence, tulips’ role in the Netherlands, and US-Dutch bilateral relations, in Kalorama’s Dutch Beauty Riot and explore the flower, author Michael Pollan once wrote, “…whose very genes carry reflections of people’s ideas and desires through time like great books.”
From wild gardens that encourage pollinators, to hosting local beekeepers’ hives, there are a number of ways to foster biodiversity this spring, regardless of budget or space.
~ See how embassies and ambassador’s residences are incorporating native landscaping in Redefining Environmental Diplomacy.
~ Learn how the Embassy of Switzerland is using its bee ambassadors to foster goodwill with its neighbors.
~ Get some inspiration from the Embassy of Canada, one of the most environmentally sustainable buildings in Washington, with a green roof, thriving container garden, and living exterior walls. (And no, they didn’t get the property as a thank you for the Canadian Caper.)
~ Want to do some planting of your own? Diplomatica advisor Lise Howe shares her list of native plants that should be in gardens in the Washington DC area or join a volunteer pollinator plant gardening gathering along Connecticut Avenue in north Van Ness.
~ Need some guidance on greening your property? Diplomatica offers complimentary consultations providing certified urban gardening advice and guidance on making your building or property more sustainable through LEED. Get in touch.