TULIP FIELDS EASE OUR SPRING LONGING

Is nature more beautiful when it is manipulated? While the images of Holland's tulip fields are supersaturated with color, and super-precise in their striping, the blooms feel as though they are imprisoned—locked into their neat rows, forced to grow in unison, at the same rate, the same height, the same colors as their stripe-mates. It makes us say, “Wow!” but it also makes us yearn for wildflowers.

Every year from March to May, the Dutch countryside becomes an explosion of uniform color as the tulips blossom. The lowland areas near the North Sea coast with their mild, wet climate and sandy soil make for ideal environments for the tulips to thrive.