The title is part of a quote from the 13th century Sufi poet and mystic, Rumi. I discovered some of the magnificent writings of Rumi during my trip to Southern India and have continued to read his work today. Rumi wrote lyrical pieces about the universal themes of love, friendship and spirituality This is the complete quote:
Somewhere beyond right and wrong, there is a garden. I will meet you there.” ― Rumi
Rumi envisioned a garden as the place where people can come together, without preconceived notions, into a place unaffected by right or wrong. Brilliant flowers of all colors and shapes bloom gloriously together in a lush allegorical site of love.
Let me introduce you to a real life embodiment of this sentiment – the Keukenhof Gardenss in Lisse, the Netherlands.
Keukenhof began, in 1857, as an English landscape garden, It’s name actually means “Kitchen Garden” dates back to the 15th century when the uncultivated land, owned by a countess, was used for gathering supplies – herbs, meat from hunting, etc for her castle’s kitchen. Fast forward to the 20th century when a number of Dutch bulb growers planned to use Keukenhof as a showcase for spring tulip bulbs and in 1949 the garden opened to visitors. Keukenhof is open only for 8 weeks each year and now gets close to 1 million visitors in that period who can stroll through 79 acres where over 7 million bulbs are planted, in different designs, patterns and themes., each year. . In addition to the tulip gardens, Keukenhof also has a Japanese garden, an English landscape garden, a lilly garden, a garden maze, and many more that are changed each year.
Every fall new bulbs are planted in new designs.
Keukenhof is spectacular – despite the crowds – it was sold out the day we visited – it was easy to get around and there was plenty of “people clear” places for my (and my friend Lenore’s photography.
And a grebe, also enjoying himself:
Ahhh.
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