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Don't forget the botanical gardens!
Here you’ll find the most exotic blooms, the rarest species. You can visit nurseries to see how it all begins, while at auctions and flowerparades you can admire the final product.
There are 17 botanical gardens spread across the country, the oldest in Leiden (Hortus Botanicus, Rapenburg 73 in Leiden) where a reconstruction of the original garden, dating back to 1594, forms an integral part of the present one. There are unusual collections, imposing trees, a Japanese garden and the clusius garden.
Amsterdam has two excellent botanical gardens: De Plantage (Middenlaan 2a, Amsterdam), an indoor and outdoor tropical and subtropical paradise, containing 6,000 different species of plants including palm trees, cacti and herbs, and the garden of the Free University which features a Japanese bonsai collection and flesh-eating plants.
In the northern province of Groningen, Haren's botanical garden (Kerklaan 34, Haren) erupts in a kaleidoscope of spring color no less impressive than the bountiful burst of life which occurs at the same time each year in Holland's bulb growing areas.