Tulip Festival 2021

Every year, in the lakeside town of Morges, there is a wonderful tulip festival.
We went very early in the morning to avoid the crowds
and some of the flower beds were still in the shade.
I love the fresh green leaves just starting to open on the trees.

Remember to click on each photo to see it full screen!

It's a short walk to get to the park from the train station
and I really like to pass by the medieval style defense castle built in the 13th century.
There are several museums inside, covering police and military history.

I like this view taken from the other side a bit later in the morning 
with the sun giving a warm hue to the brickwork.

The building in the background is part of the castle complex.

The park is very vast and runs alongside the lake on one side with wide alleyways
all around and smaller paths winding in the central part.

There's a metal sculpture at one end of the park with a view on the mountains
on the other side of the lake in neighbouring France.

There are hundreds of tulip beds in all different colours.
It would be impossibe to put them all up here, so I've chosen my favourite ones.

These double yellow blooms were full of interesting details.

These orange ones were catching the backlight so beautifully.

A bright and cheerful mixture of yellow and orange.

Just look at the delicate shades of pink and the play of sunlight and shadows.
I do rather love the more subtle colours like this one.

The muted yellow and soft orange quite take my breath away.

These are similar, but too lovely not to include!
The faint edging of orange on each petal is very lovely to observe.

This group of pinks were catching the indirect sun very nicely.

These are very elegant in the classic tulip shape.

Now a little drama with a bright, luminous orange and fringed yellow edges.

Rather unusual colouring and it looks as if the pink parts have been painted on
as an afterthought!

I do believe that this one is one of my favourites with the beautiful markings.

Bright pink with an intricate centre.

Luminous pinks for the last photo of the tulip festival.

I hope you've enjoyed waking in this lakeside park with me
and that you'll tell me your favourite tulip!

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I wanted to end this blog entry with a photo of some Lily-of-the-Valley
which are sold in Switzerland every first day of May to bring good luck.
I have arranged them on an open page of the lovely Flower Fairies book
by Cecily Mary Barker.
Her art is beautiful and her poems quite charming.

The words are not quite in focus because I wanted the flowers to be 
the most important feature.

I will write part of it here:

"Gentle fairies, hush your singing.
Can you hear my white bells ringing.
Ringing as from far away?
Who can tell me what they say.

Little snowy bells out-springing.
From the stem and softly ringing -
Tell they of a country where
Everything is good and fair?"

Wishing you a most beautiful month of May.
It's my favourite month of the year!


20 comments

  1. What a beautiful park to walk through with all those gorgeous tulips. Picking a favorite would be almost impossible. I love the 5th one, the pink in such gorgeous light and I also love the one your chose as your favorite!

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    1. Hello Cathy! Glad you enjoyed the tulip park through these photos. Yes, I know it's difficult to have a favourite and I love that pale pink tulip too, followed by the yellow and orange ones!

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  2. Happy May!

    The pink tulips are my favourite. I was planning to say that even before you asked. :) And the vivid orangey-pink ones are my next favourite - they look like a sunset.

    The castle is in very good condition for such a venerable building!

    Thank you for taking us along on this lovely journey.

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    1. It's always so nice to have you visit, Sue. I agree, that pale pink tulip is very special indeed! Yes, the castle has been kept in very good condition and has been partially rebuilt over the centuries!

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  3. My fave tulip of your lovely selection is the one that looks like pink has been painted on to it! What a BEAUTIFUL park. I enlarged the picture of the walkway by the lake and the avenue of trees and imagined myself walking down it! Wonderful.

    Thanks for sharing your trip.

    Happy Monday!

    Hugs, Sarn xxx

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    1. Thanks, Sarn. So glad you were able to join me on my walk through that gorgeous lakeside park! Thanks for popping in and for leaving your friendly comment!

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  4. Beautiful photos, Than you for sharing them with us, greetings from anna

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    1. Thank you for coming in to visit and for your kind comments, Anna!

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  5. Lovely Tulips! ... so beautiful, who needs to go to Holland, right? I did not know about the Lily of the Valley Fairy for good luck, so nice to know!

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    1. Thank you! I love going to the Tulip Festival each year. The bulbs actually do come from Holland! They make so many beautiful colours and new shapes, though I love the classical tulip shape very much still!

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  6. Oh, such glorious tulips, Sandra! Thank you for sharing--they are my favorite flower after hydrangeas and sunflowers :) As for my favorite in the photos you shared, I'd say I like the white with the brushed on pink tips--so unusual and delicate looking. I enjoyed seeing the old castle, too--it always amazes me just how old and how much history there is in your part of the world. The U.S. is really in its infancy.

    Hope your month of May will be a relaxing one! ♥

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    1. So glad you enjoyed the tulips, Carol. It's so difficult to have favourites, I know! The one you like is indeed unusual and rather lovely. I love very old castles in simple styles like this one. I have a very busy month of May, but will drop everyting and enjoy the sunshine, of course!

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  7. These tulips are all stunning and your photographs are amazing as you have captured the colors and shapes. A few years ago I was able to visit the gardens at Keukenhof in The Netherlands, the flower displays were incredible and I treasure the pictures and memories of that day. Your blog post is a beautiful reminder of that day, and I hope at some point to be able to visit Morges and see this tulip festival. Christine

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    1. Hello Christine, How lovely to see the gardens at Keukenhof in Holland, they must have been amazing. I went to these gardens in Morges again at the beginning of this week and I have enough photos for my next blog entry with some of the lake as well!

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  8. Hello!
    Lovely to see your early spring glimpses!
    So many flowers, I could not choose a favored one. And the fresh spring leaves I also adore. All promises of new life. Early morning looks to be a beautiful time to be out and about. Wishing you a sweet spring.

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    1. Thank you, Tammie. Yes, it's difficult to have favourites in spring flowers, I agree! The leaves grow bigger every day and soon they will be a darker shade of green too. Early morning is my favourite time of the day with early evening when the birds are singing!

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  9. Lovely views. Those tulips altogether are quite beautiful. My favorites are the light pink ones and the orange/pink one with the markings. I have not see the ones with the fringes - those new to me. You've always make such artful photos of flowers.

    I hope you have a lovely May.

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  10. Thanks, Lissa. All these lovely flowers, and the lakeside setting, were very photogenic and the weather was very lovely too!

    Our month of May, so far, has been quite rainy, with some beautiful days dotted here and there to enjoy nature developing!

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  11. So nice. I love all your pics.

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    1. Thank you for your visit and kind comment, Aritha!

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