OTTAWA—Canada's national capital region hosts the 56th edition of the Canadian Tulip Festival this month. The festival not only celebrates the beauty of spring, it holds a deep meaning as a tradition that commemorates a gift of international friendship Canada received shortly following World War II.
In the fall of 1945, Princess Juliana of the Netherlands presented Canada with 100,000 tulip bulbs in appreciation of the role Canadians played in the liberation of her country. The city of Ottawa also provided safe haven to members of the Netherlands' exiled royal family during the war.
The Netherlands continues to send a gift of 20,000 tulip bulbs to Canada each year.
The National Capital Commission, the "official gardener of Canada's capital," designs and maintains flowerbeds throughout the region that contain more than 50 species of tulips.
The Canadian Tulip Festival, first began in 1953, runs from May 2 to May 19 this year and is expected to attract about 500,000 visitors.
For more information, please visit www.tulipfestival.ca or call the Tulip Hotline at 1-800-66-TULIP.
 Tulip beds in front of Canada's Parliament Buildings on Parliament Hill, where the gift of tulips was first planted in 1945. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)
|
 Striking red Triumph tulips named "Canadian Liberator" to commemorate the Canadian troops that helped liberate Holland in World War II. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)
|
 Colourful tulip beds in Commissioners Park at Dow's Lake, an official tulip park during the annual Canadian Tulip Festival in Ottawa. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)
|
 The world-renowned tulip beds at Commissioners Park at Dow's Lake, near the Rideau Canal in Ottawa, feature 300,000 blooms in 27 flowerbeds each year. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)
|
 "African Queen" tulip (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)
|
 A bed of purple and white "African Queen" tulips(Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)
|
 "Quebec" tulips in pink and cream (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)
|
 "Quebec" tulip (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)
|
 "Beauty of Apeldoorn" tulips with their distinctive red and yellow colouring (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)
|
 "Calgary" Triumph tulip (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)
|
 "Calgary" Triumph tulips (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)
|
 "Holland Cherry" tulip (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)
|
 Exploring red tulips standing tall on Parliament Hill (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)
|
 A young child captivated by the beauty and fragrance of a spring tulip in bloom. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)
|
Feeds