Dyrham Park goes Dutch for ‘tulip mania’ this spring

Mid-April heralds the start of ‘tulip mania’ at Dyrham Park, a celebration of the springtime favourite with huge displays, walks, talks, plant fayres, art and exhibitions. 

Thousands of brightly coloured blooms will light up the four long beds in the avenue of the South Gloucestershire garden while the pear orchard will be transformed into a magical world of multi-coloured joy with tulip heads shining like jewels through the long grass. 

Image: Tulip Month at Dyrham Park, credit James Dobson 

Tulips are particularly significant to Dyrham due to the property’s historic links with the Netherlands and to celebrate this, the National Trust team planted more than 20,000 carefully selected bulbs imported from Holland back in December to achieve a dazzling display of colour in the spring. Tulip mania will run from Tuesday 22 April to Monday 5 May. 

This year there will be more interesting tulip cultivars with weird and wonderful names including ‘Red Dress’, ‘Spryng Break’, ‘Phantom’, ‘Kansas Proud’, ‘Black Parrot’, ‘Ice Cream’, ‘Duchesse de Parma’ and ‘Queen of the Night.' 

Image: Tulip Month at Dyrham Park, credit Piers Horry

Dyrham Park’s very own tulip, created in collaboration with Blue Diamond, will be out in pots. Inspired by the shape of a lily-leaved lamp bracket from the house, it’s described as ‘lily-flowered’ with ‘elegant curves.' 

There will be more tulips out in Sphynx Court and a timeline showing the progression of tulips from their origin in Asia to the modern day in Fountain Court. 

The newly-complete parterre garden, which links the garden and the house, will have an eye-catching black and white tulip display both in pots and within its main planting area alongside pots of labelled historic cultivars. 

Inside the house, hundreds of freshly cut and handmade fabric tulips will be on show in blue and white vases and visitors can spot 17th-century tulip varieties in paintings by artists such as Cornelius de Heem. There will be a Delftware display in the Great Hall with volunteer talks on the house’s collection of Dutch-themed items. Tulip-themed collection items, including some embroidery, will also be on display. Artists from the Wales Society of Botanical Illustrators will be on site on selected dates demonstrating and displaying tulip art.  

Image: Tulip Month at Dyrham Park, credit Rachel Beaumont

Guided walks are planned throughout the period with bookable ones with our senior garden staff covering subjects such as the history of the tulip and growing tulips in your garden. Booking is available through the website. Volunteer guided walks around the garden will also run on selected dates for which booking is not needed. 

To tie in with ‘tulip mania’, a plant fayre will be running up at Visitor Reception from 24 to 27 April. 

Dutch tulips have a special link to Dyrham Park as Holland was where civil servant William Blathwayt, the creator of the current house at Dyrham Park, started his career in The Hague back in the 17th century. He later worked as a key adviser to William of Orange.  

He learned Dutch and developed an enthusiasm for Dutch art and blue and white Delftware, much of which remains in the house today. His collection includes Dutch artworks such as a perspective painting by Samuel Van Hoogstraten, as well as many Delftware pieces and gilt leather walls from Amsterdam.    

Dyrham Park gardeners are working on an ongoing project to transform the garden to reflect a 1712 engraving of the site by Johannes Kip while drawing on modern day examples from sites such as the gardens at Versailles in France and at Het Loo in the Netherlands. 

“Turning into the Avenue or entering the orchard during tulip season is absolutely magical and literally takes your breath away,” said Assistant Head Gardener Kate Lock.  

“As well as the stunning displays, there will be talks by the garden team and volunteers, a plant fayre and some tulip art alongside Delftware in the house so you’ll definitely come away with a deeper knowledge of the tulip. Tulips have always been popular at Dyrham but this is the second year of running ‘tulip mania’ to help create a really thorough and enjoyable tulip experience for our spring visitors.” 

Tulip goodies, including books, postcards, plants and bespoke Dyrham Park tulip pin badges, will be on sale in the shop to take away memories of a tulip-filled day. 

Dyrham Park is situated just off junction 18 of the M4 – 8 miles north of Bath and 12 miles east of Bristol. The site is open daily from 10am-5pm (last entry one hour before close).  

More information is available at: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/DyrhamPark