A Vivid Flourish Of Tulips At Hand

 Here we carry on where we left off yesterday.

The tulips here are less formal, and likely are not dug up after they've bloomed so that the bulbs can be stored until October, which is generally the case with the rest.

Here we have Man With Two Hats, a large sculpture by Henk Visch, one of a pair. The other is in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, symbolizing the friendship of the two countries.

Onto more tulips. We'll pick up here tomorrow for the theme day.

The War Origins Of The Festival

 More today from Commissioners Park, starting where I left off. The Crown Princess of the Netherlands, Princess Juliana, was sent to Canada with her daughters for safety after the fall of the Netherlands, while her mother Queen Wilhelmina stayed on in London, doing what she could for her people. Juliana settled in Ottawa and did the same, working tirelessly.

Her husband Prince Bernhard spent much of the war in Britain with his mother-in-law working for the cause, but visited Juliana and their daughters periodically. Out of this came the birth of a royal princess in North America. Princess Margriet was born in Ottawa; the Canadian government at the time passed a motion designating the maternity suite as extraterritorial, preserving her royal status.

Margriet would have many godparents, and her christening was held at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church downtown. The photographs displayed on this panel were taken by Yousuf Karsh, the Canadian photographer who had already made a name for himself internationally with his Churchill portrait earlier in the war. Karsh would end up one of the world's most esteemed portrait photographers of the 20th century, all while calling Ottawa home.

The end of the war saw the liberation of the Netherlands by Canadian soldiers, and the formation of a strong and lasting friendship between two countries that has endured ever since.

Princess Margriet herself has often come back on visits.

The Dutch started sending tulips to Canada in thanks after the war. Malak Karsh, brother of Yousuf and himself a famous landscape photographer, made the recommendation of a festival organized around the tulips, and so he is deemed the father of the Tulip Festival.

I passed by this bed, with the sculpture in its midst.

This was beyond it.

Colours Alongside The Path

 Looking back at where I left off yesterday. I'd picked up some fudge from the vendor in the distance, and then more in my next visit. As I recall, they're from the area, off to the southwest of the city.

The largest of the standalone beds was looking a bit bare from this side.

But within, rich reds and yellows.

Across the path from it, lots of shades of purples in these tulips.

There's a raised circular bed here. The tulips would be at their peak in this bed during my last visit. It was a mix of yellow-orange and some of the Canada 150 tulips.

Alongside part of the bed are a series of panels about the history of the festival, which goes back to the Second World War and the liberation of the Netherlands by Canadian soldiers. We'll carry on here tomorrow.

A Splash Of Tulip Colour

 The path led me on, with tulips further along than they had been on my last visit.

Upper right here includes a glimpse of what I referred to as a monstrosity of infill housing earlier in the series. On my last visit of the festival, I photographed it in full.

Below, along the stone wall and beyond the formal beds, tulips were growing among rose bushes. Perhaps the work of diligent squirrel gardeners?

Of Trilliums And Tulips

Here we have more today from Commissioners Park.

Behind the flowerbeds in the above shot, on the slope itself is a spot where several trilliums grow each year, blossoming around the same time as the tulips. True to form, they were showing themselves. Trilliums are the provincial flower in Ontario.

Back among the tulips. We'll carry on here tomorrow.