‘Better than ever’ tulip festival back at Dyrham Park

‘Tulip mania’ is back in force at Dyrham Park near Bath this spring, bigger, brighter and better than ever.

The celebration of the springtime favourite will once again see a dazzling display of blooms grown formally in the National Trust garden’s long avenue beds, in courtyard pots, in the parterre and dotted in a magical explosion of colour through the orchard.

For the first time this year, seven local artists will be showing work they have created especially for tulip mania in the house’s Slop’t Parlour. With the common subject matter of the tulip, visitors can enjoy and buy oil and watercolour paintings, cyanotype, printing, giclee and textiles.

Budding artists can book on a watercolour workshop, plus there will be guided garden walks, talks on Delftware in the house, and a plant fayre. 

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 15,000 carefully selected bulbs imported from Holland back in December to achieve a dazzling display of colour in the spring. Tulip mania will run from Mon 13 April to Mon 4 May. 

This year’s weird and wonderful tulip cultivar names include ‘Yellow Pomponette’, ‘Maureen’, ‘Purple Dream’, ‘Purissima’, ‘Madame Lefeber’, ‘Ronaldo’, and ‘Queen of the Night’. 

There will be more tulips out in Sphynx Court, and Fountain Court will hold a timeline showing the progression of tulips from their origin in Asia to the modern day, and information on growing tulips at Dyrham. Stable Court will host a ‘living library’, a potted labelled display of feature tulips.

The parterre garden, which links the garden and the house, will have a striking black and white tulip display to match the look of the parterre design.

Inside the house, hundreds of freshly cut and handmade fabric tulips will be on show in blue and white vases and visitors can spot 17^th-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 and look out for giant paper tulips on show. 

Guided walks are planned each weekday throughout the period around the garden. Booking is not needed. 

Visitors enjoying tulip display at Dyrham Park, NTI James Beck

To tie in with ‘tulip mania’, a plant fayre will be running up at visitor reception from 24 to 26 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 17^th 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. 

“Tulip mania will be better than ever this year, with the exciting addition of seven local artists showing their amazing creations,” said Senior Visitor Experience Officer Rachel Beaumont. “Turning into the Avenue or entering the orchard during tulip season is absolutely magical and literally takes your breath away.” 

“As well as the stunning displays and art, there will be walks and talks, a plant fayre and 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 third 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, prints 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