Tulip Diplomacy

Tulip season arrived in the Netherlands! It’s a month-long period where tulips are in full bloom, painting the farmscapes around the country rainbow colors. It’s beautiful to say the least. I first discovered Dutch tulip fields years ago while working in fashion. Our office opened the August 2017 issue of Harper’s Bazaar US to a fashion story featuring the usual suspects of luxury designers set, more importantly, amongst these stunning and seemingly endless fields of tulips. I added it to my bucket list, and they remained one of the few things I knew about the Netherlands before moving here.

The Dutch export more flowers than any other country in the world, and have a long history with tulips. This year’s season featured a new fuchsia pink tulip named after the U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands. I had the opportunity to attend the “Shefali” tulip unveiling, a showcase of the United States and the Netherlands' long-standing, unbreakable friendship. At the event I found myself reflecting on the importance of diplomacy in its many forms. And how my small dream, born from the pages of a fashion magazine, led to my visiting the tulip farms and bearing witness to the United States’ participation in tulip diplomacy.