The Netherlands: Floriade Expo 2022 - A once every 10 years International Horticultural Exhibition = Green solutions to living.

Once every 10 years the gates open to the International Horticultural Exhibition Floriade. On the 14th of April 2022 we open to show everyone a celebration of green solutions to living.

At the international horticulture exhibition Floriade Expo 2022 in Almere, you can enjoy greenery for six months from April 14 to October 9, 2022. Here you will discover green solutions from national and international innovators and brainiacs that make our cities more fun, more beautiful and more sustainable. You will also enjoy the scent and colors of flowers, plants, vegetables and fruit. Dive into the theme ‘Growing Green Cities’ and learn more about developments in the field of greenery, food, health and energy.

Read more at: Floriade Expo 2022 - English - Floriade

The Netherlands: On the Grounds Of Floriade, The Willowman Lives In His Art - by Olivia Katrandjian

Tucked into a thick forest amidst the grounds of Floriade, an international horticulture festival held in Holland once every 10 years, is a village of enormous nests and caves made from willow and recycled materials. Inside lives the Willowman.

A bearded recluse inspired by the architecture of nature, the Willowman, whose real name is Will Beckers, works on the village by day, and sleeps inside one of his creations by night.

"As a Land Art artist I feel it is important to actually stay in my own installation that I have created, as much as a learning process for me as for others. I want to make people realize that there is more to life than the digital world we live in," said Beckers.

Beckers' wife Dominique and several animals -- birds, rabbits and chickens -- live alongside him. In an attempt to be self-sufficient, Beckers and his wife eat the eggs the chickens lay and vegetables they grow in a garden suspended from the trees.

"Already three times American visitors have hit the rabbit he has there, just to see if it's real. They can't believe that this is a real world. They expected a pre-fab, designed, and entertainment-park-produced plastic world. Well, it is not," said Loek Sijbers, the artistic director of Floriade's cultural program.

Read more: Olivia Katrandjian: On The Grounds Of Floriade, The Willowman Lives In His Art (PHOTOS)

Turkish president kicks off three-day visit to the Netherlands

Turkey's president Abdullah Gül and his wife Hayrunissa arrived in the Netherlands on Monday for a three-day state visit to commemorate 400 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

On Tuesday morning the couple will meet queen Beatrix at the palace on Amsterdam's Dam square before laying a wreath at the war memorial in the presence of prime minister Mark Rutte, the Telegraaf said.

Amsterdam's mayor Eberhard van der Laan has evoked his emergency powers for the duration of the visit because of the risk of trouble between Dutch Turks and Kurds in the capital. There were several minor clashes between the two groups last year.

The visit has also been the subject of much media speculation, with the Volkskrant and AD saying Rutte has a difficult job in the coming week: not only is he involved in negotiations to cut government spending, but he must also hope Geert Wilders does not step out of line. ‘Treating a certain race or religion as the enemy and xenophobia are illnesses which can have very serious consquences,’ Gül told the paper. ‘Look what happened in Europe during World War II.’

For more: DutchNews.nl - Turkish president kicks off three-day visit to the Netherlands

Floriade world horticultural expo opens in Holland - by Toby Sterling

The sun is shining, trees are budding, and flowers are unfurling their brilliant petals a bit earlier than planned, thanks to an early Dutch spring and the hundreds of gardeners putting finishing touches on Floriade, the once-a-decade world horticultural exposition.

Organizers are reluctant to repeat the expo's historic billing as "the greatest flower show on earth," because, they say, horticulture encompasses the artistic, scientific and economic aspects of plant care rather than just gardening and looking at flowers.

Still, the flowers are bound to be a major draw, and there are a heck of a lot of them to see.

For more: Floriade world horticultural expo opens in Holland - FederalNewsRadio.com

The Netherlands: Experience Floriade, the world’s largest horticultural festival April 5 – October 7, 2012

A truly once in a lifetime event, Floriade dates back 52 years and takes place only once every ten years in the Netherlands. Floriade has previously been hosted in Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Zoetermeer and Haarlemmermeer and brings together exhibitors and visitors from all over the world to enjoy a variety of dance, theater, music, food stalls and art all inspired by the gardens and pavilions housing the many floral displays.

Floriade will showcase over 100 exhibitors and five uniquely themed worlds to explore including the healing herbs, tea rituals and barefoot path of ‘Relax & Heal’ and ‘Green Engine’ – home to Villa Flora the biggest indoor flower exhibition in Europe where you can learn how to sculpt your own floral masterpiece.

Jacqueline van der Kloet, one of Holland’s top garden designers who does a lot of work for the world-famous Keukenhof garden, tells says she was hired to do all the plant schemes for spring, summer and autumn flowering-bulbs at the Floriade.

“This Floriade is quite different from previous ones – no huge product displays, no monochromatic plant schemes, but lots of Impressionistic design.”