Cycle between fields of flowers about to lose their heads

The bulb fields of the Bollenstreek, the strip of coast between Leiden and Haarlem, are farmland. The farmers around Lisse grow tulips, hyacinths and daffodils for the bulbs rather than the flowers, so the stripes of purple, yellow and red that turn up every spring are a side effect of somebody else's harvest.

The way in is by bike: about twenty kilometers out to Keukenhof, all of it flat, with more stopping than riding. Hyacinths and daffodils come first in the season, tulips after. The fields are private land, so every photograph is taken from the path, and it still works.

Then the clock. When a field is at its brightest, the growers cut the flower heads off, so the plant puts its strength back into the bulb underground. The colors last a few weeks, and then the stripes are green.