Tulips for Tapping

This morning I drove over to a location a few miles from Sandringham, where a 32 acre field has been planted with circa 9 million tulip bulbs by Norfolk Tulips. They will be harvested in the summer, then dried, sorted and stored. Supermarkets will be supplied with cut tulips during the winter from these bulbs grown in greenhouses. The site is open to the public for 10 days each year to see the tulips, the 45 minute slots sell out extremely quickly. Monies raised going to support Tapping House, an independent charity nearby which has been providing free rest-of-life care for 40 years (which costs £4.3m each year). I've been three times now, and still find the photography a challenge! This year for my main I've chosen a wide shot of a small part of the field, with three closer shots in Extras. If you watched the recent film of Wicked, the footage of the tulip field last year was used at the start of the film. 

I then drove on to Sandringham House for a wander around. I do like Sandringham, lovely gardens and the house has quite an informal feel to it as it's full of photos and items chosen by the family over the years, not items of State. No photography is allowed inside for obvious reasons. I wish I could have taken a photo of a large photo frame on a table of the King and Queen at the Coronation on the balcony in their robes - as the frame was based on the Coronation invite with all the lovely details from nature. There was also a small exhibition in the Ballroom of Royal Signature Paintings from the RHS Linsley Collection. Over many years floral artworks have been commissioned by the RHS from significant botanical artists, signed by royal patrons and honorary fellows. They were delightful, my favourite was one for Camilla when she was Duchess of Cornwall, and the one for Queen Elizabeth to mark the Platinum Jubilee was delightful too.