Jaap van 't Veen's photos with the keyword: Schachbrettblume

The so called ‘Top of North Holland (Kop van Noord-Holland) offers one of the largest areas of bulb flower fields in the world. During spring (mid April till mid May) tulips, narcissus, hyacinths and other bulbs show their amazing colours in blooming bulb fields. This bulb growing area developed after World War I around the town of Anna Paulowna and after World War II there was even a huge expansion. Main picture: Fritillaries imperialis/crown imperial/keizerskroon Small pictures: tulips, hyachint field, Fritillaria meleagris/snake's head/kievietsbloem, tulip field PiP: blooming bulbflower fields

In the Netherlands the ‘kievitsbloem’ (snake’s head) is a very rare flower, which is even legally protected. Most of them - about 80% - can be found around the city of Hasselt in the province of Overijssel Sometimes there are many flowering together and people call it the natural bulb fields of the Netherlands. It is commonly found growing in grasslands in damp soils and river meadows along the rivers ‘de Vecht’ and ‘Zwarte Water’. Snake’s Heads are flowering from mid April till early May. It has a couple of names, like Snake’s Head Fritillary, Checkered Daffodil, Chess Flower and Leper Lily (in the Netherlands ‘kievitsbloem’). Pictures were taken in a small nature reserve, called ‘De Brommerd’ (see PiP).