Thousands of tulips in bloom for festival

Tulips at Burnby Hall Gardens
The Tulip Festival at Burnby Hall Gardens runs until 4 May [BBC]

Over 18,000 tulips are on display at a festival in East Yorkshire.

One hundred and thirty varieties can be seen at Burnby Hall Gardens near Pocklington.

Some of the tulips are displayed in flower beds, others in tubs placed around the gardens.

Head Gardener Jill Ward said the event was the culmination of months of preparation by herself and the gardening team.

Ms Ward told BBC Radio Humberside: "We start planting them in November and we finish in December. We are waiting until spring then they suddenly appear and we have this glorious colour.

"It's something really to look forward to when you are planting up in cold weather".

Tulips at Burnby Hall Gardens
The display includes about 130 varieties of tulip [BBC]

Work began creating Burnby Hall Gardens in 1904.

They were granted National Collection status in the 1990s and now attract about 97,000 visitors a year, according to the gardens' website, with many coming to see the tulips.

"One of the things I've tried to change this year is the amount of mixes we've got," Ms Ward explained.

"There's a lot of different colours in these beds. Normally we would just have one colour in a bed but this year we've gone for lots of mixes."

"Different generations are enjoying it for different reasons and I really love it when people come and start asking questions about the garden because you know they are really interested in it," she added.

The Tulip Festival runs from 20 April to 4 May and is open each day from 10:00 to 17:30 BST.

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