Spectacular display of 500,000 tulips draws crowds

The event promised "a taste of Holland" – a country famous for its vast tulip fields – and also features Dutch street food and live entertainment.

While the garden is open, so-called tulip guardians will maintain the fields while encouraging visitors to stick to the paths between the rows of flowers, to avoid damaging the bulbs.

Ms Kelly said this would make sure the tulips looked as beautiful and vibrant as possible "from the first day until the last".

"Apart from that, we really do just let nature do what it needs to do," she added.