The Dutch-Canadian Friendship Tulip Garden was planted in 2015 by Outer Cove, which partnered with Communities in Bloom. Volunteers planted an interlaced pattern of red and white tulip bulbs in the garden beds surrounding the Veterans Memorial Monument. The blooms offer a visual reminder of the link between the Netherlands and Canada.
Logy Bay–Middle Cove–Outer Cove was one of the 140 communities selected from the more than 400 applications received by the Canadian Garden Council. Each of the 140 new 70th Anniversary Dutch-Canadian Friendship Tulip Gardens across the country will consist of 700 red and white tulip bulbs (350 of each colour) donated by Veseys in Prince Edward Island. Tulip bulbs generally bloom between the end of April and the beginning of June depending on the type of tulip and where it’s planted.
The memorial garden was dedicated as a living monument in recognition of the 70th Anniversary of the original Dutch-Canadian Friendship Tulip Garden planted in Ottawa at the end of the Second World War in 1945. The memorial is in appreciation of the safe haven that members of Holland’s exiled royal family received during the Second World War, and in recognition of the role Canadian troops played in the liberation of the Netherlands.
In 2023, the garden was expanded to include forget-me-not flowers, the emblem flower of remembrance for Newfoundlanders who fought in the First World War, long before joining Canada. They were planted by local Grade 6 students in June as their legacy project before leaving for junior high school in St. John’s.
