A Menton tulip is the prima ballerina of its family, its lush, waxy petals the color of a ballet slipper. It grows waist high and its stem resembles a performer's long limbs. And when it covers the banks of a pond filled with swans, its pink reflection dances on the water, creating an almost impressionist illusion.

Of all the stunning varieties of tulips growing in Holland's Keukenhof Garden last spring, the statuesque Menton stole my heart. But it had lots of competition. Like a Dutch version of the Garden of Eden, Keukenhof boasts a cliche-defying display of premium tulips, along with select azaleas, hyacinths and other blooms, which are planted amid 80 acres of lush greenery every year. With babbling brooks, fountains and those majestic swans, the Mentons are in good company.

Like the flowers it showcases, the Keukenhof lasts only a short time each year. The gates open from Easter to late May only, during "Bollenstreek," the tulip season, when the countryside also transforms into a brilliant patchwork of color. This year is a particularly interesting time to visit Holland for two reasons. For the first time ever, Keukenhof plans to reopen Aug. 19 to Sept. 19 to premiere a fall garden, in honor of the park's jubilee. "Zomerhof" (from the words for summer and garden) is a 50th anniversary exhibition of flowering summer bulbs combined with perennials.

I paid my own homage to Holland's bulb district and its rich culture last May as the country was nearing the end of the tulip season. On my way to Keukenhof, I detoured to the Aalsmeer Flower Auction, which is open for visitors mornings only. Nearly 14 million flowers (as well as 1.5 million plants) are sold here daily, making this the world's largest cut-flower market. This massive industrial complex is also one of the largest commercial buildings in the world, with its own hairdresser, bank and post office.

A second-story gallery gives visitors a bird's-eye view of the giant warehouse floor below. There, bustling electric trucks operate like toys, hooking up trolley after trolley packed with flowers. Some are delivered to shipping bays, where they are immediately sent out. Others are loaded onto an automated track that runs through various auction halls. But until the moment the flowers are auctioned, they are kept in large refrigerated areas. This makes the visitor's gallery refreshingly cool and moist.

Multilingual announcements -- cued by pushing small buttons at stations throughout a self-guided tour -- explain how the auction operates. Wholesalers and exporters place their bids through a high-tech system that flows at a surprisingly quick pace. An announcer describes the blooms. The price is set at 100 cents per unit on a giant overhead clock. And as the price falls, buyers punch in their bids. Like a quiz show, the first to respond (with the highest bid) takes the prize. The final purchase is confirmed on the massive marquis, and the whole process begins again as a trolley carries in more flowers. Tulips, carnations, chrysanthemums, freesias and gerbera daisies are among the hottest sellers.

After a quick bite in the cafeteria, we drove on toward the Lisse region, where Keukenhof is. The countryside turned picturesque, with thatched cottages, birds feeding along canals and fields of dazzling blue, yellow, white and other colors. Eventually, we found a spread of brilliant scarlet tulips. The sun was warm and bright and the expansive burning color reminded me of the intoxicating red poppies that put Dorothy to sleep in the "Wizard of Oz."

Our next stop was tranquil Keukenhof, resplendent with tulips, narcissi, daffodils, hyacinths and other bulbs. This sea of flowers dates to the 15th century, when the Countess Jacoba of Bavaria hunted amid the woodlands and virgin dunes here. In fact, the name Keukenhof, which means kitchen garden, stems from the tradition among her servants of cultivating vegetables and herbs here. The picturesque pond and a beautiful walkway lined with majestic beech trees originated in 1830, when a German landscape gardener named Zocher designed the first drawings for the park. In 1949, prominent Dutch bulb growers from Lisse further developed Keukenhof as an open-air flower exhibition to permanently showcase their best specimens. And over the years, the number of participating firms has more than doubled, from 40 to 90.

Each year, after Keukenhof shuts its doors, gardeners remove every single bulb and prepare 100 new designs. From late September until the first frost, a crew of 24 plants an astounding 6 million bulbs. When the season reopens, the park debuts a visual smorgasbord of new and old favorites, like the Menton. And because every flower in this living museum is kept in nearly perfect bloom, we only occasionally spotted small patches where tulips had already peaked and gardeners had "decapitated" their dying blooms.

Keukenhof is not just a showcase for tulips. It also boasts a large collection of "tiny neighborhoods" designed under different themes, such as a lovely Zen garden with bridges and a sculpture of wood and flowing water. A small humid gallery nearby featured a wonderfully diverse collection of orchids. Moisture drenched our faces until we could no longer take the heat and wandered outdoors for fresh air. A much cooler building on the other side of the park exhibited a huge array of chrysanthemums. On the way, we passed a gigantic fountain, a massive windmill dating from 1892 and small pools lined with red, white and pink azaleas. Hundreds of colorful bulb fields surround the park. It is botanical heaven.

WHEN YOU GO ...

Getting there: To reach Keukenhof, travel by train from any station to either Haarlem or Leiden station. From Leiden, take the express bus 54 to the park. From Haarlem, take lines 50 or 51, and transfer at Hyacintenstraat in Lisse. For combined train/bus/admission ticket, ask about "Rail Idee" at Dutch railway stations. The Keukenhof Express, operated by the Lovers Rail company, also travels from Amsterdam to the park. Travel time is 30 minutes. Phone (0)20-557-7666, fax (0)20-421-0997. A round-trip package, including admission to Keukenhof, is 35 guilder for adults, and 25 for children 4-12 years old. Children under 4 are free.

The exhibit:

* 1999 marks the 50th anniversary of Keukenhof. The Spring Garden exhibit runs from March 25 to May 19. For the first time, "Zomerhof," an anniversary exhibition of flowering summer bulbs combined with perennials, will open from Aug. 19 to Sept. 19. Keukenhof's mailing address is P.O. Box 66, NL-2160 AB Lisse, Holland. Phone (0)252-465-555, fax (0)252-465-565.

* Admission to Keukenhof is 17.5 guilder per adult and 8.5 for children 4-12. Hours are 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. daily, with ticket sales until 6 p.m.

Sightseeing: A 25-kilometer bicycle route takes travelers from the seaside resort of Noordwijk to Kuekenhof, from late March to late May. To rent bikes, purchase the route map or obtain more information, contact the tourist information office, VVV Noordwijk-Holland, at De Grent 8, P.O. Box 1508, 2200 BE Noordwijk ZH, Holland. Phone (0)71-31-9321, fax (0)71-361-6945.

The auction: The Aalsmeer flower auction is at Legmeerdijk 313, Aalsmeer. Hours are 7:30 a.m. to 11 a.m., Monday through Friday. Phone (0)297-392-185, fax (0)297-390-039. A self-guided tour in English is available.

Events: A flower parade featuring floats lavishly covered with blooms is an annual event in the bulb district. It will be held April 24. A fall parade will be held Sept. 4.

History: A museum called the Black Tulip offers a great introduction to the history of the bulb district and the development of "bulbiculture." Hours are Tuesday to Sunday 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Prices are 4 guilder for adults and 2 for children under 12.

The museum is at Grachtweg 2a, 2161 HN Lisse, Holland. Phone (0)252-417-900, fax (0)252-422-894.

Information: Netherlands Board of Tourism, 225 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 1854, Chicago, Ill. 60601; 888-464-6552 anytime. Information via the Web: www.goholland.com.