Lets Talk Tulips

The weather is finally warming up, green grass, apple blossoms and tulips! Last year we ordered 1200 bulbs for our 2018 spring sales. There are so many beautiful varieties of tulips that I find I could quite easily have an addiction with these ladies. Last fall with the help of my son we dug a trench about four feet wide and laid each bulb out just like eggs in an egg carton. 100 bulbs of 12 different varieties, I was like a kid in a candy store when they came. He definitely did not share my excitement but is always willing to help me.

Some growers water them in really well, we had quite a bit of rain so I just covered them over and left them to settle in for the winter. They started pushing through the soil in March and were coming along beautifully until they completely stalled out earlier this month. Some are barely 2 inches tall with nice buds starting to form and even color up.

My blood pressure has definitely been on the higher side worrying over these little beauties the last few weeks. I'm not completely sure if it has been the crazy temperature swings and late snow squalls or maybe something to do with their storage prior to shipping but they had plenty of cold weather to get established over the winter (maybe some of you Master Gardener's out there have some tips for me). I am, however, breathing a little easier with some steadier temperatures over the last week and I feel like they are beginning to grow again. I have my fingers crossed super tight that they are going to be ready just in time for Mother's Day.

Time will tell.

We treat tulips as an annual and pull the entire bulb when we are picking. They can be stored in the cooler wrapped in newspaper with the bulb on until they are ready to be sold. I am giving some long hard thoughts as to what I want to do next year with these guys. I can't say I am ready to give up on them just yet but it is a lot of money to invest and not reap anything from, however on the flip side of that the rewards can be great and isn't it a lot like life? Rarely does anything go as planned!

Have a great weekend...

Katie