Blooming Beauty in the Coldest Months
Winter may be holding New England in its grip, but our farm stand is bursting with tulips—weeks ahead of schedule! Here’s how we do it:
This past fall, we received tulip bulbs that had already gone through their ‘winter.’ The bulb growers—very different from flower growers—harvested the bulbs from the field and placed them into coolers to mimic the cold dormancy they need to fully mature and bloom. Without this period, the bulbs wouldn’t produce proper flowers. Once we received them, we planted them in hydroponic crates—an investment we made years ago to reduce waste and long-term costs. These crates, built to last a lifetime, have allowed us to eliminate the use of soil, peat moss, and plastic bag transport.
Using a water-based system that mimics natural underground conditions, we nurtured the bulbs through their dormancy and triggered early blooms by bringing them into a warmer atmosphere (around 55°F). The bulbs began rooting, followed by lush foliage growth, and by December, we were harvesting stunning tulips.
This program is highly curated—we select varieties that thrive in hydroponics, balancing bloom timing and characteristics. Some require more ‘winter’ than others, so spreadsheets and precision guide everything. Hydroponics is meticulous work—water levels must be perfect, everything kept impeccably clean, and proper airflow maintained. But we believe it’s worth it. Hydroponics will carry us through mid-March until our field-grown tulips take over.
We’re also running trials to explore what flowers we can grow through winter with minimal input. Do we heat a greenhouse? Minimally. We prioritize using spaces already heated (like our basement), with any overflow going to the greenhouse. Heating is kept to a minimum—only a few hours at night during freezing temps. The fuel used for the entire winter is less than what’s required to fly imported flowers from the equator to Florida. Our crops can handle light frost, and when the greenhouse is full, it retains daytime heat, creating a synergistic system.
We’ll keep refining and doing the work—thank you for supporting our farm and joining us on this journey!
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