Field to Vase: Early Morning Tulip Harvest
Photos by Jess Szczepanek Photography
There's nothing quite like waking up to the soft hues of the early morning sky and the silence that accompanies it. This magical time, just before the sun begins to peek above the horizon, is when we start our day and head out to harvest our beautiful tulips.
Thousands of tulips tucked into beds are a sight to behold. We take great pride in the quality of our flowers, ensuring that each one is carefully and lovingly tended to throughout its lifecycle. We only grow speciality varieties consisting of fringe, peony-petaled, and parrot blooms.
To harvest, we gently tug each and every stem out of the soil with bulb, oftentimes with bulb attached. These freshly cut tulips make their way to our farmstand, where visitors can purchase them to brighten up their homes or surprise loved ones with a bouquet. From field to vase, we strive to provide our customers with the freshest and most exquisite flowers that nature has to offer.
Now, you may be wondering why we choose to dig up the entire tulip bulb when we harvest, given that tulips are typically perennials. The answer lies in the unique requirements of our specialty cut flower operation.
In home gardens, tulip bulbs are allowed to complete their natural lifecycle, with the foliage yellowing and dying back after the petals fall. This process is crucial, as the nutrients stored in the bulb during this time are what fuel the growth and flowering of next year's tulips.
However, as a cut flower grower, we must cut the entire stem of the tulip – foliage, bloom, and all – to achieve the desired height for our vases. With the entire stem removed, there is no foliage left to generate energy or food for the following year's bloom. This is why we cannot leave the bulbs in the ground like other flowers we grow.
Our tulip bulbs become part of our composting program, contributing to the rich, nutrient-dense compost that we use to amend our soil. In this way, the bulbs continue to play a role in nurturing the growth of our future flowers.
Our greatest joy is to harvest our tulips in the early morning and offer them at our farmstand to our community. We invite you to visit us and experience the wonder of our tulip fields and the simple pleasure of bringing a piece of nature's beauty into your home.
To enjoy these blooms in your own garden, check out our Bulb Shop to order or stop by our farmstand for a bouquet in the spring.
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