A Plethora of Tulips

I grew up in the SW corner of Michigan, not far from a town called Holland Michigan. With so many Dutch people settled in that part of the state, it was only natural that they would name their town Holland, and then hold a tulip festival every year. When I was a little girl, my parents took me to the Tulip Festival. They tell me I was a very popular little girl that day in my checkered dress, wooden shoes and traditional hat, but mothers are always very prejudiced...

 She swears I was in love with flowers even then. Perhaps this trip was the start of my obsession.

Fast forward far too many years, and I finally managed to return to Holland Michigan to see the tulips. The funny thing is, Holland is one my favorite towns in Michigan, and I have visited there many times. But I never managed to get back there in the spring until this year. I didn't really want to see the festival, I just wanted to see the tulips. So I devised a strategy to visit just a few days after the festival ended. And it was perfect!

I also took along a dear friend, and that made the day even better. The skies were clear blue, the temperatures were pleasant, and there were tulips everywhere. I wasn't quite sure where to find them, so we just drove into town, hoping for the best. Well, it worked out perfectly, because we drove right past a pretty little park that was just filled with tulips.

 After admiring pretty much every tulip in the park, we went into town for some lunch. Along the way, we discovered that tulips were planted almost everywhere in the city including along the streets, in front of homes, in containers, yards, schools, and any place else that they could find a patch of dirt.

We also wondered where to find that rainbow field of tulips we saw on the website for the festival. Well, it was easy enough to find this tulip farm outside of town, and there we truly did find a veritable quilt of tulips.

The point of this tulip farm was to wander through the numbered patches, making notes about which bulbs you would like to purchase. This was a difficult task! With this many gorgeous flowers staring at you, how are you supposed to pick?

Well, somehow we did pick a few favorites, and ordered them for delivery in the fall at planting time. It was fun to think that I already saw and touched the flowers that will be growing at my house next year. I can hardly wait to see them again.

All in all, it was an incredible day, even though I had to wait so many years before enjoying the fabulous tulips of Holland Michigan. I doubt that it will be that many years again before I go back. It was just too incredible to miss.