- Author: Toni Greer
What do you think of when you hear the words Tulips, Windmill, Wooden Shoes and Dutch Dancing? Holland! Michigan?? That's right, Holland, Michigan on the shores of Lake Macatawa and Lake Michigan.
This time each year the tulip is celebrated in many fashions. Whether it's the hundreds of thousands of tulips in parks and residences, all of the streets surrounding downtown or the dancers in their wooden clogs, Holland is definitely the place to visit this time of the year. In fact, USA Today voted their Tulip Time Festival #1 in the 2016 Best Flower Festival category. This year the area is blanketed with over 5 million tulip blooms with over 200,000 in the downtown area alone. This festival to honor the tulip is celebrating its 87th anniversary this year. The festival started May 5th and continues through May 15th.
The tulip is a member of the lily family and grows from a bulb. They are beautiful with their showy flowers. As of now there are 75 wild species. They grow in the spring and can be between 4” and 28” high. Most tulips produce only one flower per stem. However, there are varieties which produce multiple flowers per stem. They come is a wide variety of colors, except pure blue. Most tulips that have blue in their name have a faint violet hue.
While they are indigenous to mountainous areas with mild climates, they do need a cool period of dormancy which is known as vernalization. Tulips love long, cool springs and dry summers. You will find that tulips in warm-winter areas are normally planted in the autumn to be enjoyed as an annual in the spring.
Cultivation began in Persia around the 10th century and continues today throughout the world. It's believed that the first tulip grown in the United States was grown near Lynn and Salem, Massachusetts by Richard Sullivan Fay, Esq.
If you are fortunate to enjoy Holland, Michigan's Tulip Time or a tulip growing in your yard, remember the history of this beautiful bulb. Try growing a variety which appeals to you by one of their many colors and sizes.