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LEHI — Mother Nature has the tulips at Thanksgiving Point hibernating a while longer, which means some color will be missing from the opening of this year's Tulip Festival.
"Because of the cool temperatures, the tulips aren't blooming yet," said Tony Latimer, horticulture manager for Thanksgiving Point. "They're about a week behind."
If you don't see tulips blooming in your yard, they're not blooming here either.
–Tony Latimer, horticulture manager
At the front of the Thanksgiving Point Gardens, visitors can see a spray of tulips that have just bloomed. Latimer says that's mainly because gardeners have covered the front part of the grounds with frost cloth — a type of blanket for the tulips. The warmth has helped the bulbs sprout.
"We plant pansies, tulips and some daffodils, those types of things," said Latimer. "And they sit there during the winter and get their cold treatment and then they pop up in spring and show their bright colors."
However, the gardeners can't cover the entire ground with the blanket for roughly a quarter-million tulips. Nor can they predict the weather.
(closed Sundays)
10 am - 8 pm
Thanksgiving Point Gardens
$10/adults
$8/children (3-11)
$9/senior
Free for Thanksgiving Point Members
More info: here
"Just based on the weather is when the flowers bloom and we don't have any control over that," Latimer said. "We try to pick the best weekend on average but we get caught on either end sometimes."
The gardeners plant 250,000 bulbs and spread them throughout a 55-acre garden area. However, for the opening week of the festival, which opens Saturday and runs through May 7, Latimer says there won't be much of a show.
"We have lots of other flowers," says Latimer. "But the tulips are the ones that put on the big show. They have the bright colors. That seems to be what everyone enjoys."
The garden expects at least 30,000 visitors to visit the festival. Latimer says it's just a matter of educating the public on the cycle of flowers.
"If you don't see tulips blooming in your yard, they're not blooming here either," Latimer said.
That's bad news for tourists coming for the festival's opening.
But the delay is a bonus for locals because Latimer says Thanksgiving Point plans to add an extra weekend to this year's festival.
E-mail: niyamba@ksl.com
