SPRING GROVE, ILL — A burst of beautiful tulip blossoms paints a farm on the Wisconsin-Illinois border with pastel pink, red, purple, and more.
“When we first started the discussions, we talked about having, let’s put in 10,000 tulips, and then, you know, that’s not big enough anyhow. We ended up with 300,000 and 30 different varieties, 10,000 bulbs of each one," George Richardson, the co-owner of Richardson Farms, said.
The farm is located in Spring Grove, Illinois which is south of Lake Geneva. It's the first time they have done a Tulip Festival. Richardson Farm is also known for its corn maze and Christmas tree farm.
Some tulips have blossomed and others are just getting ready to let down their guard and unfurl. First, they just need a little more sunlight and warmth.
“They’re just waiting for a little more warm weather, and pow, they’re going to happen," George said.
You most likely won’t see all 300,000 tulips blossoming at once. There are multiple varieties that bloom at different times.
"It's the mid-to-late maturing ones. We didn’t do any of the early varieties, and so not all of them will bud, will bloom, at the same time. We anticipate maybe 100,000 blooming for this weekend," he said.
Just because you likely won't see 300,000 tulips, doesn't mean the farm won't be a bright array of color.
“You can see in the fields right now, even if there’s only 50,000 blooming, it's still pretty good.”
This makes for a fun day trip outside with your family and friends. While museums don’t have a touch policy, here you’re encouraged to pick a few tulips.
Everyone gets 1 free tulip, and the rest are a dollar per flower.
The Tulip Festival starts April 23 and is open 7 days a week from 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. On the weekdays, admission is $12 for anyone 4 years old and up. On weekends, it costs $15 per ticket.
Beyond picking flowers, you can also sit down to have fudge, donuts, snacks, wine, nachos, beer, and so much more to make it a fun-filled day.
