HOLLAND, Mich. (AP) — Officials in Holland will spend a bit more on tulip bulbs to avoid fungus-infected flowers following a switch of vendors to save money.
The Holland Sentinel reports that the city council voted this week to award a former vendor a contract for the 2017 tulip festival. The company bid $69,900. The low bid was $64,864.
The western Michigan city is known for its beautiful tulips and had ordered bulbs from the company for about seven years. But its bid last year was not the lowest and Holland chose another firm which bid $67,348 to provide 420,000 bulbs.
Some of the tulips during Tulip Time 2016 had brown spots, dwarfed statures and deformed leaves.
Mayor Nancy DeBoer said Holland “tried something different” and “it didn’t work well.”
