GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Tulip Time Festival in Holland is back this weekend, like it never left, with all events scheduled for the first time since the start of the pandemic.
The timing for the tulips, however, relies entirely on the temperature.
No one knows that quite like Myles Lawton, who single-handedly planted 10,000 bulbs in his front yard in November 2021 for a spring 2022 bloom.
That's 2,000 more than last year.
“I have become the Grand Rapids tulip guy which is alright with me. I mean there are worse things to be known for, right?” Myles Lawton said.
But while there are more tulips planted this year than last, it's hard to tell.
The tulips are behind schedule.
"The weather has just been so cold this year. They need these warm days to actually open,” Myles Lawton said.
Myles Lawton says it's an agonizing wait. The patience, however, is worth it.
“I do it for everybody else and not just me,” Lawton said.
Lawton started this project during the pandemic. His first big spring tulip bloom in 2021 came from a lonely fall of 2020 when he took to tearing out the front yard: hopeful for a brighter spring ahead.
Lawton got all that and then some. He got to see people smile.
“I had a prom photoshoot last year, where kids showed up in their prom dresses and tuxes and got their photos taken here,” Lawton said.
For moms like Cortney Gailey, it means the world.
“We drove down here last year because we weren’t going to be able to make it to tulip time. And we live just down the road. I was driving by one day on our way to Kingmas and we just stopped by and asked if we could take some pictures,” Gailey said.
Saying—it was nice to have pictures of her with her daughters for a change.
“My husband took some photos, and you kind of have to train them to take pictures of you. Because you’re usually the one taking all the pictures,” Gailey said.
Myles is thankful for the moments to come this year, with more photos with his niece and nephew. One of them, hardly taller than the tulips last year.
“This is like where I’m like finally, a breath of fresh air,” Lawton said.
Myles also collects donations from people who'd like to support his tulip obsession. Half of all proceeds go back to his community garden in the Creston Neighborhood. This year he was able to donate $650.
