HOLLAND, Mich. — Tulips have been a staple in Holland for decades, but how did they get their start there?
How did the famous flower become so prevalent for the area?
"The homeland of the Netherlands and Holland, like we like to call it and our tie there is absolutely the reason why the tulip became such a thing here," said the City of Holland Director of Parks and Recreation Andy Kenyon.
1927 was the year the idea of celebrating the tulip was brought to the City of Holland.
During that time, a majority of the population in the area was Dutch.
"Lida Rogers, who was a local in the city, came up with this idea about planting tulips to beautify the city, and that's kind of how tulip time was born," said Kenyon.
Tulip Time began two years later. 50,000 people showed up, and the following year? 175,000 tourists arrived.
Veldheer Tulip Farm later became a part of that. The Veldheer family has been involved in the growth of tulips within the city for generations.
"My grandfather started after World War Two as a hobby with his wife, with 300 reds and 100 whites. From there, he got a few more, a few more, the hobby became a business to where we are now with over 800 varieties of tulips," said Veldheer Tulip Gardens Manager Jacob Veldheer.
Jacob Veldheer is now the third generation to plant tulips.
He said they now plant between 6,000,000 to 6,500,000 tulip bulbs each year.
"On average it can be anywhere from three weeks to five weeks long of the very crazy, crazy people coming in between locals tourists the little bit of both and everything else. I would say between 100,000 on the absolute lowest end to a couple million on the bid on the busiest ends," said Veldheer.
It's a year operation for the growers, but they said they'll continue to do it to keep people coming back to Holland.
"It's grown a lot and it's really cool to see how the community has evolved around it. We've added carnivals and concerts and all the food vendors of course and the Dutch dance scene, and so it's been a wonderful thing to watch," said Kenyon.
