[connatix_element_embed script_id=da44c189471e406ba34bb04529cde7ea player_id=7bc491b4-922b-4e8d-b1b1-150648e80442 video_id=84e651e1-f786-4559-ab27-d315cfeac2a1 align=right]For a few weeks every spring, a farm in Nokesville, Virginia, transports visitors to the tulip-filled fields of Holland. The Festival of Spring at Burnside Farms ends April 21, giving guests one more week to pick their own bouquets for Easter or for any occasion.
Burnside Farms spends months and months preparing to grow these beautiful blooms.
“We start getting our shipments of flowers usually in October,” said Jess Dawley, owner and operator of Burnside Farms.
The bulbs are planted as soon as they come in. Tulips need a cold winter to eventually bloom and grow in the spring, and according to Dawley, Northern Virginia has the perfect climate for tulips.
Burnside Farms plants more than 2 million tulips of more than 200 different varieties every year, then spends the rest of the year working to keep them safe from wildlife, pests and diseases.
Some tulips are the traditional bold red, yellow and pink. Others are more exotic, in purple or hot pink. And different varieties bloom at different times.
“The field that people are seeing today, because of the variety and because of the way they bloom, is so different from the field that was blooming a week ago,” Dawley said. “And it’s super different than the field that’s going to be blooming a week from now. We have people who literally come here every single day of the season, and every single day, they can find a different variety of tulip blooming.”
Some of the later-blooming tulips are called French tulips, and they tend to grow much taller than the other flowers — up to 2 feet, according to Dawley.
Tickets range from $20 to $27 and grant access to the fields and five of your favorite flowers. Additional flowers cost $1 each.
The Holland in Virginia experience wraps up this weekend.
The farm will be open Easter Sunday and Monday. In addition to the beautiful blooms, families can also enjoy picnic areas and bouncing pads for the kids. The farm also invites numerous food trucks throughout the festival. Tickets can be bought ahead of time on their website.