In a season known for renewal, springtime staple Wicked Tulips is turning over a new leaf.
The “u-pick” flower farm, which first opened to the public in 2015, in past years hosted visitors at its fields in Johnston, Exeter and Preston, Conn., where about 1.5 million tulips grown from Dutch and Canadian bulbs spanned more than 10 acres combined.
This season, Wicked Tulips has consolidated its two Rhode Island locations into one larger farm in North Kingstown and is growing flowers from its own bulbs. This local production is a first for Northeastern tulip farms, say co-owners Keriann and Jeroen Koeman.
Growing up in a family of tulip growers in Holland, Jeroen Koeman is long familiar with what he calls “the magic of the tulip.”
The colorful fields present a vision “where the beauty of Mother Nature is stopping all of your daily business,” he said. “When you are in the tulips ... it almost resets your brain.”
After a particularly harsh winter, Keriann Koeman expects extra excitement for the floral display.
The tulips bloom for just about three weeks, usually starting in mid-to-late April, and attract tens of thousands of visitors each year. More than 2,000 people have been known to flock to the farm on a busy day. The husband-and-wife team expects anywhere from 25,000 to 40,000 customers in North Kingstown this year.
The new location marks significant growth in more ways than one. The North Kingstown farm is double the size of Wicked Tulips’ previous Rhode Island farms, and the million-plus blooms are a far cry from the business’s early days when staff members hand-planted about 60,000 tulips.
While a frigid, snowy winter was catastrophic for some area farms, the snow covering helps to keep soil temperatures stable, Jeroen Koeman says.
The flowers are fickle in general, requiring the Koemans and their team to take a nimble approach to their opening days. Excessive warmth or rain can also shift the tulips’ growing patterns.
“It’s a really delicate balance, and we never know,” Keriann Koeman said. “We have to be prepared to pivot and roll with whatever we’ve got.”
Rhode Island also provides less-than-ideal growing conditions for tulip bulbs.
For this reason, Jeroen Koeman says, New England growers typically import bulbs from tulip hotspots in Holland or Canada.
With the North Kingstown expansion and specialized growing equipment, Wicked Tulips is now producing bulbs locally. In Holland, Jeroen Koeman says, tulip fields can span areas that are larger than Rhode Island. His brothers continue to run the family business and farm more than 100 acres of tulips, selling the bulbs to wholesale markets.
“We are not trying to compete with Holland,” he said. “We are trying to make a statement – why be dependent on another country if we can grow something right here?”
Though the flowers only bloom for a handful of weeks, the offseason requires plenty of upkeep. To keep soil fertile, the growers dig up bulbs and rotate fields each year.
Though the tulips bloom for a relatively brief time, the work pays off for the Koemans and visitors.
“People are excited to get out and see the color,” Keriann Koeman said. “They get that infusion of joy.”
OWNERS: Keriann and Jeroen Koeman
TYPE OF BUSINESS: Flower farm
LOCATIONS: 140 Exeter Road, North Kingstown and 382 Route 164, Preston, Conn.
EMPLOYEES: Approximately 300 each season
YEAR FOUNDED: 2015
ANNUAL REVENUE: WND
