Inspiration Destination: Texas-Tulip Farm

While many of my colleagues seem to enjoy going to museums to gaze at sculptures and paintings and various works of art, or to the theater to watch musicals and other performances, I am much more likely to search for and find my art in the great outdoors, enjoying nature’s many masterpieces.

With the first signs of spring slowly sprouting in the southern states, back in February, my husband and I took an opportunity to head out to the Texas-Tulips farm in Pilot Point, which is not far from where we live. We went on the first opening day of the season, which happened to be a very breezy weekday, so there weren’t a lot of people there. The nice thing about that was we didn’t have to worry about too many people posing for photos among the blooms while we attempted to take our own pictures. The downside on going so early in the season was that we’d had more rain than sun over the previous month, and there were rows and rows of bulbs that had not yet bloomed. Luckily, there was still a good variety for us to enjoy.

Texas-Tulips in Pilot Point is a 6-acre farm that is re-tilled and replanted every year (since 2015) with bulbs from Holland (aka the Netherlands). That’s where the owners are from. Prior to opening this location, the Koeman family operated and ran an 80-acre tulip farm in the Netherlands for more than 40 years). Texas-Tulips also has a second location in San Antonio that just opened up this year. Both locations are only open for a very short period of time between February and March (sometimes early April), seven days a week, from 10 am to 8 pm. With a $5 entrance fee, visitors are welcome to wander around enjoying the view and taking photos. At $2.50 per stem, guests can also pick their own tulips to take home with them to create a bouquet or plant them in their own gardens. You can find out more about both locations and the thousands of tulips available in a wide variety of colors at their website.

The availability of specific tulip varieties changes throughout the picking season. We saw a wide array of beautiful colors that we enjoyed. They were so pretty. Some of the varieties available included: Texas Gold, Texas Flame, American Dream, Blushing Lady, Monte Carlo, Hocus Pocus, fringed, parrot, striped tulips, and many more. While it’s too late to check out this destination location this year as they will be closing very shortly, you might want to pencil it in on your calendar for another year. The blooms are beautiful and the memories you might make while enjoying these beautiful brush strokes of nature will last far beyond the fleeting days of spring.

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