Join us as we visit Len Busch Roses in Plymouth, Minnesota! Len Busch Roses is a Minnesota grower of fresh cut flowers and blooming plants. Flowers from Len Busch can be found in local Target stores as well as other supermarkets in the area. On this virtual field trip students will learn the basic anatomy of a tulip, the tulip life cycle, as well as taking a closer look at machines that harvest and complete necessary tasks. The tour guide, Scot Ferguson, will lead the field trip through the greenhouse and point out the amazing and educational things on the way. A special thanks to some students from the Wayzata High School who selected the location, coordinated and set up all the logistics for this virtual field trip.
About Len Busch Roses
There are nine growers on staff that work alongside Scot at Len Busch Roses. Each year they grow 11 cut crops, 5-6 primary potting crops as well as some other seasonal crops. About 1 million potted plants along with 9 million cut flowers a year are grown in their Plymouth, Minnesota greenhouses.
The crops at Len Busch Roses are grown on their 13 acres in greenhouses protected under glass. During the winter, the greenhouses are heated with wood. This is something that is unique to the Len Busche Roses farm.
Growing Tulips from Bulbs
About 5 million tulips are grown during the winter and spring months at Len Busch Roses. The bulbs are grown in Holland and stored in a cool place over the winter before being shipped to Len Busch Roses. These tulips are grown with a hydroponic water system. During the virtual field trip video, you will see exactly how this process works with their tulips.
Bulbs Received from Holland
Len Busch Roses starts with bulbs, that were once grown in a tulip field in Holland. The bulbs are about 10-12 inches big when they arrive. Three shipments of about 1 million bulbs each are received each growing season. The bulbs arrive in the United States from Holland by boat to New Jersey. The bulbs then are trucked by semi to Minnesota. Before starting the growing process, the bulbs are inspected for damage, hydration and health. During all of this shipping, they need to be kept cold in order to not start the growing process too early.
Planting Process
All of the bulbs are stuck to a pin tray one by one. Each tray gets about 100-140 bulbs pending on the size of the bulb. These then go into a cooler.
When ready to start growing the tulips, a pallet of bulbs will go into a warmer to help establish the roots. This process takes about two weeks. Once they are exposed to water, they start to grow white, clean roots. Healthy roots are about 2-3 inches long. Long roots ensure at least 14-22 inches of stem before the tulip flower to help with strength and flower quality.
Once the bulb trays are moved to the greenhouse, the tulips take about a month to grow. Len Busch Roses start to receive shipments of bulbs in the middle of December and will continue to grow the bulbs until Mother's Day.
To learn more about the Len Busch Roses and see the inside of their greenhouse, check out the virtual field trip.