How can tulips grow in Minnesota in the winter?
Sunlight is a key element in plants being able to grow. Have you ever seen fresh, beautiful flowers for sale at your local grocery store or florist, even though it was winter time? Have you ever wondered how those flowers got there? It’s all about temperature and light!
Busch Flower Farm is a Minneapolis, Minnesota flower company that specializes in growing tulips year round. They grow 5 MILLION tulips every year! These tulips are harvested and delivered to florists, flower shops, and grocery stores all over Minnesota.
Let’s learn how it’s possible to grow flowers in Minnesota during the winter!
The tulip bulbs are shipped to Busch Flower Farm from Holland. Upon arrival the bulbs are placed in trays and put into a 34 degree cooler. This might seem strange, but tulip bulbs need to be cold before they will grow. Once the bulbs have been cooled they are moved to the rooting cooler. The trays are filled with water which causes the tulips to begin to make roots so they can soak up nutrients and begin to grow.
When the tulips have grown healthy roots, the tray of tulips is brought into the greenhouse, where the bulbs are exposed to sunlight and artificial light for a total of twelve hours a day. Because of the warmer temperature and increased light, the tulips grow very quickly.
If the tulip flower begins to show, but it hasn’t quite opened yet, it is ready to be harvested and packaged. These packaged tulips are then moved to a cooler, where they’ll stop growing because the temperature is once again cold and they are no longer exposed to light. Next they are delivered to the store where you, the customer, can purchase and enjoy them. Once the tulips are in your home, they are exposed to sunlight and warmer temperatures, and so they fully bloom. Using light to control when and how quickly tulips grow and bloom allows us to enjoy beautiful tulips year round!
Let's Graph It!
Grab a piece of paper and create a line graph showing how many hours of daylight we receive at different times of the year in Minnesota. When can tulips be grown using only our natural daylight and when is additional light needed? Remember, tulips need 12 hours of light each day to grow.
| March 21 | 12 |
| June 21 | 16 |
| September 21 | 12 |
| December 21 | 8 |