Spring is a very special time at our Park.

Imagine walking into the park and seeing beautiful bright blooms that welcome you into warmer days. These displays don’t naturally happen; they are planned far in advance. Many months ahead of time, our gardeners plan when and where the next year’s flowers will bloom to create a sense of joy and celebration all springtime long. This spring, we anticipate over 10,000 brightly colored tulips of 20 varieties to return to Madison Square Park. 

These exhibitions take months of planning, preparing and planting. Tulips and other spring display flowers start their journey as bulbs harvested from the fields of Holland in late July. These displays are designed and curated to ensure a bright pallet of contrasting colors, heights and textures – all scheduled to bloom at once. Our green team works with Dutch growers to ensure the biggest and healthiest bulbs are secured. These bulbs are cleaned and then shipped to the United States for planting in late October. 

Our garden team will prep beds for spring plantings with marking paint to ensure that the intricate designs are properly planted and that the identical looking bulbs are placed in their proper location. Bulbs are then laid out one by one on the ground, ensuring even spacing and planted before frost. Spring bulbs are planted in the fall because they require a period of cold dormancy known as vernalization or the bulbs will never bloom.

We can’t wait for our community to walk into the park this Spring and experience the vast colors, designs and fragrances. Save the date for next season’s horticulture exhibition blooming April 10th- 30th 2022!