IT WAS more than seven decades ago when Dutch immigrants Cees and Johanna Tesselaar sailed from the Netherlands and planted their first crop of tulips in the Dandenong Ranges.
According to family lore, people would stop and admire the colourful blooms in the Tesselaars’ front paddock, so in 1954 they opened their tulip farm to the public.
Now, 62 years later and three generations on, the family still hosts the Tesselaar Tulip Festival in celebration of the vivid flowers.
And just like his great-grandparents, Peter Tesselaar has dedicated his life to growing and cultivating the best tulips.
“I’m very proud of my family’s heritage and love where I work,” said Peter, who took over the business from his father seven years ago.
With more than 800,000 tulips, including 120 different varieties, on show, Peter and his team have spent the past nine months working behind the scenes getting things ready.
“April to May is planting time and with over a million spring bulbs to get in the ground it’s a busy time,” he said.
“While most are planted with machinery, at least 10 per cent are still planted by hand.”
He said with more than 100 tulip varieties at the show, it is hard to pick a favourite.
The festival, set across 10 hectares, runs from September 8-October 4.
But don’t expect to see any flowers there the day after, as that’s when Peter and his team chop the heads off all the blooms.
“This might sound a bit cruel, but we do this so that the bulb can regenerate itself for next year’s flowers.”
Also bear in mind that the garden display is planned more than a year in advance, so even before this show gets under way the Tessalaars are preparing for 2017.
As well as tulips, visitors can also see daffodils, ranunculus, anemones as well as blossom trees including cherries, apples, pears, dogwoods, forest pansies and magnolias.
A year in the life
SOME top tips to give you the best tulips:
January – Dry, clean, count and grade bulbs to get ready for planting.
February – Tally bulbs to assess planting pattern for the show. March – Prepare soil for planting.
April-May - Planting time!
June – Check on bulbs to ensure growth.
July-August – Introduce predatory mites (friendly bugs to control pests such as bulb mice).
September – Festival time.
October – Chop the heads off all the flowers (to allow the bulbs to regenerate).
November-December – Dig and store the bulbs.
Details at www.tulipfestival.com.au
