In the Upper Midwest, it’s hard to think about tulips when I look out the window at half a foot of snow and hear stories from further north of several feet of snow. Before the snow came, people were reporting tulips in the Midwest, while further south, some of you are even reporting tulips blooming.
In St. Paul, Minnesota, Kelly reported five tulips emerged on March 3 at Battle Creek Elementary School, writing, “The emerging leaves were yellow with red tips. We are happy we saw them.”
In Brookfield, Wisconsin, just outside Milwaukee, Barbara reported tulips emerging on March 10, writing, “Past two days sunny & warm--temperature yesterday (3/9) was record 72°. This patch most emerged--several others not as much.”
That sunny weather spurred multiple reports, including one from Angela in Ashland, Ohio.
“Today is a beautiful sunny day,” Angela wrote on March 9. “The second-grade students at Mapleton Elementary were happy to observe that most of our tulips we planted on October 27, 2025, have emerged. There are some tulips that have not emerged, but the students think that might be because the bulbs were not healthy when those ones were planted. We are excited to see them grow more in the weeks to come!”
Within the next few weeks, the temperature would drop, and snow would start to fall in Minnesota and Wisconsin, but for a little while, it felt like spring.
In Georgia, tulips were in full bloom this week, although it sounds like they may have gotten some colder nighttime temperatures as the week went on. On March 17, Christy in Atlanta reported 100 blooms with a photo of children checking out their work.
All the way back on February 21, Patricia in Gardendale, Alabama, reported a first bloom on a 71-degree day just north of Birmingham. Patricia reported tulip emergence No. 1 on Jan. 29.
Showing the variation in different sites, weather conditions, and more, Joy in Madison, Alabama, a little further north, reported a first tulip emerging on Feb. 19, with no blooms. On March 19, Joy’s class counted 25 tulips emerging.
Kristina in Hollister, Missouri, reported a blooming red emperor tulip on March 18 as well, while others don’t yet have blooms, like Bill in Union, Missouri, who reported tulips emerging on March 12.
Further west
On March 4, Susan in Riggins, Idaho, reported that 22 tulips had emerged and were about an inch and a half tall.
Just to the other side of the Idaho-Washington border, in Spokane, Elena reported that “tulip leaves are starting to pop up through the mulch in clusters” on March 12.
Thank you to everyone who has participated in the Tulip Test Garden project this year, and everyone who has submitted their reports, whether they’re planting tulips at home or sharing the project with kids at schools across North America.
We’ve still got a lot of spring to go. Let us know what’s happening with your tulips by reporting your observations here.