It's that time of year: Tulips are blooming!

Bright red signs of spring are popping through the ground and blooming across the United States. That’s right, tulips are blooming!

A blooming tulip was reported by Natalie at Wheelock Early Learning in St. Paul, Minnesota, on March 28, the first report from the Upper Midwest.

The northernmost report by latitude was in Wapato, Washington, on March 25, with Christine writing the following:

“We are excited to announce that we have our first bloom. We noticed that the tulips are shorter than we expected. The blooming plant is only about 8 inches tall. The rest of our tulips are in the final stages and we anticipate more blooms tomorrow.”

Tulips also bloomed in Tonganoxie, Kansas, on March 31 and Independence, Kansas, on March 24. 

“Mrs. Bloomfield's first grade class is excited and happy to report that our tulips have bloomed. Two of the 150 have bloomed, and many look like they will be blooming soon! The tulips are red and beautiful. The petals are soft and slick. They have purple pollen in the middle. We just got back from spring break and found them blooming,” Patsy wrote in Independence.

Moving south, blossoms were visible two weeks ago or more, with Joy in Madison, Alabama, reporting blooms on March 17.

“Fifth grade students at Westminster Christian Academy were excited to see that the tulips planted last fall finally bloomed. Somehow a yellow bulb got into our test area. This is the latest that our tulips have ever bloomed and we discussed that this was due to unseasonably cold weather in January and February.”

In Munford, Alabama, Kimberly reported blooming tulips all the way back on February 21.

While many are celebrating the bright colors of spring blooms, others have seen tulips emerge from the ground, but they’re still waiting on the next step in the process.

“Tulips are out,” Steve reported in Lewistown, Montana, on March 24.

“Poking their way through the dead leaves,” wrote Carol in Syracuse, New York, on March 18.

When your tulips emerge or bloom, don’t forget you report your observations to Journey North!