Back in November of 2024, I had an amazing opportunity to visit Burket Farm in Tyrone to learn all about the process of planting and growing tulips. Dustin Yothers, Susan Burket-Zerbe, and the entire family kindly took the time to explain everything to me for our upcoming camp at Discovery Space and even donated bulbs for the kids to plant. Thank you so much!
Let’s talk about tulip planting! I love flowers and want to highlight the amazing work and local science happening in our community. Agriculture is a major industry in Pennsylvania, and tulip bulbs rely heavily on the weather… so let’s dig in!
Every spring, Burket Farm bursts with tulips you can enjoy, pick, and take home! Pulling off something like this takes extensive planning and preparation. It’s taken years to perfect the process, and they continue improving it each year.
THE PREPARATION PROCESS
Purchasing: I found the entire process fascinating, especially the journey these bulbs take to reach Tyrone, PA! All of the bulbs are purchased from a local supplier in Phillipsburg, who sources them directly from the Netherlands. The bulbs arrive by cargo ship, are loaded onto a truck in New Jersey, and finally make their way to Burket Farm. This year alone, they’ve planted around 60,000 bulbs!
Plotting: After purchasing, it’s time to prepare the land and plot! Each bed is marked and spray-painted to show the start, end, and width, with careful measurements to keep each bed even.
Tilling: The next step in the process is tilling, which helps break up dirt clumps and clears rocks to make plowing easier. Tulips thrive in specific soil conditions, and thankfully, Burket Farm has the ideal sandy soil to grow these beautiful flowers.
Plowing: Each of the three rows per field is plowed precisely according to the plotting. Once the plot is tilled, the plowing process goes pretty quickly. The plow digs the dirt to allow the bulbs to be planted 6–8 inches deep. Then, it’s time to plant!
Planting: Now it’s time to put the bulbs in the ground! About 2,000 tulip bulbs are planted in each bed. To plant, they shake the bulbs out of the crates, then go back to evenly space them.
Covering: The soil moved by the plow is now placed back over the bulbs. The bulbs will patiently wait underground until it’s their time to shine in mid-April!
Weather: Tulip bulbs prefer cold temperatures while they’re underground. They like to rest for 15–19 weeks when the temperature stays below 50 degrees. Depending on the winter weather, the conditions could affect the type of blooms seen in the spring. Let’s hope the bulbs get the weather they need so we can enjoy their beauty come spring!
TULIP BULBS
Let’s talk about the bulbs! They’re particular about what they like and need to bloom by springtime!
Dustin told me they typically try to purchase tulip bulbs of a specific size to grow well in their soil. These bulbs come in all different colors and resemble onions with their layered skin. They also have a sprout end and a root end.
Nature is truly amazing, and this next fact really shocked me. Typically, you’re told to plant tulip bulbs with the root end down, but it actually doesn’t matter, because the bulb itself will adjust and position itself to sprout with the flower on top! How neat is that?
It’s a great reminder that even when things don’t go as planned, you can still find a way to right yourself and stay on course. Love that for these flowers—and a valuable lesson for us as humans, too!
STORING BULBS
If you visit Burket Farm in April to see their tulips bloom, you can pick them and take them home! When you do, they ask that you take the bulb with you as well. They like to plant new bulbs each fall to prevent mold and disease.
When you take your bulb home, or if you buy any bulbs yourself, Susan and Dustin recommend storing them in a dark, cool space with a temperature under 60 degrees. Also, avoid storing them in a damp area, as moisture can cause them to mold and ruin them.
They also mentioned that many people have been successful by digging up their bulbs, storing them until fall, and then planting them again, resulting in blooms the following spring!
BURKET FARM INFORMATION
I want to thank Susan Burket-Zerbe, Dustin Yothers, and the whole Burket Family, again for having me out on their farm to learn about this entire process! They are 7th-generation farmers who decided to start a tulip farm because, after winter, everyone wants to get outside and enjoy time with family, and this is a fun way to do it. As Dustin is a professional in the healthcare industry, he thought it would be a great way to beat seasonal depression after a long winter! I couldn’t agree more!
Make sure to follow Burket Farm on social media to find out when they’ll be opening this spring, enjoy the food trucks and activities at the farm, and pick some tulips to take home! This will be their 4th bloom season. The typical cost to visit the flowers is $5 per person, with ages 5 and under free. If you’d like to pick tulips and take them home, it’s $1 per tulip, and they’ll wrap them for you.
They also hope to host field trips and groups this spring teach about farming and tulip growing! Just send them a message on Facebook or Instagram to learn more!
Wx Shield 
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