Canada 150 tulips in hot demand this fall
The limited edition official tulip bulbs created for Canada’s 150th anniversary have proven to be a highly sought after commodity.
The bulbs, available exclusively through Home Hardware, left its distribution centre in St. Jacob’s last month under police escort (for ceremony, not security).
Ross Lotto, owner of Creemore Home Hardware, has not been able to keep them in stock and the demand is high.
“It has been so popular. They have been overwhelmed,” said Lotto.
He said he has moved about 2,000 bulbs. He even got in a bulk order of 500 and divided them into packages of 25.
Everyone who pre-ordered have received their bulbs and he makes no promises that he will be able to get more but he is trying.
One Echo reader couldn’t get them in Alberta so she got her mother-in-law to send them to her from Creemore.
Creemore will have a display of the tulips when they bloom in the spring. Clearview Township Mayor Chris Vanderkruys, who is of Dutch heritage, said the township is subsidizing bulbs for the Creemore Horticultural Society and for horticultural societies in Brentwood and Stayner.
In Creemore, the tulips will bloom at the cenotaph and in the community gardens.
Developed in the Netherlands to celebrate Canada’s milestone in 2017, the tulip is white with red flames and bears a striking resemblance to the Canadian Flag.
Home Hardware Stores partnered with the National Capital Commission (NCC), the official gardener of Canada’s Capital Region, the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Communities in Bloom for the selection and distribution of the Canada 150 tulip.
During Canada’s 150th anniversary celebrations, 300,000 Canada 150 tulips will be showcased in the NCC’s flowerbeds in the Capital Region and thousands more will bloom in community gardens across Canada.
The tulip represents a long-standing friendship between Canada and the Netherlands.
In 1945, the Dutch royal family sent 100,000 tulips to Ottawa to thank Canadians for harbouring Princess Juliana and her daughters during the war. Juliana gave birth to Princess Margriet at the hospital in Ottawa in 1943 and in 1946 sent another 20,500 bulbs with a pledge to send another 10,000 each year during her lifetime. The Canadian Tulip Festival is held in Ottawa each May in celebration of these gifts.
Trina Berlo photo: Creemore Home Hardware owner Ross Lotto had to take down a poster promoting the Canada 150 tulips because they ran out of stock due to high demand.
