Residents didn’t waste any time Tuesday morning scooping up colourful blooms freshly dug from the Niagara-on-the-Lake’s gardens.
Beginning at 9 a.m., tulip bulbs were being sold off by the Niagara-on-the-Lake Horticultural Society during a one-day pop-up sale at the community centre. And within just 15 minutes, nearly half the stock was gone.
By 11:30 a.m., tulips were sold out and $1,564.37 was raised for a local women’s shelter. The sale was originally scheduled to run until 1 p.m.
The society has not yet chosen which shelter the funds will go to.
NOTL residents Jeanette Leyden and Dianne Bradshaw, sisters who grew up in St. Davids, were among the early birds ready to bring a piece of the town’s spring displays home.
Leyden plans to send hers to Calgary as a surprise for her daughters.
“I have two daughters that are moving into new homes,” said Leyden. “I’m going to mail them.”
The town donated the bulbs after lifting them from garden beds during seasonal replanting.
“The town has been very generous with all of their bulbs,” said board member Wendy Cadman, who looks after membership.
“We’re hoping that everybody will enjoy them and be able to plant them and have them for next spring.”
Rosemarie Laird, board member who looks after hospitality, said the town plants flowers like tulips and daffodils for spring then removes them to make way for summer plantings such as canna lilies and other annuals.
“Because they replant their beds in the spring with summer stuff,” she said. So there’s “nothing at all” wrong with the bulbs.
The town dug up the tulips, placed them in bags and labelled most of them by colour before delivering them to Laird’s barn for sorting.
“Some of them were a mystery mix,” said Cadman.
Several society members sorted the flowers over five volunteer days, dividing them by colour or grouping them into “mystery mix” bundles.
“It was a lot of bags,” said Laird — and probably “a gazillion and a half” bulbs.
Organizers began with a four-dozen-per-person limit, which was lifted shortly after the initial rush. Those who wanted more were asked to return at 10 a.m. when there could be more — by then, only sparse bags remained and the crowd had thinned to just a few trickling in.
Bradshaw said she’ll be gifting her tulips to friends and family, with one added bonus.
“I can pick them,” she said with a laugh.
People were asked to bring bags, but backups were available and ended up being used. Tulips were sold for $3 per dozen, with options including yellow and red, purple and pink, or a surprise mix. But some residents chose to pay more than the asking price.
“It’s wonderful of the community to do that,” said Cadman.
Resident Amanda Xu bought four dozen bulbs and said she plans to keep half and give away the rest as gifts to her friends.
“Amazing,” said Xu, describing the sale. “It also supported the community.”
Proceeds will go to a local women’s shelter, though the society has not yet chosen which shelter.
The society will host its annual Garden Tour on Saturday, July 12, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For updates, residents can visit notlhortsociety.com or follow @notlhortsociety on Facebook.
