Falling headfirst into the tulips: Illinois native starts you-pick patch in Metropolis

“I try not to say I put all my eggs in one basket, but I am growing one type of flower,” she said with a laugh.

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For Thodoropoulos, the love of tulips goes back to her childhood. While she was growing up in Equality, her grandfather, Luther Lane, grew tulips in massive landscaping beds at his house.

“I’ve always loved them,” she said of the flower. “They remind me of him. My business name, Tulip Lane, is actually a nod to him.”

A graduate of Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Thodoropoulos said she “struggled with figuring out my place in life for as long as I can remember.” After graduating, she dabbled in retail, had a dog walking business, tried accounting. Becoming a cut flower grower “is the first thing I’ve ever done where I feel like I’m where I’m supposed to be. It’s nice to have that feeling.”

Tulip Lane as a business venture traces it roots to a few years ago when her husband, Adrian, who is originally from Golconda, was mobilized with his reserve unit to Germany.

“My son and I were able to go over for part of that time. It was the spring, and I told my husband, ‘We have to go to the Netherlands. We can’t miss the tulips!’ I started researching and planning and got distracted by the pictures of all the flowers,” she said.

Through that research, she realized “I’d never thought about where all of our cut flowers come from for the grocery store and the florist. I wanted to know more about it — so that question was the impetus that started my interest in growing.”

While many associate tulips with The Netherlands and vice versa, that’s not where the flower originated. According to 1800flowers.com, in the 16th century tulips were imported to Holland from the Ottoman Empire, present-day Turkey, and, a few years later, became the most sought-after commodity in the entire Netherlands. In 2014, The Netherlands exported more than two billion tulips worldwide.

And in answer to Thodoropoulos’ question, she learned that close to 80% of flowers in the U.S. are imported from other countries. And being so near to one of those epicenters, she was able to do in-person research and “take pictures some neat and unique varieties you might not be able to find here. There are so many different varieties than what you think of when you see a tulip,” she said.

Along with the cup shape that’s typically seen, she named three others. When the double tulip opens up, it makes a lot of people think of a peony. Fringed tulips look like pinking shears have been taken to the tips of the petals. Parrot tulips look almost like wings.

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After returning to Paducah from Germany, the couple “demolished” their concrete back yard to allow more grass, but “because we couldn’t agree on landscaping, I convinced my husband to let me grow a season of tulips just to see if people are interested in locally grown flowers,” she said, noting her ultimate goal was to start a you-pick tulip patch.

And that’s what got Tulip Lane established in 2020.

She planted 4,500 bulbs in her landscaping beds the first year, which was 2021.

“I’d never planted a tulip before in my life! I think that’s hilarious. You can’t just tiptoe into the tulips, you really have to go for it. Just fall headfirst into it,” she said. “It was a big learning lesson because they open up so quickly outside, and you can’t control Mother Nature — if it’s windy one day or hot one day, you can have a ton open up on you. That was eye-opening. The next year, I did it again, and I had a little bit more knowledge. People were really interested. Then, I knew if I wanted to really make it more sustainable and long-term, I had to learn how to force.”

Once tulips begin, they only have two to four weeks of bloom time. Additionally, except for a very limited number of varieties, each bulb only produces one flower. Thodoropoulos not only wanted to learn how to extend that growth time, but to also make it happen during non-traditional periods.

So in preparation of her third season, she called around to different bulb suppliers, who all told her she couldn’t extend her season with the setup she has.

“I knew there had to be a better way, because how do you get those tulips in the grocery store? Somebody’s growing them,” she said.

And then she found Linda D’Arco and Emily von Trapp, who have their own flower farms in Vermont, and force tulips.

“When you force tulips, you get to tell them when to bloom instead of waiting on nature to tell them when to bloom,” Thodoropoulos explained.

She went to Vermont, took their workshop, “forced a little bit just for fun” when she returned and is now marking her “first season actually doing a decent sized trial run” selling her locally grown tulips to a couple of Paducah florists and at Midtown Market at the end of each week.

Thodoropoulos orders her bulbs from The Netherlands, which grows 70% to 80% of the world’s tulip bulb supply. She planted 4,000 bulbs — 66 per the crates they’re shipped in — in November, then packed the crates into a cooler she built into her garage. As they began to sprout on Jan. 9, she pulled out a crate each week to bring them into the growth space, which is in the basement, giving her a fresh supply of flowers every week.

Thodoropoulos acknowledged her basement set up is “very unconventional,” but it works, providing the perfect temperature and humidity for the tulips to grow — all she had to add were regular lights.

“It’s pretty neat how much you can grow in such a small space,” she said. “It’s been a good trial run for the first year.”

And by forcing the tulips, she was able to provide “something local for Valentine’s Day. I think it’s pretty special,” she said.

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Now, Thodoropoulos is gearing up for the second part of her tulip season, which should be blooming open at any time.

Just in time for Easter, she’s expecting another three weeks of tulips from the additional 4,000 bulbs she has planted in her yard and the 30,000 bulbs planted in her Metropolis patch with the help of family and friends in October.

“This year, my goal was to have 12 weeks of tulips and to hit Valentine’s Day and Easter. I think I’m going to hit my goal, so I’m pretty excited about that,” she said.

The Metropolis patch provides Thodoropoulos the you-pick space she dreamed of.

“I didn’t really have the space for what I wanted to do (at home),” but in July 2022, the opportunity came to buy land just outside of Metropolis, at 5649 S. U.S. 45 Road. Not wanting the patch to be far out, especially since “tulips are a fleeting flower,” she said the location near the Highway 145 intersection is “in a really good, visible spot. I’m excited to get to do it this year.”

For the you-pick, “I want it to be a good experience for everyone.”

So, to keep the picking days from getting overcrowded, she will have ticketed sales through her website — tuliplaneflowerfarm.com — available in 30- to 60-minute slots.

“As long as those don’t sell out, I’ll do walk-ins for those driving by,” she said.

Through her website is a sign-up list for emailed weekly updates about the tulips’ growth and a notice for when they’re ready. She will also post updates on Facebook and Instagram — @tuliplaneflowerfarm.com.

“I’ve never done this before, so it’ll be a completely new experience,” Thodoropoulos said. “Just because of how they grow and the weather, it may be two days prior when I can let everyone know they’re ready.”