Tulips Extravaganza at Garvan Woodland Gardens will have a different look this year.
The botanical garden is taking its lead from Mother Nature by focusing on the total solar eclipse on April 8.
"We've done some new landscaping in certain areas of the garden, so we're planting around those landscape areas," said Minnie Hahn, senior design and display manager.
"And our theme, of course, this year is surrounding the eclipse, so we've got some themed areas where our colors and shapes that we're using are reminiscent of either the moon or the sun and moon to give us that geometry," she said.
While there will be some areas with the traditional designs and colors, there will be some areas with a new look.
"We have some areas of the garden where instead of doing the traditional swoops we've had before, we have some more geometric patterns that we're using and sort of those repeated shapes," Hahn said.
"That's the difference in there, and then the color scheme -- we've got our multihued mix that we typically have as far as the range of colors for the tulips, but we have some themed areas. The idea that we were going off of for the design was that we have areas that are high impact and high contrast, so that we're really pulling off of that kind of juxtaposition of the sun and the moon and kind of the idea of that light and darkness."
Hahn did note that peak will be a bit different this year as well -- thanks in part to the winter weather last month.
"We're still looking at peak being toward the tail end of March, beginning of April," she said.
"We did have some delays with weather, and what we're noticing -- and what we're going to see -- is that we'll still have our tulips at the typical time in mid-March from the ones that we planted before the bad weather hit, and then we'll have a little bit of a, I wouldn't say a gap, but there'll be more spread out. So we're still going to have peak, but it may not be the peak that we originally intended because we had that two-week gap for the weather reasons."
The botanical garden plants new bulbs each year to ensure the best blooms around the same time of year, Hahn said.
"We do plant them strategically to try and get as much color as we can at one time, instead of spacing them out so that they have a longer bloom season," she said. "We still get a lot of color. It still is going to be pretty spectacular, and I'm looking forward to seeing how the weather impacted the performance of the tulips because it's been so wet."
While the garden will be open normally on the days leading up to and immediately after the eclipse, they are limiting tickets April 3-10, much like they do for Holiday Lights each year.
"What we're doing is the same as what we do with Holiday Lights, where it's a limited number of tickets per day, just so that we can preserve the guest experience during those times," Hahn said.
"So that we can control crowds and make sure that we're not overrun, and that we don't have people who are waiting in line to be able to get into the gardens. So that was the intent of that. So instead of just doing the general admission tickets, where it's come on any day, it's more of a timed ticketing, but it's the day."
On April 8, Garvan Woodland Gardens will be hosting a special event for the eclipse with a limited number of tickets available.
"The day of the eclipse, we do have a special day planned for our guests," Hahn said. "We've got a limited number of tickets that we're selling so that we can maximize the guest experience as well as make sure everybody has a parking space and that everyone is safe and that we have a great time during this once-in-a-lifetime event."
While details are being finalized for the event, Hahn said there are plans for food trucks and fun things for kids and adults.
"We're planning on having some kids' activity stations, some activities for adults as well, such as musicians," she said. "We've got some treasure hunts and some fun things like that are planned throughout the day. So we're trying to really make it a place that people don't just feel like they're confined because they can't leave because traffic is bad, but that they're able to enjoy their experience, as well."
Tickets for the eclipse event must be purchased in advance, and all guests are required to have a ticket. No reciprocal admissions or memberships will be accepted on April 8.
The garden will be open on April 8 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., but the gates will be closed to all guests at noon, its website said.
