NJ Tulip Farms and Tulip Festivals: 12 Tips You Need to Know 2024

Pack gardening shears

Pack gardening shears. It seems so obvious, right? But in your excitement to get to a tulip festival to see all the beautiful tulips you may forget about needing garden shears. You may think, I don’t need them. I’m just going to look around.

No, buy the gardening shears. You are going to find the tulips at tulip festivals so pretty you are going to want to bring them home. You and the kids are going to want the experience of picking tulips. You can only do that if you have gardening shears. Get the kids a set and you a set.

Ripping the tulip stems out of the ground will only damage them and shorten their life span. You can’t dig the tulips up, because tulip farmers need those tulip bulbs to grow and rebloom the following year.

The tulip festivals will not have shears you can borrow. At the ones, we’ve been to there aren’t even any gardening sheers to buy.

I like these gardening shears on Amazon.

• 8″ Professional Sharp Bypass Pruning Shears
• 3 Pack Garden Pruning Shears
• Sitajie Pruning Shears with gardening glove

Bring along a filled tall wide-mouthed water bottle

You’ve picked your tulips, now what? How are you going to keep them hydrated until you get home?

There aren’t a lot of tulip farms or festivals in New Jersey. If you’re like us you will likely drive over an hour to get to one. It’s totally worth it. That being said, you need a way to keep your tulips in water until you get back home.

Pack a tall wide-mouthed water bottle or small jug to serve as a temporary vase while your tulips are in transit. Bring along a few if you plan to really pick a lot of tulips.

Tulip stems are long and somewhat thick, yet fragile. The opening of a traditional water bottle will only be able to accommodate one or two tulips. The length of an 8 once water bottle will not be long enough for full length tulips.

Whatever you use make sure it’s filled and that you have a lid to contain the water while traveling to the tulip farm. There likely will not be water at the tulip farm to fill up your temporary vase.

I discovered these travel collapsible vases on Amazon.

• Wentworth collapsible unbreakable vases
• Collapsible and expandable vase with water beads

Bring a bag to carry purchases

Bring bags. First, you’ll want to be able to pack your temporary vases into a bag to help minimize their movement on the car ride home.

Secondly, some tulip farms in NJ and elsewhere have pop up shops for gifts and souvenirs. They may not have bags for customers. The ones we visited didn’t. Plus, it’s always better for the environment when we bring reusable bags.

Grab a stool or cushion to sit on for pictures

Next to picking tulips to bring home, taking pictures among the tulips is one of the best things to do during tulip festivals. Tulips tend to grow anywhere from 12-18 inches in height. They are too short to stand with and too tall to sit on the ground next to them. We also don’t recommend sitting on the ground as the dirt between rows of tulips tends to be muddy.

Instead, bring a small stool or cute cushion you can sit on. Place your stool safely between the rows of tulips so as not to cause them damage. Then, as you sit down you’ll truly look as if you are sitting among the tulips.

Here are a few stools on Amazon that are easy to travel with.

• Folding Step Stool
• Portable Folding Stool
• Collapsible Portable Retractable Folding Stool

Coordinate what you’ll wear

You can’t visit a tulip festival without taking pictures! I mean there are just so many tulips you won’t be able to resist filling your camera roll and Instagram feed with adorable pictures of your family with the tulips.

Tulip festivals present tulips in an array of colors, patterns, and designs. If you’ve never visited a tulip farm before you will be amazed at the variety. For picture taking, it’s best to wear solid colors. Tops or shirts with plaid, stripes, dots, or other busy patterns will clash with the stunning tulips you’re taking pictures with.

Not only are their fields of tulips, but the best tulip farms have props in the fields for posing with. Be on the lookout for bikes, wheelbarrows, carts, and other items to pose with.

Special note: If you plan to visit a tulip festival with a regular photographer or hold a photo session please check with the tulip farm first. Most have a policy for how they handle photoshoots or professional photography.

Pack your patience

It’s the time of the Instagrammers, TikTokcers, and other influencers. They’ll be with you at the tulip festivals. The beauty of a field of tulips is hard to resist. Try to be patient. If they are at a photo prop you’d like to use, see if there’s another you can use. Then, go back to that one. Or give them some space and time to take their pictures. If their time seems to be excessive, say 15 minutes, politely ask if they can take a break so you can get in a few pictures.

Come up with a plan with your kids

Will you let the kids pick tulips? How many? Who will use the gardening shears? Will you buy food from the food truck? Will the kids get to shop for a souvenir? Do you want them to take pictures with the tulips?

Come up with a plan ahead of time to maximize your time and theirs at tulip festivals. It’s much more enjoyable if your child knows they can pick 5 tulips versus them nagging you repeatedly if they can pick out tulips.

Think about whether you are comfortable allowing your child to use the garden shears. If you have multiple kids, what’s the plan for them taking turns using the shears. If each child is picking tulips, come prepared with a vase for each one so there’s no fighting over who gets to hold the tulips.

Attend early in the season if you are bringing home flowers

Sadly, tulips have a short life span. When picked at the optimal time you could get a few weeks from your tulips. If you’re visiting tulip festivals in order to bring some home, visit early in the season. You’ll have a greater selection of tulips and they’ll also be in better shape.

Avoid windy days

Tulips don’t like windy days. They droop, they sway. For the best picking and photo experience at tulip festivals avoid windy days.

Wear comfortable closed toe shoes (shoes won’t be in picture & grounds are muddy)

Wear your rainy day shoes. Wear the shoes you don’t mind getting muddy. The grounds at tulip farms tend to be muddy and messy. It’s not a big deal if you’re prepared. Photoshoots at tulip farms don’t require your best shoes. Your shoes will probably not even make it into the picture. So wear the shoes that will help you have an enjoyable experience. You don’t want to cut your visit to the tulip farm short just because someone stepped in a puddle.

Check rules for outside food & plan accordingly

If you plan to visit a tulip festival on a sunny spring day and stay for a picnic, find out ahead of time what their rules are for food. Are you allowed to bring in outside food? Is there a food concession stand? Will there be food trucks? If they sell food, can they accommodate any special food needs you or your children have?

In our experience, it was pretty common to see some food and drinks available. While my kids had lots of yummy options of streusel, chocolate cupcakes, and eclairs, there were not any gluten-free options. Had I known I would have packed a snack for myself.

You also need to factor in lines. With tulips fields stretched out as far as you can see, most tulip festivals can accommodate hundreds of visitors at one time. The concession stands can not. If you’re allowed to bring in food and water, pack a small snack or drink, just in case you find the lines to be a bit too much.

One more tip for visiting tulip festivals, check the current rules

By the time tulip farms were allowed to have visitors in 2020, the tulip season was almost over. Some tulip farms that opened were forced to close again when the crowds became too large and the lines too long. With a full tulip season, I think it will be a much better season for our tulip farmers.

That doesn’t mean you should visit a tulip farm without doing your research first. Check ahead to see how they are welcoming guests this year.

• Will you be able to walk through the tulip farm or will it be a drive thru tulip festival?
• Will you be able to just show up or do you need to buy a ticket ahead of time? Do you buy tickets through their site or a third party site?
• Will you need to wear masks? Will you need to complete a health screening?
• What happens when weather conditions are poor?

Where can I pick tulips in New Jersey? Where is there a Tulip Farm NJ?

Between March and May, you can pick tulips at nearly any gardening store and some roadside farms. It’s just not the same as picking tulips from a field yourself though. Here are a few tulip farms NJ and festivals in New Jersey.

Tulip Picking at Holland Ridge Farms in the Cream Ridge section of Upper Freehold, Monmouth County, NJ

Holland Ridge Farms claims to be the largest tulip festival on the East Coast and the largest you-pick-flower farm in the country. It just might be. Located in Upper Freehold, Holland Ridge Farms has millions of tulips for picking, more than ever before. Pick as many as you like for a $1 per tulip.

Holland Ridge Farms is a family-owned Dutch tulip grower and flower farm. They will open for pick your own tulips on April 5, 2024. General Admission Tickets go on sale towards the end of March and the beginning of April. All ticket sales will be done online at hollandridgefarms.com.

All guests age 3 and up require a ticket. Infants 2 and under FREE. For 2024, Holland Ridge Farms will be offering 8 EIGHT time slots each day. General admission begins at $15 per person.