It may not feel like it now, but in a handful of weeks, Pella’s favorite flowers will be out of the ground and providing their annual color show across the community.

Assistant Director of Pella Historical Museums Jessi Vos says the most requested phone call they receive in late winter through the end of March is “When will the tulips be in perfect bloom?” — one without a clear answer each year.

However, Vos says generally speaking, depending on how harsh winter was and what March is like, the peak bloom for tulips in south central Iowa tends to be late April into mid May, which is in part why the annual festival falls around that time of the year. A warmer trend has that happening earlier, while a cool month of March — as is the case so far in 2023, tends to push that timeline back a bit.

Both Pella Historical Society and the City of Pella will provide regular updates between now and Tulip Time about the more than 300,000 flowers planted annually across the community.