- I'm not cut out to be a gardener.

(upbeat music) Welcome to another exciting episode of "Field Trip."

I'm Matt.

- And I'm Nicole.

Today, we are blooming with excitement here in Albany, New York, hanging out with some tulip experts as they gear up for the famous Tulip Festival.

- I can't wait.

Every spring, these gorgeous tulips take center stage to celebrate their stunning colors and beauty.

- And it's not just about the flowers, the festival brings the community together for an unforgettable celebration filled with history, tradition, art, food, and fun activities.

- And we'll be learning how to care for these vibrant blooms, dive into some tulip trivia, and explore the rich history behind the festival.

- Come along with us as we dig up some dirt and join us as we discover why tulips are the star of this show.

- First up, we're gonna be meeting with the city gardener, Jena, to get some in-depth understanding of the flower and some inside information on how they make this magical garden come to life every year.

- [Nicole] Hello!

- Oh my gosh.

(Nicole laughing) - Don't worry.

- My name is Jena DiTonno, and I'm the city gardener for the city of Albany and I'm responsible for a quarter of a million tulips.

We plant bulbs in the fall because the bulbs actually go through a biochemical process that basically breaks the carbohydrates and starches inside the bulbs down into a glucose.

And the glucose will act as an antifreeze to protect the bulbs so that they don't freeze if we have a really cold winter, granted, if we go super, super cold temps, nothing saving (laughs) anything.

So, the glucose protects those bulbs.

And then in the spring, the glucose will act as an energy source to give us the beautiful flowers that are slowly but surely growing right now.

And in about a couple more weeks, we'll see some blooms from that.

So, we're going to plant pansies into bare spaces where the tulip bulbs might have struggled.

These don't seem to look like they're going to come up in this one space, so we will add pansies.

They're another spring flower.

Are you ready?

You get your fingers kind of at the base of the two on the side, and you just start opening.

And you'll feel 'em kinda rip open.

It's okay.

- Oh my god.

- And then rip that in half.

(Matt laughs) (Jena chuckles) And then rip the other half.

- [Nicole] So much confidence.

- Yeah, I got one.

- All right, so now grab your trowel.

We hold it like we're in the horror movie.

(Jena chuckles) (suspicious music) All right?

Okay.

So, it's chop and drop.

See, chop and drop.

Chop, drop.

Chop, drop.

- Wow.

- Chop, drop.

- Oh, shoot.

- And then you can do one right there.

(Jena laughs) - Oh, gosh.

- What about right here?

- [Jena] Yep, (laughs) you're good.

You chop left-handed?

- Yeah.

- So, maybe I have to try left-handed.

Maybe- - Maybe I need a left hand chopper.

(Jena laughs) (Nicole laughs) - Look, my guys all ran away.

(laughs) Jose.

- I'm not cut out to be a gardener.

- Tulip trivia!

- Tulip trivia!

- Tulip- - Trivia!

- Do blue tulips exist?

- There are no blue tulips.

We have no blue tulips.

The color blue is actually really hard in nature to come by.

There's some blue, true blue flowers, but there are no blue tulips yet.

- What are some of the biggest issues you run into when you're trying to grow tulips?

- Squirrels.

(laughs) The squirrels.

- How many variety of tulips are there in the 2025 Albany Tulip Festival?

- I wanna say there's 135 different varieties of tulips this year.

Every year, the number changes.

I always try to find new varieties or something we haven't had in a couple years that people haven't seen.

- What is the origin of the Tulip Festival?

- After World War II, Nijmegen in the Netherlands was struggling, so there was a newspaper article put out by Mayor Corning looking for the citizens of Albany to help donate, to help rebuild Nijmegen.

So, we eventually got 300 tons of supplies and sent that over to the Netherlands for Nijmegen to rebuild, which is where our sister city relationship began.

Queen Wilhelmina sent tulips as a thank you.

So it was a rebuild of World War II.

- Tulip trivia!

- Tulip trivia!

- Tulip- - Trivia!

- Now that we've learned a bit about the gardens of Albany, it's time to dig a little deeper into the history.

- We're heading into the Albany Institute of History and Art, where we'll uncover the fascinating stories and historical significance of the tulips in this very community.

- Hi there, welcome to the Albany Institute!

- Thank you.

- Hi, thanks for having us.

- Oh, you're welcome.

More than happy to show you around.

- Great.

- Let's go.

- Let's go!

- Yes!

- It's very exciting to get back into storage, where no one ever goes.

I think this is one of the advertisements they put in the buses.

"Tidy Up for Tulip Time."

In the 1950s, you really wanted the residents of the city to follow the city ordinances for garbage removal, for tidying up your sidewalk, your front lawn.

So they issued this huge campaign called Tidy Up for Tulip Time.

And they put these posters all over the buses in town, other places so that everybody was really proud of the city.

When the thousands of people came for the festival, they wanted the city to look really at its best.

- Yeah.

- And that was whole the point of having this Tidy Up for Tulip Time.

- [Matt] They gotta bring those back.

- So, this is a scrapbook from 1959 to 1960.

So, this is the Kinder Kermis.

And that during the Tulip Festival, we had a festival just for children, a part of it called the Kinder Kermis, and this is the 1959.

An adult drew this drawing of what that looked like.

- [Nicole] Wow.

- [Diane] They got complete with the crown.

Yeah.

- Wow.

- Well, that first decade of the festival was really was about the tulips and about the queen and her court and all the duties that they performed.

So, one of the great things that Jena and the team from the city gave us was some of the original plans for, like, the planting the maps.

So, this is from 2014, and you can see here, stick figure Moses, right?

So you can recognize the four beds around Moses and all the different tulips they just had to plant there in 2014.

We're in a lot of ways Albany's attic.

- Okay.

- You know?

So we can tell the history of Albany from the 17th century to the present day with the kinds of things that we've been collecting.

This is a way of compactly storing stuff so we fit more things into storage.

So, we're gonna show you the box of artifacts associated with when the Tulip Festival really first began.

"Help Nijmegen, April 13th.

Why Nijmegen?

Albany adopts Nijmegen."

Newspapers are sometimes the most fragile things because of the kinds of paper they're printed on.

- [Nicole] Underwear, socks, stockings, rain clothes, good work clothes, sheets and pillows.

- [Matt] Old typewriters.

- [Nicole] Licensed oil and sponges, old bicycles, workman tools, carpenter tools, garage tools.

(Nicole gasps) - [Diane] Here they are.

- [Nicole] Wow!

- So, this brass and copper one is the original one from 1949.

So, it looks like the tulips are kind of dancing around it with their leaves holding hands.

- [Nicole] Oh, my goodness, it's so heavy!

- [Diane] Could you imagine wearing that all day?

- [Nicole] No.

No, I could not imagine wearing a crown all day.

- This was in service from 1949 to about 1959.

They found out this three-pound crown, which is too heavy for the queens to wear, impacted their balance and poise.

So, they retired the crown and they created a new one, which is the silver version here, which I don't think is as nice, but we're happy to survive.

(Matt speaking faintly) - [Diane] Yeah, don't tip it over.

(chuckles) (Diane laughs) It suits you.

Probably fit, actually.

- Yeah.

(relaxing music) - What a fantastic field trip it's been to take a behind the scenes look at the Tulip Festival and delve into its fascinating origin story.

- [Nicole] It's truly heartwarming to see how something as simple as a flower can connect people across the globe.

- So, whether you're a longtime tulip lover or visiting for the first time, remember, this festival isn't just about the flowers, it's a celebration of our community and the rich history we share.

- [Nicole] And if you find yourself in Albany during the spring, definitely check out the festival and the beautiful gardens.

- [Matt] Plus, we hope you picked up some great tulip tips too.

- Thank you for joining us on this episode of "Field Trip."

- Visit wmht.org/fieldtrip.

And remember, let us know where you think we should go next.

We should go next!

- Every spring, these gorgeous tulips take center stage to celebrate their stunning colors and beauty.

- Sorry.

(chuckles) I just stopped talking.

(both laugh) What is the origin of the Tulip Festival?

- Whoa, I didn't know that.

- Why are there tulips in Albany?

- No way!

Where is Nijmegen?

(laughs) - You gotta be kidding me!