Inside Gigi's World

Bulb Show or Bust…

Photo by: Angela Tindell-Gula

Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts kicked off its 53rd bulb show on Saturday March 1st in the Botanic Garden’s Talcott Greenhouse. https://www.mtholyoke.edu/directory/departments-offices-centers/botanic-garden

Come and chase away the winter blues with a bright and fragrant touch of Spring with tulips, daffodils, freesia, hyacinths, and more. Running until March 16th and open daily from 10am-4pm, all visitors are welcome and admission is always free —although donations are accepted. 

Sunday, March 2, 2025

12:03 PM-Pulled up to the parking spaces in front of Mount Holyoke’s Botanic Garden where the scent of Spring wafts through the open vents, tricking the mind and making the frigid weather feel just a bit warmer. 

12:05 PM-Entered the Botanic Garden and made our way through the entrance room where there are small groups of people, happy and excited to be visiting the bulb show. There are people buying flowers, some are moving amongst one greenhouse to another, comments about how sweet the air smells and how warm the greenhouses are common topics amongst patrons. 

12:15 PM-We enter the Talcott Greenhouse and our eyes are assaulted with the tantalizing hues of violets, whites, yellow, pinks, reds, blues and oranges. There are a lot of people and the space is tight but everyone is more than happy to let others pass them or give the people in front of them the courtesy of the time they would like to observe the flowers for. Patience is in abundance here today, as well as smiles and manners. People have out their phones or cameras to take photos, you can hear the shutters closing. I overhear someone say, “they (the flowers) remind me of Easter eggs in pots.” 

12:40 PM-I stop to have a conversation with two of the Botanic Garden’s employees; Alison who has worked in the greenhouses for three years and Faye, a Biology and Environmental Science major who hopes to become a Horticultural Therapist after she completes school. Alison tells me the best part of the bulb show is seeing the people’s enjoyment.  “It is very nice. It can be very busy but everyone is happy to be here. They love flowers.” Faye also agrees, the best part about working in the greenhouses during the bulb show is the people, “The kids that come out, seeing them interact with the smells and colors that are new to them and seeing them light up. It is just really great.” 

12:50 PM-We make our way back into the Talcott Greenhouse to walk amongst the flowers one last time before we head out to the car. A woman comments that she remembers the greenhouse that houses the bulbs being much warmer last year —the bulbs and the flowers that are produced from them prefer cooler air flow, they can even survive a frost. Faye, the student I spoke with earlier, informs her that last year there were different flowers that needed a different temperature last year. 

1:02 PM-I touch the flowers as I make my way back towards the door. I inhale a few more deep breaths of the sickeningly sweet scents and hope that this touch of Spring is enough to hold me over until she finally arrives. I step outside as the bitter cold bites my nose and I realize as I make my way to my car, that sadly it won’t. It sure was nice while it lasted though.