Tulips, Luxury, and Learning to Receive Beauty
- Dawn Dillman Morrissey
- Jan 2
- 5 min read
2025 marks the first year I have ever grown tulips — intentionally, thoughtfully, and with my whole heart.
For most of my life, tulips felt like a flower meant for someone else. Too luxurious. Too singular. Too fleeting to justify the expense. Tulips aren’t edible. They don’t reliably return year after year. And in coastal climates like San Francisco, they require extra effort just to perform well.
We don’t freeze here. Tulips need winter.
Without a proper cold period, tulips grown in Zone 10b bloom when stems are only a few inches tall — technically flowers, but not the long-stemmed, breathtaking blooms most of us imagine. Growing them here means purchasing pre-cooled bulbs, or chilling them yourself for weeks to simulate a winter that never comes.
For 46 years, I hadn’t grown a single tulip.
I told myself they were frivolous. A diminishing return. A luxury with no practical value.
I can see now that belief wasn’t really about tulips at all.
The First Tulips — and the Moment Everything Shifted
Last year, I planted just a few hundred tulips in bulb crates on my patio roof garden in San Francisco. It wasn’t a full commitment — it was a trial. A quiet experiment to see how tulips might perform in a coastal, non-freeze climate, grown entirely in containers.
I wasn’t prepared for what happened next.
The production.
The strength of the stems.
The scent.
The way the blooms unfolded slowly and held their form.
The glory of those first tulips genuinely moved me.
They weren’t fragile or fleeting in the way I had assumed. They were resilient, expressive, and surprisingly generous. That small planting — a few hundred bulbs in crates on a rooftop — changed everything.
It’s what gave me the confidence to expand this season, planting thousands of tulips across my home garden in Noe Valley and into Sonoma at @manzanitawinery, and to begin treating tulips not as a luxury experiment, but as a meaningful part of my floral practice.
When Beauty Feels Undeserved
I am incredibly hard on myself. That’s not a confession — it’s a truth I’m only just learning to name. For much of my life, I lived inside a mindset that said beauty was optional, indulgent, or something to be earned only after usefulness was proven. I believed nourishment should be practical. That effort should result in productivity. That fleeting beauty didn’t deserve much space.
Then came Eco Event Planners — my urban flower farm and floral design studio in Noe Valley, San Francisco — and with it, a slow unraveling of those beliefs.
Some of you may know me from years past, from California’s first You-Pick Sunflower Field, or from Sacramento Event Planners, the award-winning sustainable event management company I founded in 2008. What many people don’t know is that I grew up growing food and cooking with my mom, who nurtured my love of gardening from childhood.
That love led me to study Environmental Horticulture and Nutrition & Dietetics. I thought I would become a dietitian, but hospital work was never quite the right fit. So much of health — food, mindset, rhythm — is inaccessible when people are already deeply ill.
Over the last few years, especially through my daughter Scarlett’s long hospitalization and recovery after TMA following bone marrow transplant, I came to understand something quietly but profoundly:
Healing doesn’t always look productive.
Sometimes it looks like beauty, gently received.
Tulips arrived in my life at exactly that moment.
Growing Tulips in San Francisco: What Actually Works
In 2025, I expanded production — from a few hundred bulbs on a rooftop to thousands of tulips planted in containers, raised beds, and trial zones across San Francisco and Sonoma.
What I learned quickly is this:
Tulips in coastal California want protection, not exposure.
They thrive with:
Pre-cooled bulbs
Excellent drainage
Bright light without all-day sun
Cooler soil temperatures
Shelter from wind and excessive heat
Cool soil extends bloom time.
Dappled light preserves color.
Shade lengthens their life.
Tulips don’t want to be rushed.
Tulip Varieties I Grew in 2025
I fell completely in love.
The first tulips to bloom — surprisingly early — were Mondial, a double white variety with an intoxicating, peony-like scent. Creamy petals brushed with green opened even before my daffodils, despite being classified as mid-season bloomers.
They were followed by:
Finola
La Belle Époque
Copper Image
Charming Beauty
Blue Wow
Fringed Perth
Of all of them, Mondial and Charming Beauty stole my heart. Both are double-blooming, lush, and deeply romantic. I expected Copper Image and La Belle Époque to be my favorites based on color alone, but the creamy soft scent of Mondial and the radiant white to pink abundance of Charming Beauty changed everything.
Finola, with its pale pink petals, is a true crowd-pleaser, though availability for 2026 appears limited. I’ll likely trial Foxtrot in its place, and I’m considering pairing Black Hero alongside Blue Wow for future seasons.
What I Recommend for Planting Tulips (Tools I Actually Use)
If you’re planting tulips — especially in containers or coastal climates — these are the products I genuinely rely on:
A professional-grade mix with excellent drainage. Tulips hate sitting wet, particularly in containers.
Low nitrogen, higher phosphorus to support strong root development without pushing weak foliage.
Essential for urban gardens — they protect bulbs from squirrels and raccoons without heavy fencing.
A great pair of garden gloves and sharp garden shears
Flexible gloves that don’t fatigue your hands, and clean cuts that reduce plant stress and disease.
Tulips dont need much space or deep soil. Plant in crates or cloth pots to easily grow, and harvest with ease.
Tulip Events in Northern California
For tulip enthusiasts, Northern California offers exciting events annually. Mark your calendars to experience these floral celebrations:
Crystal Hermitage: Beautiful garden with a Tulip Watch and while not formal- they do open for free visits during their season.
Filoli Gardens: Known for its breathtaking tulip displays, Filoli Gardens will host special tours and workshops on tulip care. This is perfect for aspiring gardeners looking to deepen their knowledge.
San Francisco Bulb Day: back in San Francisco on March 21, 2026. A colorful display of more than 80,000 tulips will cover Union Square in San Francisco. And you are invited to visit the square and pick your own bunch of tulips.
These events are not just opportunities to see stunning tulips, but they also offer a chance to connect with fellow gardening enthusiasts and gain valuable insights.
Looking Ahead to 2026
Tulips changed something in me.
They reminded me that not everything needs to last forever to be worth growing. That beauty doesn’t need justification. That receiving can be just as radical as producing.
As 2026 begins, my gardens — in San Francisco and Sonoma — are quiet. Everything important is happening underground.
And that feels exactly right.
— Dawn
Eco Event Planners