The interesting history behind Michigan Avenue's tulips — and how to get your hands on the bulbs

Editor's note: This story originally published in 2017.

Washington, D.C., has cherry blossoms. California has its "super bloom." Chicago has tulips. A lot of tulips.

Each year in late October or early November, tens of thousands of tulip bulbs are planted in the Michigan Avenue medians from Oak Street to Roosevelt Road.

In early April, flowers start opening up, one at a time, until eventually the planters resemble an Art Institute-worthy van Gogh masterpiece.

"Tulips have a mind of their own, but ideally the landscapers are ahead of the game," said John Chikow, president and CEO of The Magnificent Mile Association.

In fact, the behind-the-scenes logistics — and historical tidbits — are almost as intriguing as this year's 110,000 flowers themselves.

The Michigan Avenue median planter boxes were installed 24 years ago. In 2015 the Chicago Department of Transportation took over the contract from the Michigan Avenue Streetscape Association.

CDOT staff members select the tulip varieties planted each year, and the bulbs are ordered from Holland, according to Transportation Department spokesman Mike Claffey. This year's selection features three pinkish tulips, a red, a yellow and one with two-toned petals — salmon colored on the outside, orange on the inside.

"All of this stuff is done so far in advance," Chikow said. "The tulips that you're seeing now, that plan was adapted as much as nine months ago."

After the bulbs are planted in the fall, sod is placed on top to protect them from the ice-melting chemicals used on the streets during winter. CDOT employs members of A Safe Haven's job training program to plant the bulbs and take care of general maintenance on the medians throughout the year.

The bloom period is designed so that tulips start poking up in early April and complete their blooms by mid-May.

"This year it got a little warm, so the tulips started to come through the sod before it was taken off. Mother Nature always likes to play with us," Chikow said.

Such as in 2012, when the NATO conference was in town after a warm winter. The tulips bloomed and died before the conference even started.

"We literally had to bring in new plants to supplement," Chikow said. When asked if it was worth the trouble, he said it was: "The mayor got some very nice compliments from the delegations that came and saw the flowers."

The year 2010 was another memorable one for tulip buffs. The Streetscape Association worked with a Dutch breeder to get a beautiful fuchsia tulip — technically a lily hybrid — named after the then-mayor's wife, Maggie Daley. She was battling cancer at the time and had walked down the aisle with tulips on her wedding day, so the sentiment was twofold.

Before Memorial Day, this year's tulips will be removed from the planters to make way for the summer displays, which will stay through Labor Day, when autumn displays are installed.

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It wasn't until recently that the Mag Mile commercial property owners — which are responsible for the sidewalk planters in front of their buildings — took it upon themselves to get creative during winter as well.

"Owners take great pride in making sure the experience is what it is. ... All of that attention to detail is one of the things that makes the Magnificent Mile so magnificent," Chikow said.

And what happens to all the magnificent tulip bulbs when they're pulled?

CDOT typically participates in a bulb giveaway in conjunction with the Garfield Park Conservatory. The 2019 Annual Tulip Bulb Giveaway will take place on Saturday, May 19.

Until then, flower fans can soak in the last days of beautiful blossoms up and down Michigan Avenue. Take that, super bloom.

rstevenson@chicagotribune.com

@RandiStevenson

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