Blooming love means ‘Wicked Tulips’ for Rhode Island

By Kelcy Dolan
Posted 4/21/16

Having grown up working on his family’s 150-acre tulip farm in Holland, Jeroen Koeman was used to the beautiful rolling landscapes filled with flowers. He also took joy in seeing tourists smile, …

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Blooming love means ‘Wicked Tulips’ for Rhode Island

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Having grown up working on his family’s 150-acre tulip farm in Holland, Jeroen Koeman was used to the beautiful rolling landscapes filled with flowers. He also took joy in seeing tourists smile, the excitement and happiness they had in visiting the tulip farm.

Now, he and his wife, as well as business partner Keriann Koeman hope to see similar smiles in Rhode Island with their newest venture, Wicked Tulips.

The youngest of four boys in the Koburg BV farm in Holland, Jeroen temporarily swore off tulips when he went off to university for an international degree. He was quickly pulled back into the world of farming when he took a job on the west coast with a Dutch American company as a grower. Despite not having a degree in the subject, Jeroen was hired on his name alone. Koeman is well known among the flower-growing industry.

From there he would move to Virginia, where he would answer a Craigslist advertisement for an open room listed by Keriann. The two met several times to see if they would be a good fit for roommates, but inevitably decided, after developing a fancy for one another, it would be a better idea to date.

Within the year the couple married in September 2009. About five months into their relationship Jeroen took Keriann to Holland, visiting his family’s tulip farm.

“Jeroen told me I could pick as many flowers as I wanted. By the end I had this huge bouquet in my arms,” Keriann recalled. “It was such an amazing feeling. You feel like a kid again. It’s this new experience with a sense of discovery. We wanted to bring that happiness to people.”

While living in Virginia the two began discussing starting their own tulip business and Keriann insisted they try and do so as greenly as possible, sticking to organic farming.

Growing up in Massachusetts, Keriann’s family had spent many a summer camping across the country. Because of this Keriann developed an appreciation for nature with a desire to preserve it.

“Coming from a commercial farm I thought organic was just for hippies. I was skeptical it could be done,” Jeroen said.

“It was important to me that we be as organic as possible. I didn’t want pesticides in my flowers,” Keriann said.

Then the couple found another farm in Holland that was running organically without pesticides. To Jeroen’s surprise the flowers looked the same quality if not better than commercially grown.

The couple married Jeroen’s passion and know how for tulips and Keriann environmentally conscious aspirations to establish EcoTulips, which sold organically grown flower bulbs. The flowers are bee-, bird- and butterfly-friendly.

Keriann explained that many people question why there is a worry with pesticides in flowers; after all, they aren’t typically for consumption, but the overuse of pesticides is a systemic issue in that those chemicals remain in the soil it will affect the animal life interacting with the area and “one way or another, it comes back to you.”

Pesticides are slightly poisonous to necessary pollinators such as bees, butterflies and birds.

“It’s a lot like fast food,” Jeroen said. “It’s not bad here and there, but if that’s all you have it can be toxic. Over time that’s detrimental and its weakening these animals’ population. Their immune systems can become compromised.”

Keriann and Jeroen understand that it is a big undertaking for a farm to go organic and it’s not something everyone can do, especially those with large commercial plots, but for their own farm it was important to be sustainable.

Jeroen’s family, initially skeptical of the viability of organic farming, has now instituted more environmentally conscious initiatives. The farm even belongs to NLG Holland, a coalition of farms trying to improve environmentally-conscious practices.

“My whole mindset on the issue changed completely. Once your eyes are opened you can’t go back. There are just better ways for the environment. It’s incredible we have had a part in changing the industry,” Jeroen said.

For several years, the couple ran their business in Virginia, both holding other full-time jobs, offering organic pollinator friendly products, hosting U-pick events to bring awareness to the issue.

Then in the fall of 2014, the Koemans experienced a “deersaster.” The natural food source for deer had been depleted that year, and the animals ate the Koemans’ entire crop of tulips.

Although they were devastated, the couple had to reimagine where they expected this business to go only to realize they wanted to take it on full time.

The following summer they went on the “Tour de Tulips,” selling their products at farmers and garden markets from Virginia to Maine.

In August of 2015 Keriann and Joeman moved to Rhode Island to begin their full time venture, Wicked Tulips in Johnston. They lease farmland in Snake Den State Park from the Rhode Island Department of Agriculture, which is managed by the Northern Rhode Island Conservation District.

Last fall the couple planted 250,000 tulip bulbs of nearly 70 different varieties, all of which is expected to bloom at the end of April. They are inviting the public to a U-Pick event throughout the end of April and into May for their first ever season.

Keriann and Jeroen expect their tulips to prosper here in New England, because this climate, of cold winters and warm summers, is similar to that of Central Asia where tulips are originally from. Over time they believe that Wick Tulips crops may be even better than some of those in Holland, which is known worldwide for their tulip production.

Even in their first year, still waiting for their tulips to bloom, Wicked Tulips has seen “overwhelming support” from the local and state community.

Keriann said, “So many people just want to be a part of this; they want to see us be successful. It has been surprisingly wonderful here.”

Wicked Tulips Flower Farm’s U-Pick event, which will feature 2.5 acres filled with nearly 70 varieties of tulips, is expected to start in late April and run through May, weather depending.

The field will be open 7 days a week. On Monday, Tuesday and Thursday the U-Pick fields will be open from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. On Wednesday and Friday the fields will be open from 10 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. On Saturday and Sunday the farm is open from 9 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. Although tickets can be purchased at the door or online during the week, the weekends are already seeing so much traffic that tickets must be purchased online before hand.

Tickets will be on sale one week before opening day.

The entrance fee is $2.50 for children 4 to 16, newborns to 3 years olds get in for free, and 17 and older costs $5. These visitors may pick their own tulip for $1 a stem. Group rates are available.

For more information on the official opening, check ticket availability and on Wicked Tulips itself visit www.wickedtulips.com and the Bloom Report or call 400-2806.

Wicked Tulips will also feature bulbs for all their varieties on preorder during the U-Pick event andon their website www.ecotulips.com.

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