By Lisa Barton
Directors at Thanksgiving Point Gardens are welcoming spring with the first annual Tulip Festival this Thursday through Saturday.
The festival will feature 15 themed gardens with a wide array of alliums, daffodils and of course, over a hundred different kinds of tulips.
??Exciting? is an understatement,? said Tracy Erdmann, director of the gardens. ?Words cannot express the beauty, its music, its food, its atmosphere.?
The seasonal nature of the event is one of the best features, Erdmann said. With a quarter-million bulbs blooming periodically, it is impossible to see the same garden twice.
?It?s like seeing time-lapse photography in real life,? he said.
The motivation behind the gardens came from Thanksgiving Point co-founders Alan and Karen Ashton who altered their land in Lehi from their family?s animal farm to flower and vegetable gardens.
?Each time we get an idea there are some other things that complement that idea, so it grows,? Alan Ashton wrote on the company Web site. ?It”s exciting for us to think about the beautiful things that will gladden the heart and enliven the mind.?
Todd Maurer, director of communications called the gardens the ?best kept secret? in the Wasatch front area.
?Thanksgiving Point is the cultural gathering place for the community, promoting renewal of mind and spirit in a beautiful and family friendly-setting,? he said in a press release.
A number of events will be taking place throughout the festival.
Thanksgiving Point garden experts will give free instructional lectures to the public, including stained glass demonstrations provided by the Art Institute at Thanksgiving Point.
Musicians and storytellers from the Utah Storytellers Guild will participate in the festival as well.
Saturday only will feature a butterfly release in the Secret Garden.
The goal is to make the public aware of the beauty that exists in their community, Erdmann said.
?If you miss this,” he said, “shame on you.?
