Getting the dirt down is a race before the ground begins to freeze, and while the gardeners enjoyed the unseasonable fall weather, the tulips enjoy the frigid cold.

“Everything is planted in the fall,” Jenna Commerford, an Albany City gardener, said. “Tulips need at least 120 days of those freezing temps in order to grow.”

This is the time the Tulip Fest truly comes to life, more than 6 months before the blooms begin.

Nearly a quarter of a million bulbs are laid down and it’s no easy feat.

This is Jolene Moore’s second year planting the tulips. Spectrum News 1 first spoke with her at this past year’s Tulip Fest. She’s already learned the ropes of the planting. She says this year she has some big designs up her sleeve.

“It’s actually going to look like a blood shot eyeball,” Moore said. “And then I did a tulip river with some mascari on the outside. And then over by Lancaster I did a snow globe.”

But there’s definitely some bumps along the way…

“The squirrels really gave us a run for our money last year,” Moore said. “Because it’s been so warm, Jenna had a good idea, and it’s actually working, to put garlic in the bed after we’re done planting because they don’t like the stinky smell of the garlic.”

They want to make sure every bulb is perfect, because this year’s a big one. The Mother’s Day tradition in the Capital Region is reaching 75 years of petals popping up in Washington Park.

To celebrate the big occasion, this year, they want neighbors to have a hand in the tradition.

“Anyone that comes up and asks a bunch of questions, I try to invite them to at least put one bulb down,” Commerford said.

It’s time for the bulbs to be covered up until their colors pop up for spring.  

“We call ourselves tulip fairy’s we’re going to be sprinkling tulips everywhere”

But these gardeners are already looking forward to 2024.“Once we transition into snow removal, in between all the snow removal, I’ll be trying to plan and pick out the tulips for 2024,” Commerford said.