Tulip delivery in Washington: the capital's spring, from cherry blossom to the first tulips
In Washington, spring is the year's main stage. When the cherry trees bloom around the Tidal Basin and half the city turns out for the National Cherry Blossom Festival, it's clear the capital has woken up. Tulips follow, rising in the beds from the Capitol grounds to the U.S. Botanic Garden. They're the most spring-like flower there is: simple, bright and genuinely cheerful.
This category covers tulips as single-color bunches, mixed spring bouquets with daffodils, ranunculus or hyacinth, and larger arrangements for Easter and Mother's Day. Unlike peonies, tulips are available almost the whole year thanks to forced bulbs — but spring is when the color and the variety are at their best.
Where Washington's tulips come from
Most cut tulips reaching Washington are grown from forced bulbs — either imported from the Netherlands or raised domestically. Spring brings the widest field-grown selection.
- Year-round — Dutch forced tulips, the steady backbone of supply.
- March–May — Pacific Northwest field tulips from Washington State's Skagit Valley and Oregon, at peak color and value.
- Types — single tulips (the classic cup), double tulips (peony-like and full), French tulips (tall, elegant, long-stemmed), parrot tulips (fringed and feathered), and lily-flowered tulips with pointed petals.
Color and character
Tulips come in a huge palette, and each shade carries its own message. Yellows and oranges are sunny and friendly — easy for a colleague or a friend. Whites and lilacs are calm and a touch more formal. Reds lean toward a declaration; pinks toward tenderness. A smart move is to build the bouquet in a single color family — it reads richer than a mixed armful, and it suits a sober Capitol Hill office as well as a kitchen in Petworth.
Double and parrot tulips feel lush and expressive, while the long French tulips bring a graphic, modern elegance that works in a Georgetown town house as well as on the windowsill of a new Navy Yard apartment.
"Tulips are the flower people buy for no reason at all — just because the sun finally came out. In Washington everything revolves around the cherry blossom, but the moment it's gone people want to keep spring at home — and that first bunch of tulips on the table does more for someone's mood than almost anything else I sell."
— Elena Cho, florist, 9 years in the trade, Washington
Care: the tulip's quirks
Tulips keep growing after they're cut and bend toward the light, so they curve and shift in the vase — that's normal, and part of their charm. Stand them in cool, shallow water and keep them away from heat; warmth makes them open and flop faster. Washington's cool spring actually works in their favor.
Cut the stems straight across rather than at a sharp angle, change the water often, and keep them away from the fruit bowl — ethylene from apples and bananas shortens their life. If they start to droop, a snug wrap in paper and an hour standing in deep cool water will usually firm them up again.
Delivery and occasions in Washington
We deliver tulips across Washington — Georgetown, Dupont Circle, Capitol Hill, Logan Circle, Shaw, Adams Morgan, Foggy Bottom, Penn Quarter, Navy Yard, Petworth, Columbia Heights and Kalorama — in US dollars ($, USD). They're a natural fit for Easter, Mother's Day, a housewarming, or simply to brighten an ordinary midweek day. Because they're cheerful rather than formal, tulips make an easy gift that rarely feels like too much.
Spring is the peak, so order a few days ahead around Easter and Mother's Day. The florist will pick firm, still-closed buds so they last longer for the recipient — and the bouquet will keep changing shape for days as the stems reach for the light. Message our team to match colors and type to your occasion in Washington.
