Every Friday night in the 1980s, Pieter Koeman and his sisters would pile onto the couch, eyes glued to the family TV as the Dallas theme song blared. Watching from the Netherlands, the teenagers were mesmerized by the sprawling Southfork Ranch, the glamorous cocktail parties, and the exploits of oil baron J.R. Ewing.
Thirty years later, the magnetic pull of the nighttime soap was still strong enough to lure Koeman to Texas. But instead of staking a claim in the oil business, he and his family started Texas Tulips, the largest pick-your-own tulip farm in the state.
Now in their 13th season, the Koemans expect to have more than one million tulips blooming across 12 acres on their farm in Pilot Point, about 50 miles north of Dallas.
Koeman says he can’t pinpoint the allure of Dallas, but he remembers thinking as a kid, I want to go there. After extensive research and a handful of visits, the Koemans decided that North Texas, naturally, would be the best location for their new venture. The leap of faith allowed the fourth-generation tulip farmer to create a new business model as a destination farm, using bulbs from his homeland.
“In the Netherlands, we sold to wholesalers, and here we sell to (individual) customers, which is a whole different story,” Koeman says. “It’s a more personal experience.”
Although the tulip farm is a year-round effort, it is only open to the public during blooming season, a six-week window starting in mid-to-late February and normally ending in late March. Upon entry, visitors are provided flower gathering baskets and are allowed to wander through the fields, picking tulips from 100 varieties of all different shapes and a rainbow of colors to create their own bouquets.
“You can’t buy a lot of these in the grocery store,” Koeman says, explaining that some varieties don’t grow well in greenhouses, which is where box store bouquets originate.
After guests have gathered their blooms, they take them to a wrap station where staff coats the stems in protective gel, provides care instructions, and wraps the flowers in colorful tissue paper. Koeman says he sometimes jumps in to wrap tulips himself so he can interact with customers and see which varieties are most popular.
“Sometimes we have varieties that have been popular, really good for picking in the past, and then for some reason they’re not,” he says. “It’s like a style change.”
Tulips must be planted annually in December, and Koeman strives for a myriad of bloomers throughout the season to ensure that guests are always greeted with waves of color. He also chooses varieties that are best suited for the sometimes surprisingly warm winter temperatures in Texas.
Koeman estimates tens of thousands of guests visit the farm every year with many families making it an annual tradition.
“The first year we were open we had a proposal, and that couple still comes in,” he says. “They now have a family and still visit regularly. It’s pretty neat.”
Friends Claudia Saenz and Laura Ponce, both of Dallas, visited the farm for the first time this year to celebrate Saenz’s birthday.
“It was very cute and fun,” Saenz says. “[My bouquet] is very colorful. I tried to get at least one of every color. It’s just very bright.”
Ponce, who favored pink and orange blooms, says they took lots of photos and plan to come back in the future.
This is what’s most rewarding for Koeman: seeing guests smile and share a happy experience with their loved ones. The rugged farmer may not be living the glamorous, salacious life of the Ewings, but he found his own Texas tea: tulips.
