Tiptoe through the tulips… Before time runs out

Tulip season is wrapping up for a local farm. As CTV Windsor’s Chris Campbell says, there’s still time to get a photo.

Tulip season is coming to a close at Hat Trick Farms, a family-run operation near Blenheim that’s become a springtime destination for visitors across southwestern Ontario.

“We’ve got a couple days left in the season. It’s been a shorter season than usual this spring,” said Lynne Warriner, who runs the farm with her brothers Nick and Paul.

“It all depends on the weather every year and usually we hope for three weeks. But we’re getting two this year.”

The third annual tulip experience at the Warriner family farm wraps up Friday, and visitors are required to book their visit online in advance. No walk-in tickets are available.

Hat Trick Farms spans about three acres of tulips, with roughly 200,000 to 250,000 bulbs planted. Guests can stroll through the colourful rows, snap photos, and even cut a bouquet to take home.

“There’s a little bit for everybody here,” said P. Warriner.

“Some are coming to cut specifically. They want to take their nice fresh cut bouquet home. Some are coming for their beautiful pictures that they get for their social media and the Instagram. Some are just out, like we get a lot of people coming to take their family photos in the field. And then for most of it, it’s just a day out and just kind of spend some time out with a little bit of nature and enjoy some sunlight and beautiful scenery.”

The Warriners are fourth-generation farmers who grow corn, soybeans, and wheat, along with specialty crops like maple syrup, winterberries, and tulips.

“We’ve done winterberries here at the farm for about 10 years now, and that’s a very late season crop. That’s late in November and December, which really ends out the cropping season,” said P. Warriner

“And tulips would be about the earliest thing that you’re going to get to bloom around our area here in southwestern Ontario. So, we thought, what better way to start the season with something beautiful like this and then end the season with our winterberry season.”

He said opening the farm to guests in the spring is a way to share the joy of the season.

“Being in agriculture, you’re always excited to come out of the winter and the buds are coming out and you get everything greening up in the spring,” P. Warriner explained.

“So just if we can share a little bit of what we see around the farm when things come into bloom in the spring and share that with the other people, to have them to our farm, to experience that too. It’s just great.”

Nick Warriner said the event draws people from across the region.

“We’ve had a pretty good response locally here from Chatham-Kent residents. But we get people from Windsor, Sarnia, London, Kitchener, really all over southwestern Ontario,” he said.

On a recent visit, Rini Joseph and Bijo Shaji made the trip from Sarnia after hearing about the farm from a friend.

“This is the first time we’re visiting here. And this the first time, in Canada, we are visiting the tulip farm,” said Joseph.

“It’s really beautiful because, actually, our origin is from India, but we haven’t had this kind of farm back in India. So, this is really pretty and really beautiful.”

Shaji added that it’s a nice way to spend a day.

“And it’s a nice experience here, and they’re maintaining well. And it’s really beautiful,” said Shaji.

Tourism Chatham-Kent said the tulip farm has become a valuable seasonal draw for the area.

“Hat Trick Farms is one of our rare gems in Chatham-Kent,” said Shannon Paiva with municipal tourism development.

“We started working with them a few years ago and have really built up a great experience with Hat Trick, when it comes to not just tiptoeing through the tulips, but also an actual immersive experience.”

Paiva said the farm helps fuel a broader tourism economy.

“We know that when people are traveling, they’re looking for a few hours to do something,” she said.

“They’re going to come out to Hat Trick, take advantage of their beautiful field, their beautiful farm, and amazing customer experience. But then they’re also going to perhaps stop by some of the boutique shops that are nearby. They’re going to take advantage of the restaurants that are nearby. Maybe they’ll stop by a brewery. Maybe they’ll even turn it into an overnight.”

For the Warriner family, hosting visitors is as much about sharing as it is about showcasing what they grow.

“We relate this to basically opening up our family room for someone to come and visit and just to see the people when they walk away and just the looks on their faces and the appreciation that they show to what we have here, to me, that’s what makes it worthwhile,” P. Warriner said.

While the tulips may be fading soon, the memories and photos taken here will stick around. And the family is already looking ahead to next season.

“It’s a team first mentality that we have here,” said N. Warriner.

“And we take that into everything we do.”