This North Carolina Park Now Blooms With 10,000 Tulips From the Netherlands—What to Know

Hope is blooming again in Asheville, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene tore through the east coast last September, devastating the region. But now, nearly seven months later, a sea of 10,000 colorful tulips shipped from the Netherlands have sprung up in nearby Swannanoa’s Grovemont Park, which served as a mutual aid station during the recovery.

The community, located about 10 miles from Asheville, is still dealing with storm debris and damage, as well as housing insecurity and unemployment, spurred on by the natural disaster, according to Blue Ridge Public Radio.

So tulip wholesaler Marco Rozenbroek, who grew up in the Dutch town Anna Paulowna and has lived in Swannanoa for eight years, reached out to his friends at European flower bulb company DutchGrown, asking if they could assist with recovery effort. Instead of just sending a few boxes, they sent nearly 10,000 bulbs directly from the Netherlands, replacing the land that was covered in flood waters last fall with blooms of yellow, purple, pink, and white. 

“Flowers give hope,” Rozenbroek said in a release shared with Travel + Leisure. “Planting a bulb is believing in tomorrow.”

The homegrown project has been one of bonding for the community, which has worked together to map out the flower beds, including a heart-shaped one. It’s just one result of the Swannanoa Grassroots Alliance, which formed out of the devastation, bringing together resources and working together to strengthen the region.

“Living in Swannanoa is like living in two worlds,” local resident Clare Duplace told Blue Ridge Public Radio. “Every day you’re seeing the devastation … but then you come to a space like this and you see all these flowers and the rocks placed so beautifully and it makes this space feel like a coming home. It’s really beautiful.”

How to Travel to Asheville and Give Back
The area welcomes visitors looking to give back through voluntourism recovery projects, with PubCorps working on service projects in the Black Mountain area, while All Hands and Hearts has a call out with an urgent need for volunteers on the ground through this year. For those who would like to help Asheville’s recovery efforts from afar, Explore Asheville has set up the Always Asheville Fund.

Swannanoa isn’t the only Asheville community that’s finding renewal in the spring season.

As for recovery, more than 75 percent of the area’s hospitality businesses have reopened, meaning visitors can returning to cruising down the Blue Ridge Parkway’s 300 miles, including 11 miles in Asheville, as well as hiking more than 100 miles of trails in Pisgah National Forest and exploring the area’s biodiversity at WNC Nature Center.