Free Admission to Berkshire Botanical Garden's Annual Bulb Show

STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — A springtime tradition continues at Berkshire Botanical Garden from Feb. 20 through about March 20, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with The Bulb Show. Step inside the Fitzpatrick Conservatory, and you’ll find a bright, fragrant retreat from winter’s chill. Hundreds of bulbs fill the space, from beloved tulips, daffodils and grape hyacinths to more unusual varieties that surprise and delight.

Pink hyacinths in terracotta pots line a greenhouse bench inside the Fitzpatrick Conservatory at Berkshire Botanical Garden in Stockbridge, Mass., during the winter Bulb Show. — Pink hyacinths bloom in neat rows inside the Fitzpatrick Conservatory during the annual Bulb Show at Berkshire Botanical Garden in Stockbridge, offering a fragrant escape from winter; submitted photo.

The Bulb Show, a tribute to beauty, renewal and the quiet rhythm of the seasons, is free and open to everyone.

Eric Ruquist, BBG’s director of horticulture, calls the Bulb Show the Garden’s annual “gift to the community,” a blend of artistry and horticultural craft.

Visitors feel the same sense of generosity.

Rows of potted spring bulbs and green plants sit beneath arched greenhouse windows at Berkshire Botanical Garden in Stockbridge, Mass., with bare trees visible outside. — Sunlight filters through the greenhouse glass as spring bulbs and potted plants fill the Fitzpatrick Conservatory, part of Berkshire Botanical Garden’s popular late-winter Bulb Show; submitted photo.

“Thank you for this gift in the dead of winter,” wrote one visitor, Barbara McMahon of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., in the Bulb Show guest book last year.

Creating this burst of color begins quietly in late summer, when our horticulture staff selects and orders the season’s bulbs. Planting begins in the fall in the Lexan Greenhouse — tulips first, then daffodils and finally the smaller bulbs that round out the collection.

From there, the bulbs spend weeks in cool rooms beneath the Center House, where temperatures remain close to 42°F to simulate winter. Tulips need about 15 weeks of chilling, daffodils 12, and grape hyacinths 10. Staggered planting ensures a steady succession of blooms throughout the month-long show.

As their chilling period ends, the bulbs move back to the Lexan Greenhouse to “wake up.” Over several weeks, they send up shoots, leaf out and eventually burst into color. Before they’re displayed in the Fitzpatrick Conservatory, each pot is topped with moss, pine needles or nut shells, and the display team adds finishing touches, including succulents, branches, even small stumps, to create depth and contrast.

When the show opens, the conservatory becomes a bright, fragrant haven. Its intimate scale invites visitors to lean in close for a fully immersive, “face-in-flowers” moment.

The 2026 Bulb Show is sponsored by Webster Landscape.