Tasmanian growers looking to fill gaps from tulip shortage

Tulip bulb sellers are grappling with a product shortage, but say there is no need to panic.

Stoneman's Garden Centre owner Graham Stoneman said his business had been getting fewer stocks of tulip bulbs than usual.

“We’ve been told that there’s a shortage from the supplier, which is why we haven’t been able to land the stock that we normally get,” Mr Stoneman said.

“It’s a very seasonal product, so whilst it can have some impact on customers, it’s a relatively small number of people buying tulip bulbs.”

Van Dieman Bulbs and Table Cape Tulip Farm owner Dave Roberts-Thompson said the shortage was limited to Australia.

“Tulips are slow multipliers and they’re difficult to grow,” Mr Roberts-Thompson said.

“Difficulties with quarantine and bringing bulbs into the country mean it’s a very challenging crop to start.”

Mr Roberts-Thompson said they were aiming to make the most of the tulip bulbs they had.

“We’ve still got bulbs available for sale for gardeners.

“We’re trying to increase the area that we are growing into to help fill those gaps.”

At the Table Cape Tulip Farm, Mr Roberts-Thompson said the shortage was unlikely to affect the public display.

“We are always growing our own seed stock.

“Getting seed stock into the country is a challenging thing to do, but what we’ve had to do is try to improve the amount of seed stock in Australia.”

Despite the challenges, Mr Roberts-Thompson said Tasmania was still the best place in Australia to grow tulips.

“We expect there to be a shortage for around another year or two.

“But there is us and other growers that are filling the gap.”