As a full time horticultural and agricultural business there is always something happening at Table Cape. Whilst the most visually stunning time is in spring, there is still activity at all times of the year. Go to Spring Time at Table Cape to learn more about what happens during that magical time of year.

Other seasonal happenings at the farm may include;

Summer:The farm starts to dry out, so irrigation begins. We harvest our tulips and Dutch iris ready to grade and send. Lilium and Dutch iris flowers are often for sale at Table Cape and sent across Australia. We are also harvesting poppies and starting to harvest onions. The Liliums are flowering, but they don’t last long because we cut the flowers off to encourage the bulb to grow larger. Our Spring flowering bulbs mail order catalogue is posted to all those on our mailing list.

Autumn: Come and visit in March and April to buy Spring bulbs straight from the farm. We are busy packing and sending out bulbs from our Spring flowering online store and mail order catalogue. We’ve just got those out, when it’s time to post the Summer flowering catalogue. Our Dutch iris are planted in March and tulip planting is in April/May. Onions are harvested. Lilies are slowly dying back, getting ready for harvest. We plant out our own gardens with daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, anemones, freesias, and ranunculus.

Winter: Cool conditions on the farm make it time to lift the liliums from the ground – so we cross our fingers for enough dry days in a row! Summer flowering bulbs are for sale at the farm, and are being sent all over the country to those that have ordered. The sheep on the farm are lambing and the daffodils in the garden are starting to bloom. Tulips are just starting to poke their noses through the ground. We will plant our gardens with Oriental, Asiatic, LA, OT, Longiflorum Lillies as well as Gladioli and Zantedeschia.

Spring: This is the most exciting season on the farm. Tulips are flowering and thousands of people are tip toeing in the fields and admiring the gardens. Pots of bulbs and flowers are available from the farm. Later the Dutch Iris are flowering. And to really fill our days, the liliums are being planted. In 2013 the Tulip Farm Open Days will run from 28th September until 18th October.

The Table Cape Lighthouse Experience runs from mid September until winter closure around mid April.

The optimal time to visit Table Cape Farm and see the vistas of tulip flowers in bloom is late September until mid October.

In 2014 the Tulip Farm Open Days will run from 27th September until 17th October. The tulip festival day will be the 11th October this year.

At other times of year, visitors can still enjoy the diversity of Table Cape through the seasons. The visitor centre and farm gate shop is open during bulb sale seasons, but closed on weekends and public holidays. Spring flowering bulbs can be purchased direct from the shop from March to early May, and summer flowering bulbs from mid July - late October

As well as a warm welcome, you will also find information on our business, advice on bulb culture, an art gallery, and our gift and souvenir range.

Our business, Van Diemen Quality Bulbs, operates from Table Cape Farm, which is situated in a truly iconic location on the North West coast of Tasmania. Table Cape is an extinct volcanic vent dominating the coastline close to the town of Wynyard. Its 180m cliffs drop away into Bass Strait and Table Cape Farm is perched on the top. Our cool, mild climate is ideal for growing bulbs. It is easily accessible to the visitor, being only 5 minutes drive from the Burnie/Wynyard airport, which has a number of daily flights to and from Melbourne, one hour by car from Devonport, the home port for the Spirit of Tasmania ferry and Qantas airport, two hours from Launceston, where there are several options for discounted flights, and four hours from Hobart.

There is a proud heritage of agriculture and horticulture at the Table Cape Farm. Our family (the Roberts-Thomson`s) settled on the Cape in 1910 and over subsequent generations have cleared the land, and stud farmed cattle and sheep.

We continue to be significant vegetable and crop producers. In 1984, Paul & Bronwen Roberts-Thomson imported their first tulip bulbs from Holland and since then Van Diemen Quality Bulbs has continued to expand and are now one of the major producers of not only tulip bulbs, but also dutch iris and liliums.

We really enjoy giving people the opportunity to grow these amazing plants and our hands-on experience and expertise puts us in the ideal position to nurture and encourage you to become successful bulb growers in your own right.

Fabellata Pumila - Aquilegia