Paul Tesselaar’s grandparents fled Europe on the brink of war to seek greener pastures and found fertile ground in the Dandenongs, where a vivid harvest has brought joy for generations.
As a child, Paul Tesselaar remembers getting paid a couple of dollars a day each spring to put on clogs and pose for photos with tourists at his family’s tulip farm.
The origins of the festival date back to 1954, when Paul’s grandparents, Cees and Johanna Tesselaar, first opened their farm to the public after people kept jumping the fence to admire the fields of colourful flowers. With an interest in the tulips, they wanted to find a place with good conditions to grow the Dutch floral icon and chose to settle in Melbourne after reading that bulbs were exported there.Silvan, on the eastern side of Mount Dandenong, appealed because of its cooler climate and higher rainfall than areas closer to Melbourne. The rich, volcanic topsoil provided the final ingredients and the family business was born.
The Tesselaar tulip business split among the family a generation ago, with Paul eventually taking over the online ordering business and the annual festival.
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