Brights of Spring

Nashville's Cheekwood in Bloom festival welcomes new growth in Technicolor style

- by BETSY WATSON photographs by ROBBIE CAPONETTO

MUSIC CITY is known for its storied venues and constant rotation of live performances. But come early March, you’ll find that the real show is happening on the outskirts of town, where there is nary a rhinestone or guitar in sight. At historic Cheekwood Estate & Gardens, thousands of bulbs—including tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths—erupt into dazzling color each spring, drenching the grounds in a rainbow of happy hues and beckoning flower lovers to marvel at the annual Cheekwood in Bloom festival. “They're the reliable harbingers of the season,” says Peter Grimaldi, the property’s vice president of gardens and facilities and the man behind the blossoming magic. “When plants start flowering and waking up in everyone else’s yard, they're waking up here too.”

SEASONAL SPECTACULAR See Cheekwood in Bloom from March 8 through April 13.

Of course, the sheer volume of bulbs emerging from their long winter’s naps at this 55-acre 1929 estate would be next to impossible to replicate at home. The Bradford Robertson Color Garden- the centerpiece of the seasonal display- holds the majority of the tulips here, but add in the rest of the property, plus the daffodils and hyacinths popping up in other beds, and you’re looking at a living collection of over 250,000 spring-flowering bulbs. “Things go from being pretty to artful and impressive when you push them over the top, and we do a lot of that,” says Grimaldi. “Are you bold enough? Do you have the courage to organize 100,000 tulips? We say yes.”