Tulip Mania has reached Roleystone.
Spring has officially arrived at Araluen Botanic Park, with the opening of the 2026 Yates Springtime Tulip Festival bringing hundreds of thousands of colourful blooms to Roleystone.
City of Armadale Mayor Ruth Butterfield joined Araluen Botanic Park representatives, volunteers, sponsors, founding members, staff, fellow councillors and members of the local community on Friday 4 September to celebrate the start of another spring season at one of the Perth Hills’ best-known attractions.
Running until 18 October, this year’s festival features around 250,000 tulips and 50,000 other spring bulbs, including daffodils, hyacinths, irises, jonquils and liliums. Mayor Butterfield said the festival had become a much-loved spring tradition for visitors from across Perth and beyond.
“Araluen really is one of the jewels of the Perth Hills, and there is something very special about seeing the park come alive at this time of year,” Mayor Butterfield said.
“For so many people, a visit to Araluen and its tulips is part of spring in Western Australia, and we are incredibly fortunate to have this beautiful attraction right here in the City of Armadale.
“It also brings people into our region who can then stay a little longer, explore Roleystone, visit our local businesses and discover more of the Perth Hills and wider City.”
The festival continues a longstanding partnership between Araluen and Yates dating back to 1992, when Yates supplied 10,000 tulip bulbs for the first Yates Tulip Time event. More than three decades later, the relationship remains an important part of Araluen’s Spring story, alongside the work of the park’s staff, Foundation members and generations of volunteers who help bring the gardens to life.
Mayor Butterfield said the scale of work behind the annual display was easy to underestimate.
“What visitors see when they arrive is this incredible sea of colour, but behind that is months of planning, planting and care from a lot of people,” she said.
“The volunteers have always been such an important part of Araluen, and that connection between the park and the community is part of what makes this place so special.
“On behalf of the City, I want to thank the Araluen team, Foundation, volunteers, sponsors and partners who continue to care for the park and make this wonderful spring tradition possible.”
The commencement event was expanded by speeches from several other notable figures associated with the park, who discussed not just the story of Araluen’s tulips, but the fascinating wider history of the flower.
Believed to have originated in Central Asia, the plant was immensely prized in the Ottoman Empire. Originally reaching Europe in the Middle Ages, it became widely associated with the Dutch Tulip Mania of the 17th century, when one of the first investment bubbles formed around the plant, leading to massive prices, heavy investment and an eventual, brutal economic crash.
Nonetheless, tulips continue to captivate botanists, florists and general enthusiasts today.
Attendees were further educated on the subject through an enjoyable True or False game on tulip trivia, with some very fun and surprising answers.
The Yates Springtime Tulip Festival is open at Araluen Botanic Park, 362 Croyden Road, Roleystone, from 4 September to 18 October 2026. Visitors are encouraged to make a day of their trip and explore the wider Roleystone and Perth Hills Armadale region while in the area.
