Richardson Adventure Farm, McHenry, IL

The family used a motorized bulb planter from Holland and GPS to plant 300,000 tulip bulbs in various shapes, including a sunburst and color blocks, on 5 acres for a U-pick area.

The farm will be open every day from 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. through mid-May. Visitors will also find a barn gift shop with fudge, popcorn, and other snack delicacies, as well as a range of spring gift items, in addition to the tulips. Food trucks, beer, wine, and lakefront picnic tables are available, with live music performed on the weekends.

“We encourage people to take photos,” said George Richardson, who runs the farm with his wife Wendy, brother Robert, and sister-in-law Carol. Ryan, their son, is the sixth generation of the family to work the land.

The operation has developed from a tiny farm homesteaded in 1836 to two farmsteads and 544 acres of corn and soybeans, as well as specialty crops.

He added that “the buzz (about the tulip festival) has been pretty fantastic on social media, and there have been a lot of shares.”

For kids of age four and up, admission tickets can be purchased online or at the farm. Monday through Friday, tickets are $12, and Saturday and Sunday, they are $15. Sunflowers, a new bloom and a festival first, will be shown on the farm in late August. Visitors will be able to walk through 8 to 10 acres of sunflowers with walking routes. The gift shop will be open for business.

Visitors come to “the world’s largest corn maze” and a pumpkin farm in the fall, according to the Richardsons.

The 28-acre maze opens the weekend following Labor Day and runs until the first weekend in November. There are thousands of pumpkins, squash, and gourds to choose from. Visitors can wander into the fields and choose their own pumpkins or purchase one that has already been plucked.

For tree hunters, the heated barn gift shop is open with hot beverages, food treats, wreaths, garland, decorations, bows, and a variety of holiday gifts.