Tip Toe In The Texas Tulips
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NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW) - In Texas, it's not spring till you see blue bonnets - but one family hopes to change that.
Petra and Pieter Koeman are originally from the Netherlands. They moved to Pilot Point, an hour north of Dallas, just a couple of months ago.
The Koeman's know a thing or two about tulips. Their family is in the tulip bulb business for over 40-years in the Netherlands.
But it wasn't just the tulips that brought them here. "When we were young, we looked at a television series Dallas," says Peiter Koeman in English with a thick Dutch accent. "It inspired us to go to Texas. It was a dream," he told CBS 11 News.
The brains behind the tulips and Texas is Peiter's sister Cora. She was the one who found the place two years ago on a visit to her favorite American home - The South Fork Ranch. She urged his brother to move here. "I said maybe this is the place we have to start a new company," Cora said.
It was not easy to leave a 40 year old tulip bulb business back in the Netherlands. But after their father's death, the family decided they had to do something different. So, they decided to move to the city of their dreams - Dallas
"I love America," Pieter said, looking at his Tulip fields. "And now we are Texans. It feels like home."
In their new home, they also want to share old traditions and memories. "When I was young, I had such good memories of walking with my daddy," Cora said. "It is such a peaceful experience."
So far the visitors seems to agree. Stephanie Godek was picking tulips with her little daughter.
"If someone who knows how to grow tulips, it's someone from the Netherlands," she said.
Each tulip costs $2.50. However, strolling among the tulips is free.
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