Rachel Seymour/KANSAN

Tulips fill flower beds all over campus each spring, but their days are numbered. Landscape crews uproot them in April to make room for summer flowers. The leftover tulips are discarded and Facilities Operations crews purchase new bulbs in the fall when it’s time to plant them again.

The sweet smell of spring was uprooted last week by the landscapers from Facilities Operations. It happens every year at this time.

Tulips planted in front of Strong Hall in November are uprooted around the middle of April every year, said Mike F. Lang, project manager for Facilities Operations landscaping division. Lang said the plants don’t look as good if left in place year after year.

“The tulip is our spring perennial,” Lang said. “They are biannual plants that look good in the spring.”

A crew of four people is given the task of planting and uprooting the plants at the different times of the year.

Facilities Operations buys about 1,400 tulips every November, he said.

Each individual flower costs the University of Kansas about 19 cents, bringing the total per planting to $266 a year.

The red and yellow tulips are purchased from either local or national businesses, Landscaping purchases the flowers from the lowest bidder. This year’s tulips came from Burgundian, a national business out of New York.

All the tulips are shipped directly from the Netherlands, where they are grown.

When the plants are uprooted, they are thrown away, Lang said.

Some students and members of the community have expressed interest in the bulbs once the University is done, Lang said.

Others simply want the University to either sell the plants or find some other alternative for them.

“I’m a diver, and instead of throwing money away, get us a new pool,” said Casey Topol, Mamaroneck, N.Y., senior. “At least put something stationary in or something that will last.”

Although the flowers are thrown away, there is nothing landscaping can do, Lang said.

“I would be more than happy to give them away, but I can’t,” Lang said. “These flowers were purchased with state money, so I can’t give them away.”

“They don’t give any of us the authority to declare surplus,” said Steve Green, associate director of Facilities Operations management information. “We can’t declare the status of state property.”

Because the tulips are now gone for another year, the landscaping crew is concentrating on planting their summer flowers.

Petunias, begonias and other flowers will line the entrance to Strong Hall for the summer and most of the following fall semester.

Bulbs for those flowers can cost up to $3 apiece, Lang said.