Time to stop and smell the flowers in Pella

Pella’s annual tulip festival begins today, and there’ll actually be lots of tulips to see this year. Warm weather has played havoc in recent years with the annual festival honoring the town’s Dutch heritage. Warm conditions caused the tulips to bloom early and in some cases drop their petals before the big show. Iris VanderWal of the Pella Historical Society says it looks like they’ve solved that problem.They moved the event from the second to the first week in May, and she says the 100-thousand plus tulip tops look great. A highlight of the event this year is the opening of an authentic 1850 Dutch grain-grinding windmill.It’s the tallest working windmill in the United States, and is part of the historical village that also includes a cafe, hotel and canal. There are plenty of other things to see too.There are parades every afternoon and evening, with stage shows, street scrubbing, dancing and historical tours. VanderWal says they’re expecting about as many visitors as they have tulips for this year’s three-day event — around 100-thousand.