‘Wicked’: What Happened to the 9 Million Tulips Planted for the Film?

variety.com:

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Sweet Oz! “Wicked” fans now have a chance to visit Munchkinland. Well, sort of. When Jon M. Chu was making the big-screen adaptation of the Broadway musical, practical sets were a must. “Wicked’s” grand production shot in 17 stages and on four backlots, two of which were the size of four American football fields.

Among the sets was Munchkinland’s Munchkin Village, which was nestled among a field of tulips. And because everything was real, nine million tulips were needed.

Initially, production designer Nathan Crowley was met with a little pushback and was questioned on why he wouldn’t use visual effects for the tulips.

Crowley insisted on aligning with Chu’s vision of doing everything on camera. “I said, ’I have to do this, and you have to go with me,'” Crowley tells Variety. “And they did.’” Crowley’s next challenge was pulling it off. “I said to Adam [Richards], my location manager and said, ‘We’re going to grow tulips, and we have to learn about tulip farming.’” They found a tulip farmer, Mark Eves in Norfolk, England, who offered to help plant and grow the bulbs — all nine million.