Despite the rain, diggers tip-toed through the tulips at Floriade and got their hands dirty to take part in a special tradition.
Tilda Flanagan, a three-year-old from Holder, went bottoms up with her mum Jocelyn, joining hundreds of gardening enthusiasts.
Carrying spades and gloves, keen gardeners streamed into Commonwealth Park, to take home a piece of Floriade.
They definitely got their money's worth of bulbs, filling their bags with flamboyant bulbs. Gardeners said they won't be planting them straight away, Ms Flanagan will store them in a refrigerator over the summer to mimic the cold period tulips require.
Without a winter or an artificial cooling period, the tulips might regrow some stunted foliage, but they won't bloom.
"I'll plant them in the garden in late winter or early spring next year," Ms Flanagan said.
"Once they bloom, they go dormant over the summer so you have to keep them in a cool place and then you can keep them for years," she said
To take home some of Floriade's beauty, gardeners had to buy a Floral Floral Wonderland Great Big Bulb Dig bag.
They were allowed to bring shovels, garden forks and secateurs but not wheelbarrows, buckets, trailers or the like. And the bulbs could only go in the official bag - no extra plastic bags.
For just $15, Korbin Gentles from the Central Coast collected two bags of bulbs. Participants were encouraged to buy the bags beforehand to avoid long queues on the day.
ACT executive branch manager Ross Triffett said 433,000 people attended Floriade this year - 5500 more than last year.
"It's certainly becoming a popular annual event. And it's a great way for the community to be able to access the bulbs and take some of Floriade home with them," he said.
Last year Floriade raised over $72,000 for local charities. Mr Ross said they were expecting to exceed that number this year.
All funds raised from the sale of the Great Big Bulb Dig bags go to the two charities selected by Floriade's presenting partner, Synergy Group.
This year Bulb Dig bag sales will support Roundabout Canberra and the Indigenous Marathon Foundation.
