TULIP TIME IN WASHINGTON

We spent the end of last week visiting friends in Bellingham, WA. Getting to know Betty's 1st grade classmate and her hubby has been fun. One of our excursions was to enjoy the local Tulip Festival by visiting the renowned fields of an emigrant from Holland, William Roozen, who has made thousands of acres in the Skagit Valley bloom with scores of kinds of tulips and related bulb plants.
The fields and grounds of the Washington Bulb Company are truly stunning when in full bloom. All the varieties are on display, and visitors - by the hundreds while we were there on a Friday - can order their favorites to be delivered ready to plant in the fall. After seeing so many instant favorites, that's what we did, and the bulbs we selected are going to arrive in early September.

All across the yards and gardens are scores of beds of dozens of kinds and colors of tulips of multiple varieties. In fact the numbers of different shapes and designs of the tulips surprised me even more than the amazing range of colors and color-blends. On this sunny day, one of the interesting effects was seeing the glow and iridescence of sunlight shining through the tulip petals. Various vending stations allowed visitors to purchase cut flowers, bulbs to plant in the fall, tulip related products of many artistic sorts, potted flowers, and gardening supplies. The store with many more products was so full of folk that shopping there was out of the question.
With bed after bed of tulips everywhere to enjoy, and a large crowd everywhere to contend with while we viewed and visited, I actually was so busy and intrigued that I did not take as many photos as I should have or could have. Still, I think the samples shown here are a nice representation of the showing and sufficiently explain why thousands of visitors from the entire Seattle to Vancouver B.C. corridor were expected over the weekend.
Here are the three of our crowd with the signature Dutch Windmill behind them. Even in the yard areas shaped flower beds with fascinating assortments of colors continued to capture the attention in every direction. Outside the display area and across the surrounding fields could be seen acres of reds and lavenders, yellows, and purples which must represent tens of thousands of bulbs in bloom nearly as far as the eye could see.
Next year I will be more interested in visiting similar farms in the Woodville, WA, and Wilsonville, OR, areas. If you like flowers in massive display, come along with us. Remember to bring your camera.