This past weekend Susan and I returned to the Skagit Valley to once again witness the absolute wonder of the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival.

We returned to our favorite location, Roozengaarde, a family business founded by patriarch William Roozen who, in 1947, emigrated from Holland and created a home of many tulips.

Three years after arriving in America, William Roozen (whose name literally translates to “roses” in Dutch) went off on his own, ultimately purchasing the Washington Bulb Company and growing it (literally) into what it is today.

The Roozen family started growing tulips in the mid 1700’s.  Today, the company, run by Roozen’s children, grows over 350 acres of tulips, 500 acres of daffodils and 150 acres of iris and has become the largest tulip grower in the US. They even own the web domain, tulips.com. So, they are pretty serious!

Roozengaarde opens its gardens every spring as part of the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. (And, an insider tip:  Roozengaarde’s website posts a “Bloom Map” each spring showing the optimal times to visit when most bulbs are in bloom.) When you enter Roozengaarde, you can make your way back to the fields of tulips and daffodils, which is what Susan and I like to do, saving the specialty gardens for last.

The fields are huge, featuring varying types of tulips.Acres and acres of color surround you.

You can walk past, around and next to tulips, just do not walk in between the rows!.

That does not stop some people from stepping into the field for a quick pic.

The fields also offered me the opportunity to be a little artsy.

Just before you reach the specialty gardens, there is a small garden featuring an alphabetical representation of the various tulips grown by Roozengaarde.

Then you enter the main gardens which burst with color.

The specialty gardens are amazing – giving viewers wonderful ideas about how to mix colors and textures.

And of course, photos of my muse.

 

Parking is free and admission is $5.00 per person. So, really, you have no excuse to not allow yourself the pleasure of seeing this incredible display of beauty.

Directions from Seattle:  Take I-5 North towards Mount Vernon. Take exit 226. Take a left onto  E. Kincaid Street and then a right onto S. 3rd Street. S. 3rd Street will turn left into W. Division Street (WA-536). Turn left off of WA-536 on S. Wall Street and take an immediate right onto McClean Road. Take McClean Road to Beaver Marsh Road. Turn left onto Beaver Marsh Road. Roozengaarde’s parking will be on your right. Roozengaarde is on your left at 15867 Beaver Marsh Road.