The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival organization puts together a map each year that directs you to the best fields. Depending on what is in bloom, the map is editable. While these fields can be a useful guide to finding the “best” fields, they can also vary from year to year and may be influenced by weather and bloom seasons.
At the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, the following are some of the best fields to visit:
It’s essential to prepare ahead and make a reservation for one of these fields because I doubt any other ones will be available without them.
Tulips are in bloom in Skagit Valley?
MOUNT VERON, Washington The Skagit Valley is once again covered with stunning fields of vibrant tulips and daffodils, signaling the arrival of spring in western Washington.
After the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival went virtual in 2020 due to the COVID-19 epidemic, this is the second year that guests are let back onto the fields for the festival.
The festival attracts visitors from all 50 states as well as more than 85 other nations in a “typical year,” according to the festival website.
You should be aware of the following before attending the annual event:
The tulips are missing from Mount Vernon.
The event, which is held every year throughout the month of April and occasionally, if you’re lucky, even into May, is sponsored by two of the valley’s biggest tulip growers: Roozengarde and Tulip Town. Garden Rosalyn is a brand-new addition to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival gardens for 2022!
Fun Fact: More tulip, iris, and daffodil bulbs are produced in Skagit County than in any other area in the United States.
The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival takes place in 2022 between March 25 and May 1 at Roozengarde, between April 130 and both Tulip Town and Garden Rosalyn. Having said that, the flowers are reliant on Mother Nature, so they might blossom at any point in April. If the blossoms occur early in 2022, the tulip festival may potentially get underway before April.
The Best Time to Visit the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival in 2022
The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival is held in Roozengarde between March 25 and May 1, 2022, and at Tulip Town and Garden Rosalyn between April 1 and 30, 2022, thus the best time to go would undoubtedly be in April.
The tulips were still stunning when we went in the last week of April in 2019, but my coworker said that the best time to go is in the middle of April when they will be at their best. However, keep in mind that these projections are just loose and heavily influenced by the weather.
You might even be able to see the daffodils in bloom if you go earlier in the month, in early April. They often bloom a little sooner than tulips, but sadly we missed seeing those.
ADVICE: If you have the chance to visit during the week, take it! There are fewer people and fewer crowds, and entrance to the display gardens is less expensive.
It is still possible to visit on the weekend, but you should arrive as early as you can to avoid traffic and congestion. When we got there around 10 o’clock, most of the tulip fields were deserted.
Fun Fact: If you leave the tulips blooming past their peak for too long, it ruins the bulbs. That’s why you might see cut stems in the fields if you’re visiting later in the season.
The tulips normally have passed their full bloom stage by the time you visit too late in the season and will soon be wilting. Read about our trip to the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm in May to see for yourself what happens if you visit tulip farms too late in the season, as I did.
Tulips normally bloom around April, though depending on the weather, they can begin as early as March and last as late as May.
How to Get to Skagit Valley Tulip Festival
When we went, we arrived early in the morning by a flight from San Francisco to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), rented a car, and then proceeded directly up to the Skagit Valley.
The distance is about 75 miles and the travel time via Interstate 5 North from the Seattle airport. It is approximately about 60 miles and a one-hour drive away from Seattle.
Without taking into account crossing the border (because, let’s face it, nobody really knows how long it will take), the trip from Vancouver to the tulip festival is south on Interstate 5 and should take about 1 hour and 45 minutes for a distance of 135 kilometres.
We encountered traffic on the way back into the city, making the trip home 2 hours long. You’ve been forewarned in writing about that weekend traffic!
ADVICE: If traffic is heavy, take exit 221 off I-5 North at Highway 534 in Conway to avoid it when entering the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. Then take Fir Island Road to the west and ascend Best Road to reach the tulips.
What types of flowers can be seen at the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival? Where can I see all of these flowers in the Skagit Valley?
Obviously, tulips! Otherwise, why are you going to the tulip festival? The majority of the tulip fields around Mount Vernon, Washington, are owned by Roozengarde and Tulip Town. Outside of the actual fields, each company has a display of its own.
Display gardens at Roozengarde are more akin to Keukenhof in the Netherlands. They spend a great deal of time and energy developing their floral arrangements. You’ll find well-kept, orderly-planted, and manicured gardens here. Tulips of various varieties, planted in various patterns around trees, as well as windmills used as decorations, may be seen. In the back of the property, however, there are also the customary rows of tulip fields.
ADVICE: At Roozengarde, pay your admission with cash! You might be able to move through the line more quickly. For the year 2021, all tickets must be ordered online and in advance due to regulations governing public health and safety.
Fun Fact: The crops get rotated annually. Because of this, the tulip fields will be different every year.
The tulip fields in Tulip Town are more open and come in a variety of colors. In addition, they provide tractor van rides, and kids were flying kites on the grassy area. By the entrance, there is a fantastic interior exhibit that details the development of tulip farming in the Netherlands.
The only restrooms available at Roozengarde and Tulip Town are portable toilets. You’ll need to travel into town if you’re looking for genuine restrooms.
Fun Fact: There are many varieties of tulips that are planted each year. Some variations bloom earlier or later than others, depending on when you visit you may be seeing different flowers.
Contrary to popular assumption, the fields don’t only have tulips; some of them also have daffodils. But to do that, you’ll need to go in March, early in the season. Additionally, there is the La Conner Daffodil Festival, which lasts the entire month of March.
The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival’s interactive map of various fields owned by various farmers is one of its outstanding features. You can usually identify which fields are about to bloom, in bloom, or past bloom from the map. The pre- and post-bloom fields are typically portrayed in gray, while the in-bloom fields are typically displayed in color.
View the Skagit Valley live bloom map in the section below! Daffodils and tulips are both represented by the flower emblems.
PRO TIP: When they are in bloom, you can easily find both types of flowers nearby because the map covers tulip and daffodil fields.
Where in Skagit Valley might I see daffodils?
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Know where to find the daffodils in Skagit Valley.
There aren’t any daffodil fields or display gardens at Roozengaarde or Tulip Town to stroll through, unlike the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival.
What you can do is stroll up to a field filled with Skagit Valley daffodils or observe the fields on the side of the road!
Respect the grower by keeping your distance from the field (no more than around a foot) and refraining from trampling any daffodils, not even for Instagram.
What city hosts the top tulip festival?
The Dutchest place on Earth is Holland, Michigan. The city, which is on Lake Michigan and is approximately a 3-hour drive from Detroit, annually hosts one of the biggest and most well-known tulip festivals in the country. Five million blossoming tulips that were planted by the Parks and Recreation Department all throughout the city are blooming during the eight-day festival known as Tulip Time, which also includes parades, concerts, art installations, and traditional Dutch dance performances.
What To Eat
Enjoy traditional Dutch foods like saucijzenbroodjes, or Dutch pigs in a blanket, and buttery krakelingen, which are sweets filled with almond paste. Both are offered by the nearby DeBoer Bakery.
Pro Tip
The busiest times of the week are usually the weekends. If you intend to travel at that time, make sure to reserve your lodging well in advance. See this article for additional details and advice.
Where is the biggest tulip festival in the world?
- The Canadian Tulip Festival, which bills itself as the biggest tulip festival in the world, is a significant occasion celebrated in May in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The Dutch Royal Family sought sanctuary in Canada during World War II. The Canadian government proclaimed the area extraterritorial after Princess Margriet of the Netherlands was born there in 1943. To guarantee that the princess would only have Dutch citizenship, this was done. Since her death, Queen Juliana and the royal family have given tulip bulbs every year during the celebration.
Where in Holland are the tulip fields?
The Noordoostpolder in the Flevoland province is where the majority of tulip farms are found in The Netherlands. Another wonderful place to see these lovely flowers is in the flower bulb fields along the coast from The Hague and Leiden up to Alkmaar in the north. The largest flower show in the world, the Keukenhof, is only 15 minutes from Leiden and 30 minutes from Amsterdam. It is known for its abundance of tulips. The largest flower auction in the world, FloraHolland, is at Aalsmeer, which is only 30 minutes by vehicle from Amsterdam.
Are the daffodils in Skagit Valley in bloom?
The annual Daffodil Festival, which takes place in March, is now officially hosted by the town of La Conner since 2015. Daffodils bloom in Skagit County fields one month before the more well-known tulips. Tulip crops are rotated annually, whereas daffodil crops are grown on a three-year cycle. The daffodil fields you will see in bloom have been there for three years.
In terms of flower festivals in the Pacific Northwest, the La Conner Daffodil Festival is a relative newcomer. In Pierce County, the long-running Daffodil Parade first took place in 1934. In 1984, the renowned Skagit Valley Tulip Festival got its start. Each year, April is when both of these activities take place. However, if you take a trip up to the Skagit Valley in northern Washington in March, you can view some of the beautiful yellow narcissus blossoms, sometimes known as daffodils, that cover over 500 acres (about 100 more than tulips!).
Don’t forget to get a bouquet of flowers from the local Kiwanis in La Conner. Dutch Master (the most popular variety in the world), Flower Carpet, and Standard Value are the three main narcissus kinds that flourish in Skagit Valley. Crop rotation for daffodils occurs every three years (in contrast to an every-year rotation for tulips). Daffodil plants are three years old, which is why you see them every year.
Where do tulips grow in the state of Washington?
Such tulips are worthy of more than a tiptoe. They deserve a rhapsody in the colors of red, yellow, purple, and pink or any other magnificent and glorious musical gesture.
As they parade in row after row of exquisite color toward a crescendo of mountains towards the horizon, they merit a joyous march.
They have clearly attracted the attention they deserve. An estimated half a million people stroll through the 700 acres of tulips in bloom in the valley over the course of the two weeks that make up Washington state’s annual Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. The dates for this year are March 31 to April 16.
In the Skagit Valley of northwest Washington, tulips are a significant industry. Tulips are the main crop grown here, and they also draw many tourists. The largest grower of tulips, daffodils, and irises in the United States—and possibly the entire world—is Washington Bulb Co. About 90% of the Skagit Valley’s bulb production is grown in its fields.
According to Bernadette Roozen Miller, the founder’s daughter, “There are 5,000 producers in Holland, but none that grow to the size, the scale, that we do.”
“Bulbs must be rotated, but we only farm around 3,000 acres. Only once every five years can they be placed in the same location. We therefore have 1,200 acres in bulb crops, the remaining in rotator crops, and nine acres are covered in glass.”
Ms. Miller is in charge of Roozengaarde, the retail arm of the bulb company that bears her ancestors’ ancestral home’s name in Holland. She is in charge of a shop, a demonstration garden, and catalog sales.
She claims that the Roozen family has been cultivating bulbs in Holland since the late 1700s. It’s a well-known brand in the Dutch bulb industry.
During World War II, Bill Roozen immigrated to the United States to work as a salesperson for Dutch flower bulbs. He stayed behind after the war but wasn’t happy in the Northeast.
“I’m going to take you to a destination you’ll enjoy,” said a man in the New York bulb industry. And that location, according to Ms. Miller, was the Skagit Valley.” He married my mother and came here six months later.
“Due to the coastal breezes, climate, and soil, he was quite certain that this specific area of the Skagit Valley would be a very ideal place for tulips. It’s definitely true, as it turned out.”
Bulbs were first planted in this area of Washington before Mr. Roozen. Mary Brown Stewart deserves credit for planting them following World War I.
It didn’t take off, according to Ms. Miller. “It is a specialized field. It’s not the same as scattering some carrot seeds. But she is the one who made others consider it. That much is true.”
It took Mr. Roozen some time to get going after his arrival. He arrived with nothing, according to Ms. Miller. “During those years, he did whatever he could, including shoveling coal.
“They finally had enough money saved up for him to purchase a small plot of land with a barn in 1955. At the time, that was the Washington Bulb Farm. What follows is history.”
When Mr. Roozen began, she claims that bulbs were being grown on about 20 farms. Other than Washington Bulb, there are currently just three remaining: West Shore Acres, Skagit Valley Bulb Farms, and LeFeber Bulb and Turf Farm.
The Flower Carpet daffodils at West Shore Acres with the name Brent have a connection to Virginia. They originated from the Daffodil Mart’s proprietor, Brent Heath, of Gloucester, Virginia.
When John Gardner learned that Mr. Heath was retiring out of the cut-flower business and had bulbs to sell 15 years ago, he was in the market for Flower Carpet. John Gardner’s family has been farming West Shore Acres since the early 1900s.
Mr. Gardner added, “I was able to pick up his extra Flower Carpet.” “I referred to that specific strain as Brent. He gave me two thousand pounds, or roughly 14,000 or 15,000 bulbs. Currently, we have roughly 160 tons.” The Virginia bulbs were given individual labels by Mr. Gardner because he was delighted with their caliber.
Sam Stewart, the first bulb grower in the area, assisted West Shore Acres in starting its bulb business. When Mr. Stewart brought forward the concept, “we were mostly dairy cows and cabbage seed,” said Mr. Gardner. “At the time, I engaged in salmon fishing in Alaska. You keep fishing, he replied, and I’ll get you started on daffodils. This grew to such a size that I had to stop going up there and focus on my flower shop.”
According to Mr. Gardner, the site is suitable for daffodils since it receives a lot of rain and is chilly in the spring.
About 25 acres of tulips and 130 acres of daffodils are both grown by Mr. Gardner as cut flowers. The American Cancer Society, which sells the daffodils each year as a fundraiser, receives a large portion of them.
Although tulips take center stage in April, daffodils are among the 75,000 bulbs in the display garden at West Shore Acres. The family’s Victorian home, built in 1886, is encircled by a lovely garden in a scenic location by the Swinomish Channel. A dike’s picnic table offers a view of the water. There is a tiny beach there during low tide.
Aladdin, a red flower with unusual spikes, Fancy Frills, a pink flower with white stripes and fringe, Oratorio, a red tulip that resembles a rosebud opening, and West Point, a flower with yellow spikes that stand at attention, are just a few of the imaginative blossoms identified in the garden.
Around the first of March, when the daffodils start to bloom, crowds begin to arrive in the valley. April is the busiest month for tulip sales. Irises in May continue to draw visitors.
During the tulip weeks, the Gardners likely receive 150,000 visitors in their front yard, but they don’t mind.
* Tulip Festival: From March 31 to April 16, the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival will take place. Activities extend from Mount Vernon in the east to the cities of LaConner and Anacortes in the west. There are several options, including a street fair in Mount Vernon, a flower and garden show at the Skagit County Fair Grounds, an antiques show in Anacortes, a competition for amateur tulip photographers, 10-kilometer runs and walks, a bike ride, a golf tournament, concerts, and the daily salmon barbecue hosted by the Kiwanis Club of Mount Vernon. The Mount Vernon Chamber of Commerce, (360) 428-8547, or the tulip information line, (800) 488-5477, both have event brochures and maps of this year’s tulip and daffodil fields available.
* Tulip Transit: From Monday through Friday between the hours of 9 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., take a tour guide to see the fields from the Tulip Transit. Every hour, tours depart from Pacific Edge Outlet Center. Adult tickets cost $8, while kids’ tickets cost $4.
Take the Tulip Transit shuttle on weekends to avoid the gridlock on the winding country roads. Although there isn’t a tour leader, it only costs $1 per individual or $3 per family. Starting at 9:00 a.m., buses run every 20 minutes. At 5:30 p.m., the last bus from the fields departs.
* Cruising: The Victoria Clipper III will depart Seattle every day at 8:15 a.m. for the 2 1/2-hour cruise to LaConner during the tulip festival. At 8 o’clock at night, the boat returns to Seattle. A 2-and-a-half-hour motor coach tour of the fields is included in the cost. Adult tickets are priced at $44 from Monday through Friday and $55 on Saturday and Sunday. Children’s prices are $34 on weekdays and $45 on weekends. Call (206) 448-5000 or (800) 888-2535 for more details and to make reservations.
The Mystic Sea offers lunch and supper cruises from LaConner starting with the tulip festival and running through September. Deception Pass cruises last two hours and cost $28.95 for lunch and $42.95 for dinner. You must make reservations by calling (360) 299-2406 or (800) 308-9387.
* Scenic flights: Vagabond Balloons provides hot air balloon trips. Everybody pays $115 for the event. Call (800) 488-0269 to make reservations.