Fotoeins Fotografie

I was skeptical of a visit to tulip gardens.

“They’re just flowers after all.”

When I lived in Heidelberg, Germany, my friends wanted to travel to the Netherlands before their first-born kicked into full swing. They wanted to visit Keukenhof and Amsterdam. I was excited about Amsterdam; I was unsure about Keukenhof. But one step inside the tulip gardens in Keukenhof was enough to turn my head, and my opinion about tulip fields spun completely around.

That was 2002, and this is 2017. Travelling from the Canadian southwest, I’m on highway I-5 into western Washington State to see some tulips.

During the annual tulip festival in April, the Skagit river valley is populated by fields of daffodils and tulips, in eye-popping yellows, reds, oranges, purples, and whites. The overcast skies with diffuse grey light provides ideal light conditions with no strong shadows. The explosion of colours seem to blend into an extensive painting of the fields.

Roozengaarde

With their history of growing tulips in the Netherlands since the 18th-century and subsequent experience in the United States, the Roozen family owns and operates Roozengaarde, as part of Washington Bulb Company Incorporated which is the largest grower of flower bulbs in North America.

At Roozengaarde’s entrance is a display garden five acres (20-thousand square metres) in size with over 200-thousand bulbs and a Dutch windmill. For me, I wanted to reach the highlight as quickly as possible: the adjacent 25-acre (101-thousand square metres) field with endless rows of tulips.

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(2022:) Admission to Roozengaarde is $15 USD (parking included). During the festival, their garden and fields are open daily 9am to 7pm; open 8am on weekends.

If you choose to travel on the slower yet rewarding Chuckanut Drive:

•   Breadfarm – 5766 Cains Ct, Bow (Edison), WA.
•   Edison Café – 5797 Main St, Bow (Edison), WA.

and if you want to go a little out of the way:

•   The Rex (formerly Rexville Grocery) – 19271 Best Rd, Mt Vernon, WA.
•   Colophon Café – 1208 11th St, Bellingham, WA.

Click on the arrow-window icon at the upper-left corner of the map below for the legend.

I made all photos above on 19 April 2017 with a Canon EOS6D mark1; my thanks to MF for making this trip possible. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie on fotoeins DOT com at http://wp.me/p1BIdT-9Er. Last edit: 27 Apr 2026.