My dear friend Sylvia and I hit the road yesterday bound for the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival; an easy 60 mile drive north of Seattle; 70 miles south of Vancouver. Even with a late start and a couple of wrong turns, which is par for the course whenever Sylvia and I travel together, we made it there with ample time to tiptoe through the tulips to our hearts’ content.
Here’s a short video of a few of the stunning sights we encountered.
The festival runs for the entire month of April, although it’s really up to the tulips themselves to decide the actual schedule – they have been known to bloom as early as the last week of March and as late as mid-April. We deliberately went midweek in the hope that crowds would be thinner on the ground, although it was still pretty busy – I can’t imagine how crazy it must be on weekends. There are two main tulip ‘hubs’; the Roozengaarde and Tulip Town. Both offer huge display gardens and charge $5 entry (children under 10 get in free) but the real fun is to be found driving or bicycling down country lanes in search of fields full of colour to wander through.
Skagit Valley is a stunning setting for this festival, with the majestic, snow-capped Cascade Mountains serving as a backdrop to drifts of tulips bobbing in the breeze. Naturally, I took far too many photos and had a dreadful time trying to pick out a handful of favourites. In the end I gave up, decided to go crazy and post an embarrassing amount of shots; they’re not all tulips – there are one or two intruders. I hope you enjoy them.
xxx Ailsa
Where's my backpack? 
Stunners… each and every one!! Now don’t do flowers for tomorrow’s theme… I did them today!! 😉
Ooh, I’ll have to hop over and have a look, aj, and don’t worry, the theme I have in mind can be interpreted any number of ways 😉
Happy anniversary to you and your wife, AJ, you old romantic. 🙂
So beautiful…
Oh Linda, to be there in person was just stunning, to see acres of tulips gently bobbing as far as the eye can see, there’s nothing quite like it.
Alisa, these pictures are breathtaking! Never witnessed mother nature looking quite this beautiful before. Keep up the great work!
It really was spectacular, like someone had taken a huge paintbrush and painted the valley in big streaks of colour. Springtime in the Pacific Northwest is hard to beat. 🙂
Ailsa, these are stunning, absolutely gorgeous!!!!!!!!! Wow! I have to get up while the tulips are still in bloom.
Go soon, Naomi, the tulips are at their peak now, simply gorgeous. 🙂
Pictures are stunning Alisa.I have never seen such gorgeous things in my life 🙂
There were so many of them it was hard to know which way to look, Praveena, I was in heaven! 🙂
A phantasmagoria of colour, Ailsa! (I’m talking gibberish as usual). Worth waiting for, weren’t they? I love that one where the white narcissi get a look in too.
I think phantasmagoria just about captures the spendour of those tulip fields, Jo 😉 Yes, I loved those narcissi, they’re beauties indeed. 🙂
A delight for the soul Ailsa! My eyes are shining. Sharon
Hurrah, so glad I could put a gleam in your eyes with my homage to those gorgeous tulips, Sharon. 🙂 xxx Ailsa
Amazing, you mustn’t have known which way to look!
Sylvia was laughing her head off at me, Gilly, I was running around like a five year old in a toy store. 🙂
Fabulous images, Ailsa….the colours are stunning. Makes me want to be there….I particularly like your last image, with the mountains behind.
That was one of my favourites too, Sue, the misty blue of the mountains really makes the colour of the tulips pop.
Wow what beautiful colors captured… 🙂
Thanks Drake, it was a blaze of colour, a photographer’s dream, I was ridiculously excited 🙂
Beautiful colours……so vivid
Thanks, kindadukish, seeing those fields stretching out to the horizon is an experience like no other. xxx
Gorgeous kaleidoscope of colour Ailsa 🙂
I’ve had a permanent grin on my face since I got back, just thinking of all those happy dancing fields of tulips. 🙂
WOW! Nice video and stills, Ailsa. Btw, did you find your backpack among the tulips? 🙂
Haha, not yet Tom – and if I did, I’d make sure to lose it again promptly – I’m quite enjoying the search 😉
supurb and even a wonderful Rhodo for balance.
I had to throw that little rhody in for variety 🙂
Absolutely mind bogglingly awesome photos. Can you tell that tulips are my favorite flower? Thank you thank you and thank you for sharing! Have to reblog.
Hurrah, fellow tulip lover, they’re pretty special, aren’t they? When they move with the breeze no other flower can compare. 🙂
So right!
Reblogged this on Something to Ponder About and commented:
Tulips are my favourite all time flowers and these photos are stunning.
These are gorgeous! Love the ones with the mountains in the distance. Now I want to go plant my yard full of tulips!
So do I, Andrea – and maybe throw a few mountains into the background to set it all off! 🙂
Wow some outstanding shots, looks amazing
Oh my…I want to go there. Thank you for the pictures.
I’m back for a second look. Have you ever seen anything more beautiful! 🙂
SO amazingly beautiful. I had to add this experience to my bucket list. Thank you so much for sharing
Exquisite. Nature is so amazing, and you have captured the flowers so beautifully.
Thank you so much for sharing a little bit of North American Spring Alisa. I may have to reblog this for all my friends and family in Canada that still have snow to contend with! 🙂
Wow, lucky you!! What a beautiful scene.
Reblogged this on In Da Campo and commented:
For all of you still suffering through the last vestiges of winter, especially all my gardening friends! Please look at this wonderful post and dream that Spring is just around the corner! 🙂
Gorgeous
Oh my! Holy cow and WOW! Crazy beautiful!!!
Reblogged this on patriciaddrury and commented:
Ailsa visited the Tulip Festival and reminded me of my visits there as a kid… I too got to tiptoe through the tulips! Enjoy!
Beautiful photos! I love the video.
BE ENCOURAGED! BE BLESSED!
These are breathtaking, Ailsa! Thank you for brightening our morning. 🙂
Truly gorgeous colors and photographs. I wished I wasn’t so far away – tulips are some of my favorite flowers. Did you know that their petals are edible?
What a beautiful spot and magical pictures! Congratulations on getting such great shots! 😀 It’s just lovely!
Spectacular! the video was also wonderful as we could see the tulips moving with the wind. I am going back to Alaska next week, and I wonder if my tulips have survived the winter and will be piking their head above ground soon.
I meant POKING…should have proofread!
Very Nice! I remember the tulips poking up through the snow and knowing springtime is coming.
I love the color and the framing. I may do more short video, I like yours
I love Tulip since I was a child although they are not easy to find in my country but I just like their color, shape and overall.
I love your Tulip Festival pictures! We were there Saturday, after the snow, and I plan to post my pictures soon but I have had a hard time choosing too!
Adding to bucket list! Stunning! – Suzan –
Good post. I used to work in Spalding in Lincolnshire where they also have a Tulip Festival and Parade. A few years ago the World Tulip Summit was held in Spalding and I met the delegation from Skagit Valley. They were going to host the next summit and I was invited to attend. Thanks for the memory nudge. http://anotherbagmoretravel.wordpress.com/2011/12/06/spalding-flower-parade/
Wow, it’s just like in Netherlands … expect for the mountains in the background. Wonderful, didn’t know that Seattle was famous for their tulips – fantastic gallery … breathtaking.
Oh these are amazing, Ailsa! Gosh, I cannot wait for the tulip fest to begin here.
By the way, I have a very similar shot in my gallery as your first one here (orange tulips & purple grape hyacinth). I just love the color contrast!
Stunning photos! We spent a few days in LaConner last year during the festival and loved it. I thought we might get lucky again this year as we were in Anacortes for a few months, but no dice. We left for Salt Lake City on March 28th as the bulbs were just starting to break the surface. Oh well, maybe next year. 🙂 Great post!
GORGEOUS! Love tulips, love the pics. Great job!
Just love your themes!
Oh wow oh wow oh wow!!! 🙂
In particular I love the photos with the mountains in the background.
How come mine never look this good Ailsa 😉
Just gorgeous !
wow – beautiful pictures! I love tulips – you made my day with these photos and video!
how beautiful, I would love to see that for myself!
Beautiful!!!