We ventured out to the see the tulips one day last week. The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival is not far from our home, and hosts hundreds of acres of tulips fields to wander through each April.

Just after World War II ended, William Roozen moved his family from Holland to the Skagit Valley to grow bulbs. Coming from a long  line of bulb growers (six generations), he started a bulb farm on five acres of land. He held meetings  with other growers in a garage, saved money and started buying used tractors and farm equipment. 

Five years later the Washington Bulb Co. was founded by two of the area’s fist bulb farmers. Today the Washington Bulb Co. farms about 2,000 acres of land. William Roozen handed the business down to his five sons and a daughter when he passed aways in 2002, confident that with 35 grandchildren the family business would carry on. 

Driving through the valley and coming upon the fields is breathtaking. Tulips planted in masses , those straight lines, and the glorious colors . . . a camera does not do it justice. 

We wandered the fields for a few hours and stopped for Dungeness crab sandwiches on the way home. The backseat full of tulip bouquets. 

Xo, Cathy