In April Mount Vernon, WA transforms into one of the most beautiful places I’ve been to. That’s because it’s officially tulip season in Washington state. The Skagit Valley area has several different tulip farms that you can go and see throughout the month of April. And they are all stunning in their own way.
For more information, and to see each year’s dates and participating farms, go to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival website.
I never realized that there were so many different varieties and colors of tulips.
It was like walking through a rainbow.
And the work that goes into planting and maintaining these fields is astounding to think about. There are anywhere from hundreds of thousands of bulbs planted each year at the smaller farms, to over a million bulbs planted each year at the largest. The whole process just fascinates me.
Take a virtual stroll with me through the fields of the three different farms that I visited while I was there in 2024.
Note: All of the information that I’ve given is as of the writing of this post. I’ve provided links to each of the specific farms, so be sure to double check the information listed before you go.
Tulip Town (15002 Bradshaw Rd., Mount Vernon, WA)
Tulip Town has 6-acres with over 50 varieties of tulips. The windmill they had was playing music and the way the wind was blowing it looked like the tulips were dancing to the music. =)
A fun fact that I learned while I was there: “In the 17th century, there was a period in Dutch history known as “tulip mania” during which tulip bulbs were incredibly valuable and were even used as currency. At the peak of tulip mania, some tulip bulbs were worth more than houses!”
Tulip Valley Farms (15245 Bradshaw Rd., Mount Vernon, WA)
Tulip Valley Farms is the only field at the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival that allows you to pick your own tulips as you walk through their fields. This property is a beautiful spot, and as they grow, I imagine it will only get more and more so.
Roozengaarde Flowers and Bulbs (15867 Beaver Marsh Rd., Mount Vernon, WA)
Roozengaarde is the largest farm that participates in the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, with over 50 acres of tulips and daffodils. They have around 200 different types of tulips and 50 types of daffodils. Again, I had no idea that there were this many. It was unreal to see them all.
I spent several hours walking around and through the different displays and the fields.
On the way out, I walked through the secret garden that they had created and if I could have somehow figured out how to put it into a bubble and transported it back home, I would have done so in a heartbeat.
It was such a magical spot.
Especially the way the sun was shining through the trees.
It was the perfect end to my color filled tulip adventure.
A small story about the power of kindness:
As I was holding my phone up to take a few pictures, a woman came over and offered to take my picture in front of the tulips. I’m not big on pictures of myself, I’d much rather be behind the camera, but I’m trying to get better at having them taken occasionally, so I said sure. I figured, if nothing else, I could let her take it and then delete it later if I hated it.
I was wearing a hat that day to help block the sun and she took a few with my hat on. Then she said, “Let’s get one with your hat off, so we can see your pretty face better.” I didn’t want to at first because I was worried that I would have a line from the hat and my hair would be smashed down (and I think I was trying to hide behind the hat and glasses), but she insisted. So again, I thought: take it now delete it later.
But later, when I looked at the different pictures that she had taken, the one without my hat on ended up being my favorite. In fact, it’s become one of my favorite photos of myself that I’ve ever had taken, and I wouldn’t have it if not for her kindness.
So I leave you with this: If you see something beautiful in someone, tell them. It may seem like one small insignificant comment to you, but it could mean the world to them. <3