Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Mt. Vernon Tulip Festival

We awoke early on Easter Monday morning and thought we detected a distant band of blue sky, far to the south, and beyond the black and rain soaked clouds of our home.
After checking the Internet for weather and 'bloom reports' we decided to head to the Tulip Festival in LaConner Wa. The border guard was 'chatty' when she found out where we were headed and gave us all kinds of information to make our day a good one. She had been there the day before and knew all the ins and outs. I was not quite sure how to handle this new and more friendly attitude from what I have come to call the Gestapo at the border crossings.

As we headed south, the band of blue was elusive and when we arrived at our destination, it was still just out of reach. We discovered that the Tulips were in mid bloom with the early varieties in full bloom, and the others just starting or maybe just showing a bit of colour in their buds. The daffodils were all but done, but the cold weather was aiding some of them to hang on for another day or two.


The format has changed. What used to be a big 'free for all' is now highly organised. Gone are the days of randomly parking beside the road and taking photos. There are now designated parking areas and of course, fees. Then, to get into the fields and gardens, there are more fees. One has to select the garden and fields and then go for it. Taking it all in would cost a small fortune.



The wind was cold, though no rain threatened. Here you can see busylizzy crouched down for shelter, hoodie tucked up around her ears, trying to stay warm. The flowers were spectacular as you will see in the next few posts. All photos taken with frozen fingers and cold noses.
Click on the photos to see them larger.




1 comment:

Chrisp said...

I especially like the tulip lupine mix. How beautiful Terry, thanks for sharing your photos with us. We are much behind here so all we have thus far are the little yellow field violets, but they do bring alot of cheer.