No markets, no tourists: Perfect storm slams tulip growers

Just two weeks ago, Brent Roozen was anticipating a great season for daffodils and tulips. Growing conditions were perfect and orders for field-cut flowers were strong.

Social distancing and the national obsession with toilet paper and thermometers have changed the picture – not to mention the Governor’s March 23 order closing non-essential businesses and keeping Washingtonians at home for two weeks, to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

Ninety percent of the Washington Bulb Company’s wholesale and retail flower orders have been cancelled. Only northwest Safeway and Albertson’s stores continue to stock daffodils.

“Our primary concern is getting product back on shelves in grocery stores,” said Roozen. “Right now you could argue that people need flowers more than ever. We’re hoping that toilet paper will go down and floral departments will go up.”

With its fields and display garden closed to visitors, the Bulb Company is planning a virtual spring on its social media. “People stuck in their homes will have something to view to brighten their days,” said Roozen.

“We never opened, so technically we haven’t closed,” said Tulip Town’s Andrew Miller. Now plans to sell online tickets for a drive-through “Tulip Safari” are on hold.

“As a non-essential business not permitted to operate right now, all of our efforts to provide a tulip experience with limited exposure are off the board,” he lamented.

Virus impact international

Tulip sales and festivals around the world have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the Netherlands, millions of flowers – about 80 percent of the country’s annual production – are being destroyed and discarded. International auctions have been cancelled for the first time in a century.

“You spend 10 months planning, and when orders are cancelled, you can’t move the product somewhere else,” said Roozen. “It’s a perishable product and you need to sell it right then.”

“We are not like a restaurant,” agreed Miller. “You can’t hit pause. Nature won’t let us turn it off.”

According to the Washington State University Skagit County Extension, the 500 or so acres of tulips grown in Skagit County represent 75% of US commercial production. Only $3 million of the industry’s $20 million annual earnings actually come from bulb sales.

That’s because over the last 20 years, local growers have shifted from fall bulb sales to field flowers, garden admissions, and merchandise sales.

“The word devastating is not too great for what is happening to the tulip industry in the valley now,” said Cindy Verge, executive director of the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival.

No Bulb Company field workers are cutting flowers. The 60 or so seasonal workers who staff Bulb Company fields, parking lots, crosswalks and flower sales booths will not be working.

At Tulip Town, “the good news is we haven’t had to lay anyone off,” said Miller. “But we are trying to figure out how we can get to next year.”

For both companies, bulbs in the ground will not be pulled and shipped until the fall.

“Ordering bulbs online is a good way to support us,” said Roozen. “But if this keeps up much longer, we don’t know whether we’ll be able to afford to process bulbs. We are trying to find ways to get ahead of that, but it’s a real possibility.”

What’s next?

As the Weekly News went to press, the Tulip Town crew was building a temporary road through the gardens. If the stay-at-home order is lifted as planned on April 6, the drive-through, windows up, socially distant Tulip Safari – with tickets purchased online – will be up and running.

“We have no idea how that will unfold, but we are hard at work at trying to figure out new and innovative ways to convey the value we have created here,” said Miller. “We’ll continue to pivot to whatever things the environment and regulations permit.”

Through its “Color for Courage” campaign, Tulip Town is delivering 200 bouquets to residents of the Mountain Glen retirement community as well as caregivers at Skagit Valley Hospital.

Washington Bulb is selling blooms online. “That’s the most affordable way for people to support us and add something to their day,” said Roozen.

Besides bulbs, Tulip Town’s online store is offering shirts, vases and other items sporting the new Tulip Town look.

“If you can order things online, please order them!” said Verge.

“I know people who are sitting alone in rooms right now, and a bouquet of tulips to arrive at the door would be just the right thing,” said Nicola Pearson of Sauk Mountain Pottery, who sells her husband’s products at Tulip Town.

“A lot of people gripe about the tulip traffic, but the festival pays their bills,” she said. “It will be a hardship to go without such a large part of our annual income, but we all have to toughen up together and do what we can for each other.”