Yes it has been cold: Weather delays daffodil blooms

It's March 15, and nary a daffodil can be seen, but Brent Roozen isn't worried.

Field picking ramped up last weekend, said the Washington Bulb Company CEO, and daffodils are shipping to customers at tulips.com as well as grocery stores across the country. "Yellow is right around the corner, and when daffodils bloom late, the color can come on really quickly."

As for tulips, it is too early to tell. Late daffodils can mean no tulips until mid-April "but tulips can catch up quickly if they get a little bit of warm weather," Roozen said. That temperatures may reach 60 degrees this weekend is good news.

To Tulip Festival CEO Cindy Verge, 2023 is looking like a typical year. "Flowers bloom when flowers bloom and there's nothing you can do about it. It will all work out!"

She appreciates that Roozen-grown daffodils give people something to enjoy if they visit before tulips bloom.

For Andrew Miller, whose two Tulip Valley Farms venues are opening for the first time this year, late flowers mean a little breathing room. "Our field facilities team is working on all cylinders putting up temporary buildings and tents," he said. "If we were two weeks early instead of two weeks late, we'd be looking at a whole other set of challenges."

The Bulb Company's five fields of tulips have been planted intensely thanks to its new Dutch bulb planter. Instead of planting the usual 10" wide rows, the new machine plants rows that are 30" wide.

That means three times as many bulbs per acre, says Roozen, and even more beauty. "Instead of rows of color we are going to have full-on carpets of color."

New approaches to fertilizing and topping flowers and digging bulbs will also be necessary as the new planting method "helps us move forward in terms of production and efficiency."

Tulip Town planted nearly six acres last October with the help of Dutch tulip farmer Thijs van Zaal, a longtime consultant to former owners Tom and Jeanette DeGoede.

CEO Kristen Keltz says that while hiring is going well, "It takes a lot of people to run Tulip Town, and we are always in need of field monitors and parking attendants."

Her most fervent wish? A dry spring. "Our visits are impacted by weather, and last year it rained pretty much the entire month of April," she said. "Even though we have an indoor display garden, we are really looking forward to a mild April with not a lot of rain where folks can come out and enjoy the field."

Verge has seen all kinds of weather in her 34 years with the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. She's ready for whatever happens next month. "The tulips will bloom, and we know they will bloom, and they will be blooming during April."

Or as Miller puts it, "Mother Nature hates to be called late. She's on time."

Verge hopes that readers will attend the first Tulip Gala Celebration since 2019, taking place March 25 at Swinomish Casino, rain or shine. Tickets for this evening of music, good food and swing dancing are available at http://www.tulipfestival.org or 360/428-5959.