Approximately 75 days after Washington Bulb Company’s digging machines began harvesting nearly 1000 acres of tulip, daffodil, and iris bulbs from our fertile fields, we end the first full week of August with only a couple acres of daffodil bulbs still to go. Last time I wrote to you all, I spoke of the persistent precipitation that was lending itself to the growth of our bulbs, but simultaneously making it difficult to access our fields with large machinery. Since that time we have had outstanding weather conditions for digging. These mostly dry days with a couple bouts of rainfall interspersed have allowed us to move quickly while working long hours to play catch up for the days we missed in late May. It is important that we remain on a tight schedule so we can get all of our pick up and cold/cool zone shipments inspected, packed, and ready to go on time!

So what steps will occur between now and the time you receive your bulbs? Here is a simplified version of the summer timeline for tulip bulbs: 1) Digging. 2) Washing. 3) Drying. 4) Separating & De-rooting. 5) Grading. 6) Counting. 7) Packaging. 8) Packing. 9) Shipping.

Steps 1-3 have already been completed for the year. Separation & De-rooting involves the breakup of bulb families and removal of roots. Grading (a grading machine is shown in the side picture) is the term referring to the separation of bulbs into small and mid-sized planting stocks (used for producing next year’s bulbs) and Topsize bulbs (the bulbs we send to our customers and also force in our greenhouses to produce fresh-cut flowers). Counting gives us an exact inventory of Topsize bulbs and approximates our planting stock numbers for each variety. And the final steps are just as they sound, although we do add step 7A (Pre-cooling) to orders for our warm and hot zone customers. Rest assured that during steps 4-8 each and every bulb undergoes a thorough inspection to ensure your shipments will contain the biggest and best bulbs!

Very soon you may begin to see bulbs arriving on the shelves of local home and garden stores and wonder if yours might be late in arriving? Please be patient! All bulbs should be allowed to undergo a “curing” or maturation and ripening phase before they are tucked into the earth, and this phase will last at least another couple weeks. Over the years, we have found it best for the bulbs to complete this particular phase in the controlled environment of our bulb processing and storage facilities. We promise you will receive your precious bulbs at the perfect time for fall planting! Until then, please take care and enjoy the rest of your summer!


Leo Roozen

Each year during bulb pick up and planting season we conduct planting seminars at our Display Garden at RoozenGaarde. Seminars are open to the public and free of charge! Material covered includes: basic planting techniques, common mistakes that can result in less than spectacular blooms and easy fixes to these mistakes, how to create an “almost deer resistant” garden, garden design, history of Washington Bulb Co and RoozenGaarde, and many other popular topics. Of course, a solid Q&A session usually follows the seminar. At the conclusion, attendees are welcome to roam the Display Garden and watch our crew in action planning and planting the flower beds - an undertaking that includes over 1/4 million bulbs! Yes, we redesign and replant the garden annually so each spring presents an entirely new and unique display of color!

Looking for a location for a summer wedding, party, or corporate event? RoozenGaarde offers a picturesque garden setting amongst rural farmland, perfect for those looking for an outdoor celebration. After the spring bloom we remove all bulbs from the Display Garden and fill it with geraniums, snapdragons, sunflowers, dahlias, petunias, marigolds, salpiglossis, and more! Please call (866) 488-5477 or email for more information.

Both the Asiatic and Oriental Lilies are popular choices for summer flowers, but we also grow beautiful fresh-cut tulips 365 days a year! Hey, with a name like Tulips.com what did you expect? Typically, the bloom size on some tulip varieties grown during the summer months will be a fraction smaller than the tulips grown in the spring and fall, but the flowers still make a beautiful presentation and are top quality. Many colors are available and can be mixed and matched with a new color every bunch (10 stems per bunch)! As always, if you do not see the combination or specific color(s) listed on our website, please call us at (866) 488-5477 - we might just have something special for you!

What do the size measurements on bulbs mean?

The industry standard measurement for Topsize tulip bulbs is 12+ cm - meaning the bulb will not fit through a hole with a circumference of 12 cm. Bigger bulbs are more expensive to produce (because they usually take additional years to grow and reach their larger sizes), to ship (because they weigh significantly more), and to buy (because of the production costs). So why purchase Topsize bulbs? As a rule, bigger bulbs will produce bigger flowers and will also be more vigorous! Tulip bulbs can also be purchased as 11/12 size and smaller, but these sizes are traditionally purchased by growers and not home gardeners. Furthermore, a 12+ cm measurement may be required for Topsize bulbs, but many varieties produce bulbs much larger than this. The Darwin Hybrid tulips are renowned for huge bulbs and blooms to match. It is not uncommon for Ad Rem and Pink Impression (see photo) bulbs to measure up to 18 cm or more! Other tulips that are well known for large bulb sizes are Maureen and Menton (not surprising since they are both very tall French tulips) and newer varieties such as Moneymaker.

Daffodil bulbs are measured using the same method as tulips. They will vary in size depending on the particular grouping. For instance, our Topsize Yellow Trumpet daffodil bulbs will generally measure around 25 cm and many bulbs will be even larger still! The picture shown at right displays two Standard Value bulbs - a size 30 cm and 29 cm. Large Cupped daffodils are also well known for having very large sized bulbs. Conversely, Topsize measurements for Tete-a-Tete will be noticeably smaller, and every other variety falls somewhere in between. DN1, DN2, and DN3 are also terms referring to the size of daffodil bulbs with the largest bulbs receiving the DN1 grade.

Sue A. sends us this cool pic with the caption: A garden art bird with pink lily flowering tulips as tail feathers, and orange ones on the side. Thanks Sue!