About Tulips.com

Our parent company is Washington Bulb Company, Inc., the largest grower of tulips, daffodils and irises in the United States. All our bulbs are hand-sorted, inspected and packaged in our Skagit Valley facilities amidst the tulip fields. We keep the bulbs in a climate-controlled environment until they're ready to
be shipped for planting in your area.

Tulips.com
P.O. Box 1248
Mount Vernon, WA 98273
866-488-5477

www.tulips.com

Like many places across the country, the daylight hours have begun to shorten dramatically while the weather has brought forth the occasional chill, reminding us that the winter is near here in Washington’s Skagit Valley.  Each year we find ourselves racing against the onset of the wet weather (although some say it is always wet in the Pacific Northwest!) as we aim to get our 1000+ acres of spring blooming bulbs tucked safely into the earth.  Lucky enough to beat most of the heavy rainfall this season and avoid any significant delays, we finished off the last of our fields during the final week of October.  For those of you who are reading this and fearing you may have missed out on your chance to plant bulbs in your home gardens this year, do not worry - you still have time!  We only race the passing of the days while planting our field crop because muddy fields and heavy farm equipment create a less than desirable combination that we would rather avoid.

Although we have wrapped up our work in the fields, there remains a little ways to go before we have finished our annual planting of over a 1/4 million bulbs in our Display Garden at RoozenGaarde - YES we replant the garden each year!  On average, it takes about 6 weeks to design the layout of the garden and then plant all the bulbs.  Our crew has been working on some particularly creative designs this year with the arrival of the World Tulip Summit in 2010 in mind.  I am also getting word that a couple of our employees have challenged each other to a design and planting competition to see whose creation can generate the most votes from our 2010 Tulip Festival visitors...should be interesting!

Speaking to our home gardener friends, two frequent questions we are asked during this time are, "When is the best time to plant my bulbs?" and "Is it too late to order and plant bulbs this year?"  Many of you will be happy to hear that is neither too late to plant OR order bulbs this year, but if you are located in a cold or cool climate zone then NOW is the best time to plant.  As I mentioned above, we are still at work planting bulbs in our Display Garden.   However, we have reached the point in the season where one might say, "the sooner, the better!"  Freezing temperatures and increasing precipitation can make planting conditions more difficult, and tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, and irises are ready to start the first period of their growing cycle as soon as they are placed in the earth.  Our "cool" customers who placed their orders earlier this year have already received their bulbs...go plant them if you have not already done so!  Any new orders to these zones will be shipped out within 24 hours, so check out our bulb selection if you have yet to order.

Moving to the southern states, I would like to remind our warm zone customers that your bulb orders will soon begin shipping, followed by hot zone customer orders about a month later.  Orders for these customers are still undergoing a "pre-cooling" period; necessary to ensure you will all have the most spectacular spring bloom in the gardens surrounding your homes!

Best wishes this holiday season,

Leo Roozen

We will be hosting our 22nd Annual RoozenGaarde Holiday Festival from November 13th-15th and would like to invite all of our friends, family, and customers to join us for some warm refreshments, a little live jazz music, and a cheerful celebration to start the Holiday season! All merchandise* will be 20% OFF and our entire selection of fall bulbs will be 25% OFF. Please come kick off the season with us and maybe step outside to capture a Holiday photo or two in front of our lighted windmill! We will also have the 2010 Tulip Festival artist present if you are looking to be the first to have your 2010 Festival poster signed! See our Events page for times!

*excluding 2010 Tulip Festival merchandise and Paperwhite bulbs.

All remaining bulb varieties are now 25% OFF!  That is correct.  If we still have it in stock...it is 25% OFF!  Shipping rates remain the same because even though the price of our bulbs has been reduced, their sizes remain the same TOPSIZE measurements.  If you have not already done so, why is it a good idea to place your bulb orders sooner rather than later, or stop by our gift shop? Here are some reasons:

• Selection.  We have already sold out of a handful of tulip, daffodil, iris, hyacinth, and specialty varieties, and have very limited quantities remaining in others.  Order now before your favorites disappear for 2009.
• Planting.  As mentioned earlier, now is the time for planting across much of the Northern half of the country.  As the days become colder the ground also becomes harder, making planting a more difficult activity.
• Pre-cooling.  If you live in a warm or hot climate zone, we can still "pre-cool" your bulbs FREE of charge and ship them to you in time for planting.  Our pre-cooled bulbs are a wonderful idea for those looking to get creative in their Holiday gift giving!  Order now to reserve your selection, and you can tell us when you would like your bulbs delivered.  Please call us toll free at (866) 488-5477 with questions.
• Quality.  RoozenGaarde and Tulips.com will only ship our customers the bulbs from the same stock that we use to plant our world renowned Display Garden.  Remember, we take the biggest and best bulbs from each year’s bulb harvest and reserve these TOPSIZE bulbs for our customers to use in their home gardens!

Looking to add a decorative touch to your home for the holidays?  Choose from an assortment of orange, yellow, and red (in addition to other) Asiatic lily or tulip colors to complement your Autumn/Thanksgiving décor and family gatherings.  We will also be adding more winter holiday and Christmas colors in the coming weeks.  Order now and select your desired delivery date so that you can avoid being rushed!  And please remember, if you can’t find what you are looking for on our website, you can always give us a call for more personal help!

Q & A: MORE BULB PLANTING QUESTIONS ANSWERED

Is now a good time for transplanting bulbs?

In a word: no.  Most bulbs that have been planted in the ground for a year or more (and even bulbs that have been planted recently) have already begun to root.  It is never a good idea to pull bulbs from the ground after root formation.  Doing so can damage the roots which will most likely cause the flower to die - or at best, decrease its overall performance.  Best case scenario would be to wait until the early summer to dig your bulbs, store them over the summer months, and then plant them again in the fall.  We will look to cover this topic extensively during our July 2010 newsletter.

What is the difference between Early, Middle, and Late blooming varieties?

Many variables can determine when those bulbs you planted during the fall will bloom come the spring - most notably weather conditions (air plus soil temperature) and sun exposure.  Keep in mind there will be a good amount of overlap between the different flower types, but the typical blooming timeline for our bulbs is as follows: crocuses first, followed by daffodils and hyacinths, then the tulip varieties, and finally irises.  Using this general timeline you can then apply the "early," "middle," and "late" descriptions for each flower type.  Early varieties will usually flower about 5-10 days before Middle varieties, with the same time difference between Middle and Late varieties.  For example, during the cool spring of 2009, most of our Ad Rem (an Early tulip) plantings were showing color by the middle of April, whereas Greenland (a Late tulip) did not begin showing color until the end of April.  Hope this helps!

What type of fertilizer do you recommend?

There are many fertilizers available to choose from, but we consistently use Holland Bulb Booster in our Display Garden.  We sprinkle this formula over the surface after planting and then rake it into the soil.  Bulb Booster is stocked in our retail shop (and online by special request), but it should also be available in your local home and garden centers.  Also, if you live in an area with highly acidic soil, you may consider amending your planting areas with lime to increase the pH of the soil.

Do you have any tips for planting bulbs in pots and barrels?

Yes...Yes we do!  Please see our FAQ Bulbs section for more on this topic!

Richard and Cat R. sent us a picture of their "Tulip Protector!"  They planted over 800 tulips in their back yard...this is just the back fence!

Click here to see more cool pictures of our Customer Gardens!

What do you think of the changes to our website?

Click here to email us your feedback!