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Tulip Festival Fact

Did you know?

Fresh Cut Flowers for the New Year

Q & A

Happy New Year!

Around the Garden

From Our Customers

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Happy 2013 everyone! To kick off the New Year, winter temperatures have dropped to their lowest levels in the Pacific Northwest - and apparently across most of every other state too. Snow blankets the summit of Mount Baker in the distance and dusts the hillsides nearby, while the earth is frozen and water sitting between the rows of bulbs in our fields has transformed into ice. The trumpeter swans and flocks of snow geese descending upon the Skagit Valley do not seem to be affected by the chill, and neither are the tulip, daffodil, and iris bulbs, which were long ago tucked safely into the earth. These bulbs were planted in mounded rows of soil to protect their contents from both the wettest days of late autumn and the coldest periods of winter. Those frozen pools of water that have formed in the fields? They sit below the level at which the bulbs are planted. And those frozen rows? Dig past the surface layer and you will find sprouting bulbs that are well insulated by the thick mound of soil.

The environment is drier and warmer inside, and that is where the majority of our winter work is taking place. In the greenhouses we are picking the first stems of greenhouse Daffodils along with a wide assortment of tulip and Asiatic lily colors. In the warehouse we are bunching together individual flower stems and packing bunches for shipment. And in the potting area, trays that have completed a cooling period are entering the greenhouses so that their tulip blooms will color by Valentine's Day. There may be four distinct seasons in this area, but with our greenhouse operation, tulips have become a flower for the entire year - not only a short period in the spring.

I hope everyone can keep bundled up and under cover through the coldest days of winter. Here on the farm, we will continue to do just that until the daylight lasts a little longer, the air becomes a little warmer, and the daffodils outside grow quite a bit taller. When that finally happens, we will begin to harvest the first Dutch Master stems in our fields and we will know that spring is just around the corner. Until then, stay warm. And for you adventurous types...enjoy the cold!

Best wishes in 2013.


Leo Roozen

Q. Can I store my flower bulbs in the refrigerator and plant them next fall?
No. Plant them now! If it is cold and raining outside? Plant your bulbs now. If the ground is frozen outside but the weather will warm in a couple of days? Plant your bulbs in the ground next week or in a container today. If the surface layer is still frozen when the weather warms? Work the ground and then plant your bulbs. If the ground will not thaw until later this winter? Plant your bulbs in containers or pots. If the weather is still 80 degrees and you are cooling your bulbs? You should probably go ahead and plant now anyways.

We get this question (and similar versions) more than any other, so we try to answer it as often as possible. Bulbs must be planted in the fall so that they can bloom on the spring - they follow a biological clock which cannot be stopped. If flower bulbs are not planted they will begin to dehydrate, disintegrate, and the flower developing inside will eventually die - so too will the bulb. The short answer: plant those bulbs. Now.

Q. Should I be worried that my tulips and Daffodils are beginning to sprout?
Another common question...filled with unnecessary worry! Even if you live in the colder northern half of the country, there is a good chance that you have already started to see Daffodils and some early tulips pushing through the soil. This is nothing out of the ordinary and it is unlikely that you will need to consider any extra protection to shield this greenery from the elements. Pots, planters, and containers can be moved inside a garage or covered with a blanket during periods of extreme cold, but bulbs planted in the ground should be fine. What you see poking from the ground at this time is foliage growth (mostly the tips of leaves) and the most important part of the plant (the flower) is still developing while tucked down in the soil. Iris and muscari will have the most foliage growth at this time, which is surprising for many considering that iris are the last of the bulbs to bloom each spring.

Helpful Tip: make sure to keep the soil within containers moist during the winter months. Extended periods with freezing temperatures can dry out the soil and cause the bulbs to become dehydrated.

Q. How do I keep my bulbs from growing so quickly?
The bulbs growing in your flower garden are simply responding to nature, so unless you can control the weather then you cannot control the speed at which your bulbs grow. Bulbs will grow faster in warmer conditions with ample light. Conversely, they will grow more slowly in colder and darker conditions. Both temperature and lighting are nearly impossible to manipulate in a natural environment. The bulbs planted in your garden are responding to temperature and their environment, so keep this in mind even if the growth in your flower bed seems a little bit ahead (or behind) schedule. Also, the growth of your bulbs will tend to normalize over the coming weeks.

Around the Garden Dutch Master daffodils growing in our greenhouse. Freshly cut bunches of greenhouse daffodils. A snowy backdrop for one of our iris fields. More and more Bald Eagles seem to visit the Valley each New Year. Lights brighten up the windmill during the dark winter months.

From Our Customers We believe Mary E. when she says, "With tulips, everything goes with everything!"