TULIP TIME!

 I forget to begin with the last post in a series, so that the introduction will print first.

Ah well, the explanation comes now at the end of 3 Tulip posts, here.

Another brook of grape hyacinth rushes between rank and file of colors:

Some varieties have this eye-catching stripe on the leaves:

These 3 are some variety of "Parrot" tulip; 

almost more fetching to me than the bright ones. 

I love the antique, flirtatious Victorian look:

This patch definitely has the giggles:

At the end of our tulip adventures, we had lunch in a waterfront

cafe at a little fishing town:

WHO'S THE FAIREST OF THEM ALL?

I was happily surprised at the little girls' joy at being in the gardens.

I was also proud of them for being actually excited about the beauty as they looked up the names 

of each variety and tried to choose favorites.

Thank goodness it wasn't a contest!

A river of grape hyacinth between infantries of tulips:

"And tulips, children love to stretch
  Their fingers down, to feel in each
    Its beauty's sweet nearer." 
(Elizabeth Barrett Browning)

One almost wanted to warn the girls, "Don't touch those petals, you will burn yourself!"

because of the hot brilliance:

Not once in the hours of garden-browsing did we hear a whine

from the girls.  They were tirelessly fascinated.

Yay!  More nature-lovers in the family!

I COULDN'T HELP IT!

When the invitation came from a daughter to go up to the Skagit Tulip festival with her and their 2 youngest girls yesterday, I declined.  After all, I was just there last week with my husband to view the daffodils.

Such a weakling I am!  These photos prove my vulnerability, because there I was, taking them!

Now it is tulips which are brightening the ground instead of daffodils.

First encounter:

The last of the daffodils are here in this photo.  The photo op caught my attention because

it shows 3 different blooming stages of Spring:

The little girls loved the acres of tulips, AND the mud at their feet!

This is not exactly "tip-toe-ing through the tulips"!

But making that photo allowed me to see this opportunity.

Mud puddles can be lovely too!

IN THE ROUGH

As stunning as the commercial gardens are at the Skagit Valley Tulip Fest,

I much prefer to discover a photo op of my own, where the floral layout is not contrived.

Forsythia and an aging fence caught my eye for sure:

These camellias looked luscious enough to pour into a glass to drink: 

More random au natural finds:

My most favorite "find" as a result of farm-road rambling was this old barn.

Aging turned the siding the same color gold as the surrounding fields of daffodils, and I couldn't

resist trespassing just a tiny bit.
(I still do not enhance or saturate the color in my photos,
this is exactly how that old barn looks!)

I couldn't decide which view I liked best,

so I post all three:

I can't be in farm country without capturing a relic:

PRELUDE TO THE HORDES

These hyacinths were at their prime, which meant that the fragrance was tangible!

These are in a commercial garden for display.  Usually that place is so over-run with people - happy though they be - that it almost takes away the pleasure.

Hardly anyone was around; lucky us!

These blindingly-red tulips among the hyacinths were almost painful to look at:

Back to the road-side; the more-accessible, business end of the bulbs:

DIZZY OVER DAFFODILS

Early spring in the Skagit Valley north of here means bulb flowers are bursting out

all over.  They call it the "Tulip Festival", but a sunny day and the fact that my husband prefers daffodils

to tulips meant we went up there about a week ahead of thousands of Tip-Toe-ers.

First glance showed promise, and this sight was at every farm road turn:

Knee-deep in smiles:

There were only a couple of small fields of the earliest of tulips.

I loved this non-conformist!