After one-and-a-half years living in and several visits to Washington State we never made it to Skagit Valley to see the tulips. It was one of probably hundreds of wonderful sights that we missed while in the States for nine years. To placate myself I convinced himself to visit ‘Tulipmania’ with me. He was less than enthusiastic. I wasn’t expecting much. Don’t you love it when things turn out so much better than you expected? If you like tulips, click to enlarge these pics. If you don’t, there are more exciting things below!
I’ve christened these tulips Gale Force Yellow: 
If you’re not tulip-ed out (I’m American. We make up words) visit my cousin’s WordPress site and her stunning photos of the Skagit Valley tulips here. And for Jude’s Bench Challenge sit here: 
This bench with a view is only a week late. She said the rules were flexible. If you’re a glutton for punishment, listen to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcSlcNfThUA Go on! It will give you a laugh!
Which Way Now 101 
These photos are exquisite and the tulips are spectacular! I’ve never seen anything so beautiful so THANK YOU for posting them.
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It was a most gratifying day out. I was pleasantly surprised at the lovely show of blooms. Glad you enjoyed the photos.
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Ha ha, Tiny Tim and Tip-toe through the Tulips. That brought back memories.
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Giggling! Tiny Tim!! YIKES!!! I miss tulips in the spring being in the desert but we have another kind of spring here. But I enjoy seeing those gorgeous tulips! THANK YOU!
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Thank YOU!
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Glad I resisted the video, but those waggly purple tulipany are just lush! One of my walking friends was at Keukenhof last week and she forgot her camera 😦
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Oh no! Disaster! She’ll have to go again next year. 🙂
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I love tulips, especially really dark ones like the purple ones you found 🙂
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I’d no idea there was such a variety. Now I’m hooked. Need to go to Holland next year. 😉
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One can never have too many tulips, birds or money 🙂 Beautiful photos Carol!
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Lots of tulips, birds and money! Sounds good to me.
How many weeks, days and hours to go now Judy?
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Arrived via Jude’s blog, intrigued by the video clip…. sadly I remember it from the first time around. Wonderful pictures of tulips though – brava!
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Sorry you had to arrive via Tiny Tim to get to the pretty flowers! Thanks for your visit today. 🙂
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S.t.u.n.n.i.n.g. ❤
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Thank you! It was a great day!
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You are welcome. Glad it was a great day.
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Glorious tulips ‘en masse’! Loved the gale force yellow… And I have to confess that Tiny Tim did make me chuckle 😉
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I’m glad you had a laugh. It’s the reason I posted him. He seems to have got under some people’s skin!
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😀😀
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Beware the video clip! Yes, there are a few disturbed bloggers out there after viewing it. Sage advice, Jude.
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Tulips are my favorite and your photos are beautiful. Spring is definitely in the air 🙂
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It’s very, very green here now. I don’t even mind the rain! Safe travels to you.
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Tulips are my favorite flowers. Thank you for sharing.
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My pleasure! Thanks for visiting.
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Absolutely gorgeous shots Carol!
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Thanks LuAnn. Enjoying the English spring!
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Wonderful tulip pics, Carol! I’d love to sit on a bench and just drink in their beauty. I remember going to Spalding with my parents when I was a child, but of course i didn’t have a camera then, and I don’t think they did either. I didn’t listen to Tiny Tim, but he’s somehow still got into my head. 🙂
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Thank you Sylvia. Sorry about Tiny Tim. It would seem he was an ill-judged addition to my post. Put the radio on. Loud. 😉
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Nothing says spring like tulips! A lovely selection in your photos, They have an annual tulip festival in Ottawa – bulbs still sent by Holland in thanks for the Canadian part in the WW2 liberation.
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How wonderful. I got a bit choked up when I read your comment out loud to himself. I think that’s really special.
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Tha
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Wonderful pictures of the tulips. Glad to know you have visited the tulips this year.
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Thank you. It was great to see them en mass at last.
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The tulips are gorgoeus! I love all the different petals and colors.
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I’m a sucker for bright colors so tulips fit the bill!
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Love tulips, Carol! Your pics are fab.
Lisa at NWFrameofMind lives in the PNW and she posts amazing pics from Skagit Valley every year. Now it’s on my bucket list.
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Good for you. I’m hoping to do Holland next year as I kept missing Skagit every year we were in WA.
How are you doing?
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The tulips are beautiful! Can’t decide which ones are my favourite but those dark purple ones really caught my eye:)
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I thought each one was more stunning than the last. It was a glorious display.
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I love tulips, they are my favorite flower. Thanks for sharing.
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Isn’t it a shame they are so short lived? I guess we won’t get tired of them as they make their appearance once a year.
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True 🙂
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Great Post Carol, looks like a lovely garden (rain and all). Love Tiny Tim at the end, will have to include him on my next tulip post!
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Think twice about spoiling your lovely photos with Tiny Tim. I think he’s given some of my followers the colly wobbles!
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I know, I read that, I liked the memory though!
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It made me laugh!
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As tulips are my FAVOURITE flower I will graciously accept your late entry. What a place for a bench, what a view, and what a LOT of tulips!! Spalding you say? I remember my dad taking us through the bulb fields in Lincolnshire on our Sunday afternoon drives when I was a very small child. I don’t think we ever got out of the car though.
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We only saw (spent) daffodil fields. They must have been spectacular. Look up Springfield Festival Gardens. They are maintained by the local horticultural society.
I’ve just been looking at a blog post of the Keukenhof gardens. That’s on my list for next year!
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I looked at Keukenhof a couple of years ago, but I think I’d find it too crowded and too manicured. I like simpler gardens and less contrived gardens nowadays.
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Absolutely gorgeous photos. I totally get the ‘Gale Force Yellow’. 🙂
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Bowed but not beaten!
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Your photos give a sense of how spectacular these gardens had to have been!
… but then there is Tiny Tim. Time has not improved this song.
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Oh, sorry Joanne. Did he spoil the pretty flowers for you?
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I just knew what that video was going to be, but I couldn’t stop myself. I just HAD to play it … and now that horrible sound has been playing around in my head ALL DAY!!
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Sorree! Sorree! Sorree! Can’t you put your ipod on and flush that song out? Sorreee!
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Done! 🙂
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So beautiful! Tulip time in Skagit Valley is definitely on our list, but I don’t know if it is as beautiful as where you ended up seeing your tulips. And yes, I love when things turn out better than expected. 🙂
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I regret not seeing the tulip fields of Skagit Valley. There are similar fields just north of where we are but they are not open to the public as they are on private land. Keep Skagit on your list!
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Gorgeous. I love tulips en masse – I looked at your cousin’s photos, which are also lovely. Last time we were in Amsterdam two years ago it was a very late spring and the tulips at Keukenhof were disappointing, apart from in the exhibition halls. I hadn’t realised it was a North American “thing” too – I’d not heard of Skagit Valley. I also read recently about a Toronto (I think!) tulip festival. Oh dear, so many things to add to the travel list….
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These tulips were at the Springfield Festival Gardens in Spalding, Lincolnshire but if you Google ‘tulipmania’ you could end up anywhere. I ‘found’ myself in Singapore! Get your list out again!
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Oh, I read that wrong then – I thought they were in the US too. Mind you, Spalding from Glasgow is probably not much easier to get to!
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Only five and a half hours in the car. But so worth it!
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Your Photos Made My Day and Made Me Smile – Thanks 🙂 Happy Day – Enjoy!
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Thank you. Not everybody’s cup of tea but I love ’em!
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I LOVE LOVE LOVE Gale Force Yellow. I’ve never seen that one before. Was it windy or is that just how they grow? I so loves me a good tulip.
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I wish you could have come with me then! I was grinning like a Cheshire cat when I saw my first vista of tulips. I’m afraid Gale Force Yellow is a made up name. We’d had heavy rain the night before and some of the tulips were a bit battered, most had held up well and some, like the GFYS, looked quite whimsical!
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I like that they look wind blown… and yes I did realize that Gale Force Yellow was made up. It was a very fitting name though lol.
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I love tulips and would love to visit a place like that
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You have lots of gorgeous flowers that are uniquely South African but yes it was a wonderful place to visit.
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Tulips are amazing! I prefer mine in pots, though, because their display is so short. I remember Tiny Tim on the Johnny Carson Show. I think he got married on TV, didn’t he? Seems like a long time ago now!
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I wonder if the tulips last a bit longer here in our slightly cooler climate. I was also wondering what the gardens will do with all the spent foliage after the blooms finish. They covered a huge area. Hmm. I think I need to investigate that. I’ll get back to you.
I’d forgotten that about Tiny Tim. He married Miss Vicki. It was a long time ago!
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Oh, you have to watch bending the rules with that Jude. She’s really tough on that! 🙂 Lovely pix and I love that line about being American so you make up words! That’s Carolious!
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So you have proved without a doubt that you are American too!
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One does wonder! LOL.
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Oi! Stop stirring you! But I will pass on Tiny Tim thank you…
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Sorry Jude…
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😕
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