Golden Glory: Daffodils of the Skagit Valley

Squish. Pop. Squish. Pop.

My shoes were making sounds on fields of muddy clay. In order to admire the daffodils in the Skagit Valley, i had to carefully plant one foot, then lift the other while trying to avoid water puddles, not exactly my idea of having fun. The epic rains that got dumped on our area yesterday soaked everything. But, if I just stood in place and diverted by attention to what was before me, the vista was priceless—acres upon acres of yellow daffodils as far as the eye could see.

Since we were on our way to Vancouver, B.C., we thought we’d drop in on Roozengaarde (in Mount Vernon) along the way. To convince us further, today was the only partially sunny day forecast for the next 7 days. Last week, I read that the bulb flowers would be blooming very early this year because of our unseasonably warm winter and recent sunny weather. (Cherry blossom trees were several weeks early, too, putting on beautiful displays throughout the Seattle area.) My sympathies to the folks around Mount Vernon and La Conner. They rely economically on the normally reliable tulip exhibitions during next month’s Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, but now face the prospect of dwindling displays.

For us, at least, while there weren’t many tulips to admire quite yet, the daffodils were spectacular in their golden glory, even if we had to trudge in the mud to get up close.