Tulips, eh?

Here we are in Canada. We flew in to Seattle at lunchtime and then drove out to the Skagit Valley to spend the afternoon looking at the tulip fields. Most of the Dutch bulbs that are sold in the U.S. are grown there, as are many of the fresh cut tulips used by florists. And yes, lots of Dutch tulip bulbs still come from Holland, too.

They also grow a lot of other things in the Skagit Valley. Tulips are grown on a 5-year rotation to prevent tulip diseases, so the valley is a patchwork of tulip fields and other crops that are grown in each field until they can grow tulips again.

Here are a couple of pictures from one of the tulip fields.