Just over a year ago on a gray day, we drove from our home in Mount Vernon, Washington across the lowlands of Skagit County toward the town of LaConner. We were new to the area and we didn’t know exactly what to expect. We hoped that we would see some of the remaining trumpeter swans that fill the fields during the winter in the area and we were not disappointed. There were still quite a few of the large white birds in some of the green fields. We were also looking for any signs of the tulips for which the Skagit Valley is famous. We knew that we were early. Tulip festival is the month of April and it was still late March. What we did discover was a delight. Before the tulips come into bloom adding their brilliant colors to the landscape, other fields start to turn yellow with daffodils. We love daffodils and have planted them in the gardens of the places where we have lived, but a few of the perennial bulbs in a flowerbed are no match for hundreds of acres of blooms. There are at least three major producers of daffodils in Skagit County: RoozenGaarde Flower Farm, Tulip Town, and Schuh Farms. We were most familiar with Schuh farms because we had visited their farm store the previous Advent with our grandchildren to purchase a few tulip bulbs to be planted at our son’s farm.

RoozenGaard alone has about 450 acres of daffodil fields. That is a whole lot of yellow flowers. The daffodils that are harvested for sale as cut flowers are harvested before the bloom. They look like sticks of asparagus when they are cut and taken to the farm flower stores and from the farm shipped across the country to be sold in flower shops. That part of the growing of daffodils isn’t very impressive unless you consider the scale of the operation. Spring flowers are shipped by air transport to destinations across the United States and Canada.

Cut flowers, however, aren’t the biggest part of the business for commercial daffodil growers. Their big business comes from the bulbs that are harvested, dried and prepared for sale in garden shops. Those bulbs are allowed to produce flowers in the field before they are dug and prepared for sale. The result is that there are giant fields of yellow daffodils and tourists drive along the county roads to see the spectacle. The town of LaConner has an annual daffodil festival in March and gardeners all around the town plant the bulbs in an attempt to produce plenty of colorful blossoms for visitors to see.

Like every kind of farming, a lot depends on the weather. Cooler weather means that the bulbs will be in full bloom a bit later. Warmer weather brings blossoms sooner. It is difficult to predict exactly which days are the best for flower viewing.

Now it is nearly a year later and with gas prices above $4 per gallon, we aren’t eager to make too many trips down to our former home. However, we’d like to make the pilgrimage to see the daffodils this spring. Our son Isaac works in Mount Vernon and makes the commute daily from his farm up here and he can give us some advice on when might be a good time to make a trip. Furthermore he is a March child, having been born on the Ides of March, so a trip down to Mount Vernon might include a birthday lunch with our very busy son.

The gorgeous fields of flowers bring to mind another place we once lived many years ago. In the late 1970s to the mid-1980s we lived in Hettinger, North Dakota. In August and September of each year the fields of sunflowers would color the prairies in a spectacular fashion. Sunflowers face the sun, so the plants would have all of their blossoms facing in the same direction. A field that looked rather plain from one side would be brilliant from the other side. Most of the sunflowers grown in the area in those days were raised for oil seeds. They were left in the field until well after several frosts until the moisture content in the seeds was just right for combining. A few farmers also grew confectionary sunflowers, harvested also for their seeds. It was, of course, very different from the daffodil fields of Skagit County, but it is interesting how the memories of a long life can blend into themes that allow one experience to remind one of a very different experience from a different time and place.

Lent is the season of lengthening. The days are showing more and more sunlight as we move from winter’s darkness toward summer. I walked in my shirtsleeves without a jacket for one of the first times this spring yesterday. It felt good to feel the gentle breeze. But I’ve lived in cold country too many winters to trust an occasional warm spring day. According to my computer, it is only 9 degrees in Rapid City, where we lived for 25 years. A few flurries or snow showers are possible there today. In the town where I was born, it was snowing last night with the overnight temperature forecast to go below zero. Add in 20 to 30 mph winds and it doesn’t feel much like spring there right now. However, summer will come to both places and both places will have some delightful spring weather at some point before too long. Every place we have lived has had some days when the weather seems a bit oppressive and some days that are a pure delight. One joke has marked every place we have lived: “If you don’t like the weather, wait 5 minutes. It will change.”

We listen to the wind blowing off of the bay as we drift off to sleep and although it can seem a bit fierce at times, we know that spring is coming. We’ve already seen a few crocuses and daffodils around the neighborhood. A year from now, after we’ve had time to plant some bulbs in our yard, we’ll have blossoms to share. For now it is enough to remember last year and to plan a trip to visit the flower fields this spring.