A dainty little life in deep delight, discovering a landscape of incredible colors. Could any picture tug more strongly at the heartstrings?
Yes: The same sweet scene after you’ve sipped a glass or two of wine from Bethany Vineyard and Winery in Ridgefield. Or cycled through the flower fields and out around the surrounding countryside. Or taken in tulip-inspired artworks by talented students from Woodland High School.
The month of April is one big party at Holland America Bulb Farms in Woodland, retail manager Stacey Lane said. It’s punctuated by special weekend events that really rev up the springtime rainbow, but the open secret is that the flower fields are open seven days a week during daylight hours.
“This is our 14th annual Woodland Tulip Festival,” Lane said. “We really mean it to be a community event for the city of Woodland. We invite the public to come down and experience the very best tulips.” And lilies, irises, roses, amaryllis — bulbs and cut flowers of all kinds.
IF YOU GO
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What: 14th annual Woodland Tulip Festival, featuring local vendors, contests, admiring and ordering flowers.
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When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 9-10 and 16-17.
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Cost: Free.
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Also: Open for U-pick dawn to dusk, 7 days a week, $.50 cents per stem.
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What: Wine tasting and art show.
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When: 5 to 8 p.m. April 23.
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Cost: Free to look; five wine tastings are $15 in advance or $20 at the door.
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Where: Holland America Bulb Farm, 1066 S. Pekin Ferry Road, Woodland.
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Contact:www.woodlandtulipshabf.com, 360-225-4512.
Why is Woodland such a great incubator for tender young tulips and their cousins? Because of nearby Mount St. Helens — that is, because of rich, sandy, volcanic soil full of good organic stuff. “We have a perfect recipe for growing bulbs right here,” Lane said.
Ottoman origin
It’s no different on mountainsides in Turkey and the former Ottoman Empire. The tulip, which we usually identify with Holland, grew wild in central Asia and was bred and cultivated by the Turks as early as 1,000 A.D. The widely accepted story is that an astonished ambassador from the Holy Roman Empire to Great Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, ruler of millions of Ottomans in the 1500s, brought the tulip back to Western Europe with him.
Within a century tulips were spreading and sprouting all over the place; in Holland there was even a storied episode of “tulip mania” — a social fad that drove an unsustainable economic bubble. Europe had never seen anything like this intensely colorful novelty before, and newly independent Holland was pursuing fortunes in overseas trade. The result: a whole new export industry that gave rise to vast new Amsterdam estates, teeming with flamelike flowers that screamed “new money” and demanded staring.
Tulip popularity soared and so did prices — a single bulb could cost as much as a horse and carriage — until the inevitable steep tumble wiped out many speculators and stabilized the market. (Market saturation was one problem, but another likely reason why tulip speculators stopped showing up at big public bulb auctions was the 1637 outbreak of bubonic plague.)
Woodland wonderful
The only bubble you’ll find at Holland America Bulb Farms is a big bubble of beauty. That’s the best part of the Woodland Tulip Festival: simply admiring the wonder of two vast fields full of “thousands and thousands and thousands” of flowers, Lane said.
One is the “show field,” laid out in rows of rainbow, where you can examine individual varieties, note names and get ready to place orders. The bulbs you order now and plant next fall will bring those same amazing colors to your landscape in 2017, Lane said. (Yes, it’s a long-term project. Meanwhile feel free to enjoy the perennials.) Just don’t touch anything, please. The other field is the “U-pick” field, with individual stems priced at 50 cents each and no limits on volume, she said.
All of that is standard for Holland America Bulb Farms. What’s special on April weekends are all the extra festivities and offerings:
• 25 local vendors such as Brevin’s Solid Gold Fudge of Astoria and Woodland staple America’s Family Diner and Catering. April 9-10 and 16-17.
• Cute baby contest. Starring your own decked-out, dolled-up, florally photogenic tyke. Open to children 2 and under. The winning photo will be used on the cover of Holland America’s 2017 catalog. Deadline for submission, via email, is April 30.
• Youth art contest. Open to ages 10 to 18 in drawing, painting, photography and floral arts. “Woodland High School has an amazing floral design program,” Lane said. The theme should be tulips, of course. Deadline for submissions is 3 p.m. April 23. Prizes awarded 2 p.m. April 30.
• Just do art (no contest)! Photographers and painters love bringing their cameras and easels and spending time awash in dizzying color. The farm loves it too, Lane said. Artists are always welcome to come capture the experience.
• Tires and tulips. Car show, 2 to 5 p.m., April 23. New this year, right before art and wine. Call to ask about participating.
• Art show and wine festival. A tasty pairing of great local artworks — photography, jewelry, painting, more — with wines from Ridgefield’s Bethany Vineyard and Winery and Koi Pond Cellars. Free to attend, tickets for tastings. Local caterers will fill your belly, too. Evening of April 23 only.
• “Dutch bike ride.” A group of cyclists always shows up to embark from Holland America Bulb Farms and explore the Woodland bottoms, Lane said. It’s not sponsored by the bulb farm and Lane isn’t even sure exactly whom and which day — but 30 to 50 flower-loving cyclists turn up and add to the magic every year, she said.
Please visit www.woodlandtulipshabf.com website for all the fine print on entering contests, ordering tickets and buying bulbs.
