TIP-TOEING THROUGH THE TULIPS

ROOZENGAARDE TULIP GARDENS
April 18th 2018
by Margaret Deefholts
(photos by Eric Liu and Margaret Deefholts)

We did indeed "tiptoe through the tulips"... and more.

Wednesday April 18th turned out to be a pleasantly mild day with intermittent sunshine and, thankfully, not a drop of rain!

Our group—Ashley and Brenda Oliver (with a couple of friends), Gwen and Keith Vint, Ian and Thea Baxter, Eric Liu (a fab photographer with a gift of the gab!), Betty Mackie and me—boarded our Enjoy Tours bus at various pick-up locations and headed off to the US border.

A brief stop for coffee and a bite to eat en-route at Haagen, in Ferndale was a welcome break for those who hadn't had breakfast or were thirsting for a 'wake up' jolt of coffee (Betty!) and it gave me a chance to stretch my legs and explore the grocery section. I managed to keep my hands in my pockets and not in my purse, as I knew I'd be sucumbing to shopping temptation later in the day.


Margaret Deefholts with Betty Mackie
Ian Baxter, Brenda Oliver, Gwen Vint, a friend of the Olivers, Keith Vint and Ashley Oliver

Eric Liu with Thea and Ian Baxter

The RoozenGaarde display gardens were breathtaking—a blaze of colour with artfully landscaped beds of hyacinths, daffodils and tulips in every colour imaginable. A blue "river" of bulbs flanked by purple, scarlet and two-toned orange and yellow blooms wound under shady trees and a pretty windmill added a charming touch to the scene. Beyond a fence, and stretching into the distance, tulip beds were broad counterpane-like splashes of yellow, red, and magenta against a background of snow capped mountains.


Blue river

Betty Mackie


Then it was time for lunch and a treat awaited us at the Kiwanis Club in Mount Vernon...read on