Behind the Sign

Every time I gaze upon a tulip, not to mention entire fields of them stretching to a horizon framed by the purple mountains majesty of the Cascades, it kind of takes my breath away. Having confessed this, you can appreciate why I look forward to the prospect of continuing to view tulips even as we approach Mother’s Day, 2023 — hopefully, with less tulip traffic, but at least with warmer temperatures than when the annual Tulip Festival began in what turned out to be the fourth month of winter in the Magic Skagit. To celebrate the floral event that makes the Skagit Valley an international destination venue each spring, I thought I’d go back to some tulip themed “Tales of the Magic Skagit” episodes from the past — a literary tip-toe through the tulips, if you will.

When it comes to celebrating blooms, if you want to party like it’s 1999 you’d be hard pressed to top the Turkish sultan Ahmed III, whose reign in Istanbul from 1703 to 1730 was known as the lale devri (tulip era) by historians chronicling the Ottoman Empire. Tulips were also his undoing. You always hurt the one you love, as Hank Williams sang.

Mount Vernon artist Jennifer McGill and her husband were cruising the tulip fields exactly one year ago today when the inspiration for this year’s official Tulip Festival poster struck. This is the story behind the image.