Yesterday I took a day off from my garden business to go see a bunch of flowers and to visit a garden center. Is that a day off? Shouldn’t I be playing Scrabble at the local coffee shop?

It was promising rain and clouds when we left Seattle, but by the time we got to Mount Vernon, the sun was shining and the air was warming up. We turned off the I-5 early and headed west towards La Conner, where we stumbled upon the tulip fields from the backside of the tour loop. They were gorgeous by volume.

We paid the $4 to park and went frolicking through the fields. I haven’t been there for about 10 years, and I had forgotten just how much the huge swaths of color seem so out of place in the landscape. We fully accept, and expect, any shade of green or brown, but when it’s purple, coral and red, it really looks surreal. I want to go to Holland now.

But, I have a garden business at home. I deal with plants, gardening and garden accessories everyday. Why am I trudging through someone’s field to look at flowers on my day off? Shouldn’t I have my nose stuck in a book at the beach?

We literately stumbled upon Christiansen’s Nursery on Best Road (It was the best road, ever! ;-) I only check out their booth every year at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show, but have never been to the nursery itself. It was lovely to see that they kept, and worked with, the old buildings and greenhouses that have the old layers and layers of charm that the in-city garden centers just don’t have. Add this to whomever does the merchandising, and it’s every gardener’s dream. I would want a store like this…

But, it’s my day off. I’m supposed to be getting away from the biz – not creating more of it by dreaming and scheming like this…. Shouldn’t I be getting a manicure and my hair done somewhere?

After more touring around and a couple of thrift shops later, we find the Roozengarde display gardens and pay the $5 to get in. (Shouldn’t this be free and we buy bulbs instead?) The tulips were really amazing. Everywhere was a Kodak moment as I drove the husband crazy by wanting to see every last one. It was really a treat to the eye and after my camera was full, we were done.

But, tell me other people do this too. I am a confirmed plantsholic! Is there a 12-step program for this? Weekly meetings where everyone says, “Hi, Janit!” when I get up and introduce myself? “It’s been seven days since my last plant purchase, and I only gardened once this week.” Applause and nods from the audience…

But, I have to admit, if I wasn’t touring the tulip fields yesterday, I would have been working in my garden... I need help.