We may be getting close to spring, in the Pacific Northwest, but it looks like winter is holding a pretty steady grip. We are again experiencing some pretty awesome snow storms in the Cascade mountains but also some relentless rain in the Willamette Valley. This can only mean one thing for all of you flower lovers…muddy and sloppy flower time. If you plan on visiting any of the numerous tulip festivals throughout Washington and Oregon, you better plan on bringing your rubber boots and rain jackets. There is nothing more messy than walking along the rows of flowers that other people and machinery have trampled on. However, we may get lucky from next weeks forecast and just maybe get some sunny skies that might dry up some of the standing water that otherwise would be rows of flowers. However, I wouldn’t get my hopes up. I took this picture while visiting the Woodburn, Oregon tulip festival last year. It was also pretty muddy then as well. There weren’t a lot of photo opportunities due to the weather conditions and extremely muddy and flooded spots all along the grounds. March can be a really tricky time, in the Pacific Northwest, and it’s too bad that some of our best flowers sprout during the month of March. It’s especially bad if we get a late start on winter or a second winter since it always takes place in March.