Couple keep daffodil tradition blooming
Trevor Meis, 23, and his girlfriend Calin Benson, 21, mix pleasure with picking Sunday at the LaLonde “daffodil house” — Seward Road and 151st Street in Felida. The 15,000 or so daffodils should bloom for another month, the LaLondes say. You can pick a dozen for 50 cents.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Michelle LaLonde of Felida says she has no choice but to keep inviting the public to pick daffodils at her home.
When she and husband Ed bought the house in 1988, “We were told this is something that we had to do,” she said, smiling. “People say, I’ve been coming here for 50 years.”
Here is at the corner of 151st Street and Seward Road. Folks call their home “the daffodil house.”
The daffodils were planted in 1923 by one of the Nichols’ girls, Ed LaLonde said. The Nichols, two brothers and two sisters, lived in the 1910 house and farmed 200 acres, he said.
Today, the LaLondes have 1¾ acres.
“We’ve never raised the prices,” Michelle said. You can have a dozen for 50 cents and leave your money in the glass jar on the back porch, please.
How many daffodils?
About 15,000, Ed said. There’s King David and a double bloom variety. And Ed appreciates that it takes “no maintenance” to bring up the flower crop. You can also buy walnuts from 16 trees on the property.
The LaLondes are Skyview High School parents: Austin is a senior and Tyler is a sophomore.
Ed said, “It is fun to see the young families come out and take pictures with their kids.”
Calin Benson, 21, was home for the weekend. She is a student at Western Washington University in Bellingham.
She said to boyfriend, Trevor Meis, 23, “We need to pick some daffodils.”
Said Meis, “I know the spot.”
So, they picked some and Meis stole a kiss during the outing.
Ed said the family is not concerned about money. But he noted that most customers are honest and make sure their money gets into the jar.
Michelle said there is another month of daffodil picking ahead.
So, if you’re hankering to get the best flower buy in the county from a field planted 87 years ago, you know the spot.
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