Growing Community Spirit and Beauty at Garden Rosalyn
If you look south from Jungquist Road between Beaver Marsh and Kamb, you might glimpse a colorful windmill atop a slight rise in a field. Surrounded by rich soil and acres of farms in every direction, the windmill sits back from the road, inviting. It is a double tribute: to the Netherlands, home of so many of the tulips grown in the Skagit Valley; and with its green, red, and white paint, to the Mexican flag.
This is Garden Rosalyn, the dream of Ernesto Mendoza.
Ernesto has spent a lot of time in these Skagit fields, getting a feeling for them and how to make things grow well and beautifully from the soil. When he worked at RoozenGarde several years ago, the colors dazzled and impressed him. He wanted to grow them himself, so he decided to raise his own flowers and create a unique garden and share it with the larger community. For Ernesto, tending the earth is about serving others in the larger community.
In 2019, Ernesto opened Garden Rosalyn in 2019 just west of Mount Vernon. Rosalyn plays on the Spanish word for pink, “rosa.” Since 2022, Garden Rosalyn has been one of the tulip gardens featured by the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival that includes unique features and a separate ticket. It is part of the quintessential agricultural landscape in Skagit Valley. Ernesto is glad that more people find Garden Rosalyn and experience Skagit every year.
As with any enterprise that depends on the soil, getting started was difficult and expensive. But Ernesto persisted and learned from his experience season after season. With each lesson, he has increased the garden’s size, something he hopes to continue. “I have more plans to create another garden,” says Ernesto. “That’s my dream.”
Ernesto’s entrepreneurial and community spirit run deep. Even as a boy in Mexico, Ernesto sold things. When he came to the United States, he wanted to continue. “I love business so much,” says Ernesto. “Business motivates me a lot.”
So does bringing the people together to enjoy flowers and the rural Pacific Northwest setting. “I love creating a beautiful garden for the community,” he says.
Among his carefully sculpted flower beds is a pond where ducks and geese add to the Skagit atmosphere. Garden Rosalyn allows leashed (and well-behaved) dogs. Most visitors bring their dogs with them, and this delights Ernesto because he sees how it makes visitors happy. Creating a positive and beautiful experience among the flowers he raises and arranges encourages him.
To keep the operation going, like any good farmer or gardener, Ernesto works around the year, shaping beds, maintaining the grass, taking care of the plants, and checking for pests. Along the back fence he grows extra flowers that are available to transplant during the tulip festival to make sure the blooms look just right with all the right colors in place to make the design work. This extra work ensures Ernesto has a stock in preparation for emergencies, the sort of planning necessary in any sort of agricultural or horticultural practice.
Attention to detail is critical to Ernesto’s business for the flowers and the visitors. He provides a space for others to sell snacks and desserts. Weather worries him only slightly. A previous freeze affected some of the plants that had already appeared during the warm winter, but fortunately the damage was minimal.
On a total of 13 acres, Garden Rosalyn includes seven acres of carefully designed gardens. Ernesto has created designs of hearts, stars, and animals, all within spectacular views of the Cascade Mountains and surrounded by more Skagit farmland.
“I am proud to be a Skagit farmer,” says Ernesto. “I hope my business goes very well so we can share work with our hard-working people.”
Last year, 6,000 people visited Garden Rosalyn during the festival and saw the results of the careful tending of the crop. During the festival, Ernesto sells flowers, which account for about 15% of his business. This is the highpoint of the year for a tulip grower and garden designer. It is the culmination of planning and planting, tending and harvesting, all for others to benefit and enjoy. “I always like to welcome people with a lot of affection and receive them well,” says Ernesto.
Every year, Garden Rosalyn hosts visitors from many states, and Ernesto hopes this year is no different. He looks forward to many people from the communities close and far will come enjoy Garden Rosalyn and the agricultural abundance on display in Skagit Valley.
Note: Special thanks to Heriberto for translating.
By Adam Sowards: info@skagitonians.org