After experiencing the sunniest February on record, it's hardly surprising that this year's spring-blossom season is as much as a month ahead of schedule. For example, daffodils that frequently don't open until April are already parading their colours. If bravery is a quality that could be attributed to plants, daffs would definitely get my vote. Unlike tulips that open and shut on a daily basis depending on the warmth of the sun, daffodils unfold in all their gold and orange glory and stay that way, and damn the consequences.

The results can be dire, indeed, given that as recently as 2002 a late-March snowstorm decimated daffodil fields in the Fraser and Skagit valleys. That year's storm wasn't nearly as bad as a protracted cold snap in 1988 that not only killed the blossoms but froze the bulbs as well, forcing more than a few of growers out of business. Such is the world of farming.

Day-trippers in the know will already be planing a trip to the tiny Fraser Valley community of Bradner, heart of the daffodil industry locally, where an astounding 400 varieties are cultivated, the largest field-grown bulb area in the province. Farmers there are keeping their fingers crossed that the weather holds long enough for them to cut and ship their crops east to major buyers such as the Canadian Cancer Society, whose annual fundraising drive in April is synonymous with sales of this lily-family member. Organizers of Bradner's annual flower show, first held in the 1920s and this year April 8 to 10, are just as hopeful, particularly as this year's Easter Parade at the local community centre is earlier than it has been in some time.

Although a drive to explore Bradner's environs is nothing to be sniffed at, it has to take a back seat to the 18-kilometre, cliff-side trip along Chuckanut Drive that winds south from Bellingham to the Skagit Valley's expanse of daffodil and tulip fields. No matter how often I revisit this sublime route, a new aspect always reveals itself as the two-lane highway winds past tall stands of arbutus trees in Larrabee State Park and above the oyster grounds in Samish Bay. It's far enough from mainstream life in the States to appear remote, even to Americans. To Canadians, it seems like an exotic cameo, briefly savoured and long remembered. This is a classic drive that should be slowly enjoyed.

It's easy to tell when you reach the Skagit Valley. After heading through the folds and foothills of the Cascade Mountains south of Bellingham, the landscape suddenly levels into a wide expanse of prairie. Where Chuckanut Drive merges with Highway 20, head west toward La Conner, the oldest settlement in Skagit County. You immediately begin to roll past muddy fields that later in summer will be shoulder-high with corn. Not until you near La Conner do the fields begin to reveal flashes of bright colour. This area is prosaically known as Skagit Flats, and it's easy to see why. Suddenly the horizon, which closed in on all sides along Chuckanut Drive, widens dramatically. Side roads lead off in a grid network and link farms with Bradner-size crossroads communities such as Bow, Edison, and Conway.

In April, this is the site of a major tulip festival that attracts tens of thousands of petal peepers. Daffodils precede tulips blossoms by several weeks, which makes late March a quieter, less pressured time to visit here. Leading up to the festival, a local bulb-growing company posts regular updates on its Web site (www.tulips.com/) that indicate which fields are currently in bloom. This is just as helpful for locating daffodil fields-as well as irises, which follow in May and June-as it is with tulips.

Neat rows of daffs line many of the approaches to La Conner, making this an attractive region to explore by bicycle when the wind and rain are not blowing across the fields. Flocks of overwintering snow geese find the pickings here as attractive as those on Westham Island in Delta. Roadside flower stands offer a profuse variety of daffodils for sale. The going price is about $2 a dozen. As there is no restriction on bringing cut flowers into Canada, stock up. Shopping at these stands also provides a welcome opportunity to chat with local growers about issues that are as common to their lives as on the Canadian side of the border.

No visit here would be complete without a stop in La Conner. The fertile agricultural land of Skagit Flats leads out to the open waters of Skagit Bay. The La Conner waterfront sits on the east side of Swinomish Slough, a sheltered harbour for boats making their way from Puget Sound to the San Juan Islands. It seems as if the town is one large national historic district. One of the best views of Skagit Flats is from the observation deck of the Skagit County Historical Museum at the north end of Fourth Street, where Mount Baker's snow cone can be seen rising above the sweep of multihued flower fields below. -

ACCESS: The round trip from Vancouver to La Conner is about 250 kilometres. Follow the I-5 from the Canada-U.S. border to exits 250 (Chuckanut Drive/Highway 11) or 230 (Mount Vernon/Highway 20). For Bradner Daffodil Festival information, call 604-856-2794. To get to Bradner, take the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1) east to the 264th Street North exit (#73). Turn east on 56th Avenue (Interprovincial Way) to Bradner Road, then south (right) on Bradner Road (288th Street) to enter Bradner.