A Bittersweet Symphony of Tulips
With Mother’s Day just around the corner, I thought I’d share some of my most treasured gifts with you.
My mother was a wonderful gardener, and especially adored tulips. In 1997, the year I was married, she began giving me an assortment of her favourite tulip bulbs to plant in my garden each fall.
When spring comes, their magnificence astounds me and I want to drown in them, for their beauty is so exquisite and fleeting…as ephemeral as the gift from my mother was, for I only received this annual present three times.
Even though mom passed away in the fall of 2000, she manages to find a way to visit me every Mother’s Day.
With the exception of the first photo (taken on Monday), all of these pictures were taken in my garden around dinnertime on Wednesday.
The first tulips mom ever gave me were ‘Blushing Beauty’—a spectacular pale yellow tulip with blush pink veining on 30” stems. Like most of my bulbs, these are in their third garden—having moved with me twice now—and it’s the first time since we’ve lived in this house that the rabbits didn’t get them (thank you, neighbours who now have dogs).
Seeing them in bloom is particularly satisfying; at my wedding I carried a simple bouquet of just these tulips, with sheer green organza ribbon wrapped around their incredibly long stems.
I love that moment just before a tulip unfurls. I think it’s when the flower is at its most beautiful, and parrot tulips (like the ones above) really have a way of capturing it best, don’t you think? They have this fantastic, almost surreal look about them.
Happy Mother’s Day, everyone.
And thanks, mom, for the most awesome gift ever.
technorati tags: houseblog, DIY, gardening, home+renovation
NICE. Guess what? The square cieling cap for your Arts & Crafts chandelier has finally been located and is waiting for you to pick it up.Roy
Comment by Roy — May 12, 2006 @ 5:58 pm
Your tulip post was not only touching the photos were spectacular. Thank you for a great post and some great ideas for what kinds of tulips to plant this fall.
Comment by Amy — May 25, 2006 @ 3:40 am