Last fall, as Mom and I wandered around Sam's shopping for stuff for Katie Wynn's birthday party, we stumbled across these bags of 100 tulip bulbs for something like 12 bucks. Tulips are my absolute favorite flower ever, but I had zero experience in planting bulbs. But for 12 bucks, I really didn't have much to lose! Needless to say, we both left with a bag of bulbs and figured that if 70-ish of them actually popped up, it'd be a pretty good percentage and worth our HUGE investment. :)
Fast forward to this spring and all 100 tulips popped up! I swear, this was so freaking exciting for me! I know, call me a weirdo but I just really love colorful flowers, especially ones that bloom with minimal effort on my part. (Although let's not totally dismiss that minimal effort...I planted them last fall in what I thought would be a quick ten-minute task. Um no, it takes longer than that to dig six-inch deep holes...times 100! And I didn't have on yardwork clothes so I squatted down to do each one while trying not to get dirty and my little helper was a very new walker that kept falling down and eating dirt. Oh, and I was freshly pregnant too. But still - totally worth it!)
So everyday after work for about two weeks, Katie Wynn and I walked around the house checking on our tulips. I loved getting to watch their progress from tiny buds to full blown flowers. And my little girl seemed to enjoy them too!
I planted 40 bulbs in the backyard, 40 in the front flower beds, and 20 beside our garage. And yes, I counted every one of them and they were all there! :)
One thing I never knew about tulips was how often they open and then close back up in cooler weather. Thanks to the wonky weather we've had this spring, they did lots of opening and closing!
Tulips don't really have a fragrant smell, but I told Katie Wynn we had to sniff them each day anyway because really, is there a cuter photo op than this?
Our bag of tulips were mostly red, orange, and yellow, but there were a couple pink ones that surprised us too!
Another day, another round of sniffing...
Shout-out to ALL FOUR grandparents that noticed Katie Wynn's backwards shoes when I posted these pictures on Instagram. This is so common these days that I almost don't even notice it anymore. Just so we're clear, though - if they're backwards, I'm not the one who put them on her. :)
I only took pictures of the cute moments, but in keeping things real, yes, several tulips lost petals due to some "aggressive petting" by Katie Wynn. In fact, that pink tulip pictured above on the right took a pretty good slap right after that picture was taken. We'll call this a learning year. :)
Our cherry blossom trees were shedding their petals during this same time, so I taught Katie Wynn how they could be scooped up and thrown as confetti. SO fun!
But back to the tulips... I did get brave and cut a few stems for a vase. I had initially told my mom that I just didn't think I could bring myself to cut them, but then decided I should get to enjoy them inside too. It was a good decision as they lasted for about a week inside (and pepped up more than in the picture on the right).
Now they're all gone and I'm having withdrawals. So sad. This weekend I guess I will cut off the stems - but not the leaves! - and just cross my fingers that they survive our hot summer and come back next year. Actually, I've already told Mom that we have to go back to Sam's this fall to look for more bags-o-tulips. Maybe this time I'll go crazy and buy three bags! Tulips for days!