It's no secret that tulips are my favorite flower. I've written about them before - from seeing them on walks in our old neighborhood to last year's blooms that were my first to grow myself. And well, they're still my favorites so I'm going to talk about them again. :)
I wasn't sure if the 100 bulbs that bloomed last spring would bud again this year. I'd heard that they don't always survive our super hot summers down in the south. So to be sure I had some eye candy this spring, I planted another 100 bulbs last fall. Can't be too safe! The excellent news? Not only did my new set of 100 bulbs bloom, but so did last year's! Over the past couple of weeks, I have had SO many tulips and I've loved every minute of it! I'm afraid I don't have a single picture that truly captures their beauty. But I've had several neighbors stop and comment on them so I'm glad others are enjoying them too. Maybe I'll plant 100 more this fall so that they keep multiplying in numbers!
Disclaimer: While oohing and ahhing over all of my tulips, it's important that you try your best to completely ignore all the weeds and dead leaves around them. They'll ruin the experience for you.
The ones planted by our garage are probably the ones we get to admire the most because we see them everyday while we're coming and going. And, because they get the most sun, they're the first to bloom.
Sometimes we have after-church photoshoots with them. :)
Yes, I let her touch them. I want her to grow to love them just as much as I do, and I don't think yelling at her every time she touches them will make that happen. Who cares if we lose a petal or two? I always encourage her to give them a smell; some of them are actually kinda fragrant this year!
After I took about a billion pictures of Katie Wynn with the flowers, she reached for my phone and said, "Ok, my turn!" and told me to go stand in them. So I climbed into the flower bed in my church heels and squatted down to be level with the tulips and smiled for her while she just snapped away. Later I scrolled through my camera roll to see just how corny I looked only to find a bunch of pictures like these.
These two pictures below are of the tulips in our front flower beds. I took these from a lower angle so that I could get our cherry blossom trees in the background. Aren't they gorgeous in full bloom??
Now the cherry blossoms are starting to fall off everywhere which is kinda a bummer, but I like the way Katie Wynn describes it. "There sprinkles everywhere!"
Our last big section of tulips is in the backyard in the same bed where I plant my summertime zinnias. I probably like them the best because they're the only thing in the flowerbed this time of year, but there the ones I see the least since they're in the backyard. We try to make a point to go check on them at least once every day.
I took the pictures below this weekend with my real camera. There are so many of them and can you believe I haven't snipped a single one?!
Last night while we were outside I noticed a few new colors that were popping up. It's like we had a second round of buds! The red and yellow ones might be my favorites, but I'm always a sucker for a solid pink one too.
Last night I was also able to get probably my favorite tulip pictures of the year - they're my favorite because my sweet babies are in them!
Sadly, we're now to the point where our days with the tulips are numbered. Petals are following off pretty rapidly so it won't be long before all the bright colors are gone. And then comes the hardest part - waiting for the leaves to shrivel up and dissolve into the mulch. It's not pretty to watch, but it's what makes them come back (I think) year after year so it's gotta happen!
If you love tulips as much as I do, might I suggest planting some in your own yard? They are way low maintenance and such a happy surprise in the spring!
**Update** I took another tulip picture last night and thought I should add it to this post. This is Katie Wynn standing in front of the row of tulips that are in our backyard.
