First up is the first to bloom
In 1793 William Blake wrote in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell that:
“to create a little flower is the labour of ages.”
Since the first Tulip Chronicles post documenting the first sign of growth on January 23rd, every one of my tulips has grown and several of them now have mature flowers. Even in this age of instant gratification, it is surprisingly satisfying what the Earth – and a little help from a gardener – can create in just one season.
- They’re all grown up!
It is also gratifying to experience something for its entire cycle, not just to know a product, but to know how it came to be. It is one thing to appreciate a tulip purchased in a grocery store and something more to understand its life stages, challenges, and pleasant surprises–from leaves that are eaten by critters to waiting for the first bud. Even I am awed that those 19 cold, hard bulbs I buried in a wheelbarrow are now blooming, thriving little contributions to spring.
Filed under: The Tulip Chronicles Tagged: | gardening, green thumb, tulips
Beautiful!