Tulips

These are not our tulips.

I've always secretly liked daffodils better than tulips (don't tell the tulips!), maybe because they come up first, and because they are YELLOW, but then every year as the daffodils are dying out and the tulips are coming up, I start to think I might reconsider. Last year the boys and I planted a ton of tulip bulbs by the trees in our front yard, and one of the happiest things is seeing bulbs you've planted coming up, isn't it? We all felt personally responsible for their progress. "I see three tulip shoots!", someone would call out every morning. "I see some buds!" "Two of the buds are opening!" We were like anxious mothers hovering over our babies.

And then finally they were all out! We were so proud. An April snowfall dampened our spirits slightly (it was so beautiful, though!)…

but soon enough it was melted and our little orange friends popped out again. Cheerful little things, aren't they? There are other colors in the backyard, but I like the orange best. (And we just feel sorry for those little pink misfits on the left…somehow they got mixed into the wrong bulb bag, I guess.)

There are lots of other tulips around the neighborhood too. One day Daisy and I were going on a walk while she was wearing her green-and-white dress-up dress, and she matched the scenery so well, we couldn't help but take some pictures!

One of our orangies. Pretty, isn't she?

Perhaps having heard of the success of our Spring tulip display, Thanksgiving Point gardens apparently decided to prepare a display of their own. :) We cleverly went there before the "official" start of their Tulip Festival, so as to avoid the crowds (and catch the last daffodils!). There were some flowers not yet blooming, but it was beautiful, of course! (We will try to go back in a few weeks to see the rest!)

I love these two daffodil varieties mixed. I don't want to GIVE UP the traditional all-yellow daffodil for these young upstarts, but I appreciate them in addition to it. :)