Design

These apricot-colored tulips are at their peak.  Bought as an impulse at the fall plant sale, I tucked them in an old pot near the potting bench.  But as they emerged, we took them out to the porch -- with the warm weather and time change, we'll have dinner out there this evening. It's a reminder that we're almost to official spring. Thank goodness.

I've always wanted to see the tulip fields in the Netherlands during spring bloom. Domesticated tulips are lovely, but they don't exactly fit my 'working for a living' screen for planting. But, I do love them regardless, and this is the first time we've seen them flowering at Biltmore Estate, in Asheville, NC, during the Festival of Flowers.

These tulips have barely made it above ground. The former owner of this house said he'd added them last year on a whim; I'm not sure what sort of soil they're growing in, but it will be interesting to see how they do!