Tulip Buds: 23 and Counting

As of today, there are 23 tulip buds poking their way up through the dirt under my three front windows.

I have been counting daily.

My son, too, has been hunting for evidence of sprouts. Each new one that emerges meets with a shout of “I found another one!” He also has a favorite – it’s the tall one in this picture. So far it’s been the tallest all along, and now it’s about 4 inches high.

For a while, the count remained in the single digits, and it seemed as if there was nothing that was sprouting under the master bedroom window, the site of our first bed, created with our haphazard, “just toss the bulbs in any old way” strategy. I figured perhaps we’d be down to 2 tulip beds, but even that would have heralded success.

But wouldn’t you know it – the tiniest yellow-green tip pointed its way upward (and, yes, I knelt on the ground and brushed the top layer of soil off because I couldn’t stand not knowing any longer if our efforts would fail us). So there you have it.

I was in the midst of my “woo-hoo’s” and victory dance just when the neighbors were getting into their car.

“We’re gonna have tulips!” I preened.

My neighbors are master gardeners with leveled landscaping throughout their back yard. Bless them, they smiled at me and let me keep my delight.

So, it seems we are going to have tulips this spring.

If 23 are above ground now, I can hardly imagine what will actually bloom in whatever season is the right one for them to flower. Watch for my complete victory dance when the first one opens.