The Honeymooner's Tulips

After a rainy week, the sun decided to shine this week-end, coaxing flowering buds to show their faces.  The tulips cautiously opened wide, responding to the brighter days.  I was delighted that the honeymooner's tulips finally blossomed!  I think they are beautiful!  I love their ruffled and lacy petals and the way the colors meld together, fading from one shade to the next, in variegated harmony.  Thank you to the honeymooners for so thoughtfully purchasing them for me during their honeymoon trip to Holland.

All winter long the plain, brown bulbs have been dormant in the soil, being conditioned by cold temperatures so that they could bloom magnificently this spring.  Curious as to the meaning of tulips in the language of flowers, I found my Kate Greenway book (thank you, Paula) and looked them up.  The meanings perfectly fit the love the honeymooners share.  


Red tulip = Declaration of love
Variegated tulip = Beautiful eyes
Yellow tulip = Hopelessly in love

I know that some of you enjoy putting together vignettes, so I thought I'd share about this one.  The antique sugar dish was a gift from a friend.  It is scattered with an old-fashioned tulip print.  The teacup and saucer are fine porcelain in another tulip theme.  It came from my mother's collection.  The porcelain is so delicate that you can see the shadow of your hand behind it when you hold it up to light.  The photo on the card was taken by our son in Amsterdam.  And the teapot is St. Petersburg Russian Lomonosov Porcelain and was a gift from Rylan on a Christmas past.  I am thankful for my three children whom I adore.  Such thoughtful gifts they give.


I hope you enjoy the honeymooner's tulips along with me today.
Be blessed with sunshine and joy!

A Festival of TULIPS!

 
Dad and Alma always enjoy the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival.  Recently they visited a tulip farm near their home so they could enjoy the hundreds of acres of tulips that are blooming colorfully right now. Afterward, nearly fifty beautiful photos arrived in my email box from Dad.  Talk about tulips galore! We enjoyed chatting on the phone together and talking about the pictures. And I thanked him for sending them so I could blog them for you today.

The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival has been occuring in the Mount Vernon, Washington area for 28 years. This event starts the first of April and continues until the end of the month. The two largest tulip gardens are Tulip Town and Roozengaarde. Both these growers allow visitors to stroll among the tulips or take a trolley ride through the tulip fields. At Tulip Town, an indoor exhibit displays more than 60 varities of tulips. Roozengaarde's has 1,200 acres of field blooms and another 15 acres of greenhouses. A 3 acre display garden that displays an authentic windmill that is perfect for posing pictures at. Both the Tulip Town and Roozengaarde gardens are owned by farmers who immigrated to the Skagit Valley from Holland. And both gardens are a delight for the eye!

Enjoy the pictures, courtesy of my Dad. And thank you, Dad, for sharing them.  If you'd like to see more, Lovella of  What Matters Most blogged on this subject today as well.  Go take a peek!  She's posted many photos.


A side note:  The tulips in my garden have started to bloom, but the tulip bulbs given to me by the honeymooners after their trip to Amsterdam in September are only budding.  I'll be sure to post pictures when they bloom!