One of the unexpected pluses that presented itself during my lovely birthday celebration was the tulip garden blossoming outside the Grace Hudson Museum. I could scarcely coax some of my girlfriends into the Maynard Dixon western art show we’d come to see as they shot the tulips from every angle. Hmmm. Good idea! Today I returned, camera in hand, and immersed myself in their spectacular beauty!

During Antonia’s childhood we lived in Amsterdam for three years, so tulips hold a special place in the hearts of our family. These miraculously colorful flowers readily conjure the stands of flower sellers along the narrow flower markets that lie near the treasured canals that crisscross that beautiful city. Here is what we are likely to remember.

We fully immersed ourselves into Dutch culture and tulips became an icon of the life we came to know and love in Holland. It was with this precious memory in mind that I approached this lovely shoot.

You might well know the Dutch have been working with tulips since the 17th C. when a biologist working in Leiden received bulbs from a colleague in Turkey. And so began their extraordinary history. Their story continues in my visit to the museum gardens here.

Could these be any more dear?

Or cheerful?

I changed my view to begin to look at single flowers. I find myself in awe witnessing this purple variegated tulip.

Forever a fan of tulips through their various stages once cut, I appreciate how this one has begun its backward bend into even greater beauty.

Are you thinking Easter yet??

Hello, sun in my face.
Hello, you who made the morning
and spread it over the fields
and into the faces of the tulips
~Mary Oliver

The restoring freshness of white. Hmmmm…

Beholding your beauty I will sleep a little more deeply tonight, your blessed gifts having filled my mind, my eye, my heart. Thank you, dear tulips. Thank you, dear readers, for sharing the journey.

Love and spring blessings,
Kathryn xoxoo

Posted on March 19th, 2010 by Kathryn
Filed under: Plants