My First Tulip

I'm a wannabe gardener.  Maybe it's the farmer's daughter in me.

Gardening is something I dabbled with on and off for many years and have only been "serious" about for three years.  It's definitely an art and something that can't be learned overnight.

I decided that this year, I wanted tulips.  I bought and planted ten tulip bulbs at the beginning of this past December (although you really should plant them a tad earlier than that, according to your region.  We are in southern Mississippi). 

There are actually a lot of factors that go into successful tulip bulbs, one of the most important being a cooling period.  The bulbs have to have an extended period of cold weather in order to grow.  They also need well drained soil to prevent bulb rot.

I fretted over whether or not I'd been successful, and I was thrilled when, at the beginning of February, I began to see this. 

Success is sweet!  I watched as over the next week, the bulbs all sprouted and grew as the weather warmed. Part of the fun was seeing what colors would appear.  My purple beauty added a beautiful hue to a still-bleak, winter-weary yard.

And now it adds color to my house since Coy "picked" (trampled) it.

Ah, the joys of pets and gardens!