So today we celebrate the end of tulip mania. No more picking the late frenchies anymore. They were glorious this year, all 1300 that we planted. Well, wait, not all 1300. The 100 parrot tulips we planted failed to amount to anything more than stubs coming up 2-3 inches out of the ground. And the peony tulips did not perform well either. But the late frenchies, all in hues of red and pink, were enough to make anyone celebrate the Dutch and their monopoly over the bulb trade. Excellent vase life, majestic height (we had some that topped 3 ft!), and elegant lines make this one of my favorite flowers. I am glad to have them done; no more bending over to yank them out of the ground and no more five hours of tulip bunching on Friday evenings. The beauty of seasonal flowers persists with the demise of tulips, only to be revisited this fall as we plant 1300 more. The next flower we'll have that will manage to fade the image of the tulip in my mind--it's gotta be the peony. Stuart gave me two tree peonies for my 2006 birthday. They both have buds on them this year and I can't wait to see them open up! I've read that the trees can have up to something like 150 blooms on them in the springtime. Our regular peonies seem almost boring compared to the tree form. But maybe I'm just partial to my birthday presents.
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