Winter is a long season in the middle of the country. When the limits of age restrict your range of activity to a small circle of travel, winter can be especially long. With that thought in mind my sister and I arrived at our Mom’s garden to plant a little magic for the spring. The end of the summer growing season requires putting the garden away. Various garden decorations need to be carried inside to protect them from the freezing and thawing that occurs. Favorite flower pots, a garden angel, a gazing ball, and other pretty things are carried inside to store away. A few plants are carried to the basement in hopes they can winter over to be returned to the garden in the spring. Some times they survive, other years it is so cold even the basement shelter can’t protect them.
These things done we begin digging the spaces for the 60 new fancy tulip bulbs. We want the bulbs to be in a place where Mom can view them from her window. Tulips are such a treat. These are pinks, pink & white, purple, purple & white, with ruffled petals and fancy shapes. Mom already has many tulip bulbs in the ground so these will be in addition to the others. She particularly likes these colors so a big show of these varieties will brighten her spring. We dig, rake up the soil, place the bulbs in and repack the ground. We hope for a beautiful display. We hope we will all see them growing, blooming and dancing in the Spring.