spring babies

(...proud spring mama)

i actually love gardening and planting and playing in the dirt; i am absolutely horrible at getting something to come out of my efforts. at the dahlia house, i planted a whole garden of vegetables and flowers. i spent days digging and turning and tending the dirt, then reading on how to plant and water and garden strategery and everything. i think we got like eight cherry tomatoes, some lettuce, and a flowering broccoli plant. i planted flowers and seeds and bulbs in pots and potting soil, and diligently watered them for about two weeks... then somehow, the watering schedule sliped my mind, and i had withering plants to greet me every day. this happened last summer as well, when i planted some gerberas and black eyed susans in the front, and some cosmos and marigolds in the back: i forget they actually need sustenance, and they wither away in the heat.

that said i've decided that i'll (mostly) stick to already-grown flowers that i can trim and enjoy inside, and monitor water levels easily through a glass vase. but sometimes, sometimes i just can't help myself and i want to get dirty and plant. especially in the huge flower beds on spruce st that need some serious sprucing up.

so, last fall i decided to try my hand yet again at some sort of gardening and flowering... in october, miss l and i planted over 100 bulbs (thank you costco) in the front flower bed, and i've been patiently anticipating their budding arrival all winter long. and now, with the arrival of true spring weather (snow in the morning, hot sun in the afternoon), i've been walking the dogs and seeing small little crocus and bright, beautiful hyacinth and tall, yellow daffodils smiling at us as we walk. i've grown a little envious of my green-thumbed neighbors and my empty beds of dirt.

but! my wait is over, and to my pleasure, i did yard work last weekend, and found maybe 20 or so different little flower buds, poking their lil' heads out of the dirt... i was so excited to see something i had planted was actually growing (i personally think the only ones that are growing are the ones that miss l planted). i was overjoyed to see the lil' tulip heads growing their way out of the ground, a little more each day.

and yesterday was the culmination of all of the hard work and anticipation. as i turned the corner in my jeep to park in front of the house, i spied a small, bright speck of red in the tulip bed out front. i parked the car, flung the door open, grabbed my camera and ran over to the tiny, new tulip bud that was delicately opening. the lil' guy was quite short, but the bud was huge. i've been envying all the mature flower beds in the neighborhood, but couldn't have been more proud of this tiny, close to the ground, splash of red petals and green leaves.

our first flower!! i felt like the proudest mother ever. EVER. i snapped a few pictures, my car door still swung wide and my heels clicking on the sidewalk. i couldnt' wait to show miss l the fruits of our labor, and brag that we had actually did something productive that one hot summer day, playing in the dirt and sun.

so here you are, readers... she's not much, but she's mine (ours, really, miss l) and i'm proud.  i feel like a braggy mom, showing off pics of my squishy, alien-like newborn baby.

more pics to come as more bloom (fingers crossed!!)