Bulbous Love

I have been in love with bulbs ever since I bought one back in the spring of 1997. I was pregnant with S, and after trudging through knee deep snow everyday in the winter semester, it was really refreshing to suddenly go out the door every morning to spring weather and fragrance.

I always brought my lunch with me to campus, and during lunch time, I would go to the Hub, heat up my lunch, and eat it outside by myself. Right across the hub was Beardshear Hall, the 'money' hall, where tuition fees are processed. But another reason I also visited the building was because they would have bulb sales every spring. With a bulging belly, I went in the building and scanned the beautiful variety of bulbs on sale. Just like a typical woman, I took my time in deciding which one to buy. Hubby wasn't with me, so I didn't have someone rushing me, fortunately. Unfortunately though, he was way on the West Coast, and I was smack in the Midwest, by myself.

I bought myself some red tulips. Back in the apartment, I placed it by my one-mattress bed, and I could say it was something that cheered me up everyday. There were so may worries back then, and alhamdulillah, everything turned out fine, Alhamdulillah!

Here, daffodils sprout up in beautiful clusters along highways and streets. Back in Iowa, I always loved taking the route to class where I would pass by the 'tulip triangle' and the Eastern Redbuds. The 'tulip triangle' would harbor a triangle bed of tulips of various colors. As glum was going to class was on those days, passing by the Tulip Triangle was truly a mood booster for me. As for the Eastern Redbuds, I never knew what those specific trees are called until a few years back where the kids and I went 'tree hunting'. That was also when we found out that our apartment complex housed so many crab apple trees which they unfortunately cut down some years ago. I have to say that spring sceneries around here are now rather bland with the lossof those crab apple trees. I would spot dogwood in people's backyards as we drive through some neighborhoods, and I would start squealing in delight.

My obsession with spring blossoms are probably as strong as the kids' obsession with animals. The girls seem to like gardening. In fact, S and N were the ones who planted the bulbs above two falls ago. We had bought a whole box of hyacinths and daffodils bulbs. Now, they peek out every spring, mashaallah. However, spring bulbs don't live that long. As soon as the temperature spikes, it's time for those summer annuals. So far, the girls have been planting the summer annuals too. This year, they seem to have even prepared the plot for the summer annuals.

When they were younger, I used to toil in the garden every summer. Now that they're older and bigger, they are the ones who are taking over my gardening activity. I wonder what annuals we'll get this year?