An attempt at growing Tulips

I do not often think back to England. Australia has captured my heart and with that, my mind. My job here is fairly demanding and doesn’t leave much room for nostalgia.

Occasionally though, my gaze will be caught by something that reminds me of my homeland. I found myself yesterday staring intensely into a lush garden overflowing with floral beauty. My parents take great pride in their great British garden at home. My mother will spend hours every Sunday weeding and pruning while my father takes any opportunity to visit the garden centre and lug some new blend soil enhancer through the house.

When I saw tulip bulbs for sale online, I could not resist. A little ode to my parents who were most likely pottering around the planters at that very moment over 10,000 miles away. Their green thumb as it turns out, did not make it into my genetic palette. My tulip bulb planting resulted in smashed terracotta and muddy jeans. Alas. I will leave the gardening to my parents.

With the time difference between Australia and England it can be hard to find time to catch up with home, especially as my schedule is more than demanding. When I did eventually get around to video chatting my mum, she made sure to give me a detailed tour of the garden including the blooming flowers and hanging foliage and, her new tulip bulb collections.

She had found a great deal on a large selection of tulip bulbs and simply couldn’t resist! I didn’t tell her of my attempt at tulip planting, I figured the symbolism of her tulips blooming while mine failed would be too overwhelming for her.

I have quite a lot of disposable cash at the moment, so I bought some nice fox leather gardening gloves and padded gardeners knees and had them sent to my parents. I couldn’t help but also include a teacup set with inlaid gold tulips!