I just found out recently that tulips keep growing after they’re cut and put in a vase.  I find that remarkable!

I have been buying a $5.00 bouquet of flowers at Walmart every week or so lately in order to have fresh flowers in my living room.  I’ve always wanted to have a constant supply of fresh flowers in a pretty vase, but I’m not much of a gardener.  (In fact, I have been known to kill common ivy. Good grief!)  So, I don’t have a cut flower garden from which to beautify my home.  (And I don’t see anybody knocking down my door to bring me flowers.)  That’s why I buy them.

Recently, I bought tulips for the first time.  There were only seven tulips in the $5.00 bunch, so I was afraid they would look kind of sparse in the vase.  But I decided against buying two bunches – (I do limit myself on my extravagances – sometimes).  And I was pleasantly surprised at how much they filled the vase – especially as they continued to grow.

I kept a photographic journal of the last bunch I bought – just in case anyone needed proof of this extraordinary phenomenon.  Here it is for your viewing amazement.

Day 1 (Note the phone jack behind the tulips for comparison)

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 6

I find this astonishing – the way they keep growing, and the way they grow in such random directions.

I could use this opportunity to try to say something profound – like using metaphor to compare cut tulips to wounded people.  I could say – like the cut tulips, we can continue to grow even after we become severed from someone we love or some dream we have.

I could say that the curving of the tulips as they grow represents the unexpected and surprising paths that being severed causes our lives to take.

I could say that the tulips opening up represent our hearts opening to new experiences and new dreams as we age.

I could say that the curling of the leaves signifies the creative spirit that develops as we learn and grow from injury.

I could say all of this. . .

Naaaaaaaaaaa!   That would be way too sappy!

I’ll just say – tulips keep growing after they’re cut.  Excellent!