Tulips

We are having a bout of unusual weather for early October. It is in the 80's, sunny and humid. I am LOVING it. One last blast of the weather I like the best. Today I took a long bike ride where I could see a lot of the lakes around here, and then I planted some tulip bulbs that Jeff and I grabbed last week when we were at the hardware store for something else. They caught my eye because they contained my favorite tulip that I had at our last house, called Shirley. It is an ivory color with a purple edging, almost lacy looking. And I always remembered that name, it reminds me of my best friend's mother. I wonder if she knows she has a flower namesake. I've always liked it that roses and some tulips have names, it adds to the fun. The other ones I put in today are called Demeter, and "Mauve Mix." (boring!) I like planting bulbs in the fall because when they come up in the spring I get to remember what I was doing when I planted them. And they look so great when everything else is still struggling to get going. But then there are those ugly brown stems to look at later. I know that there are ways to hide them but I've never had success at that. If all goes well then sometime in May I will put up pictures of beautiful flowering tulips.