A Festival of Tulips
A week and a half ago, while our youngest was away on an overnight school trip and we were experiencing our first true empty nester experience, we decided to occupy our minds by going to a nearby town that is known for their tulips. They have a very well attended festival celebrating their tulips the following weekend, but we wished to avoid the crowd and as an added bonus, the majority of the tulips were already at their peak or just past their peak.
There were still a lot of people out and about photographing all the blooming tulips of various kinds. There was even a young lady in a fairy tale looking dress being photographed in front of various tulip beds and seemed to follow us around as we saw them multiple times. Since we have a fairly vibrant hispanic culture around and she looked of hispanic descent, I suspect it was a quinceanera photo shoot.
I just had my phone camera and wasn't really taking a lot of pictures though I did take a few. Others were there with full blown large frame cameras on tripods, lighting and armfuls of lenses. But my phone camera does a pretty good job as a point and shoot, plenty good enough for displaying on my blog which is about the only reason I took any photos.
I really liked the "loner" situations where a different colored bulb got mixed into a mono-colored bed. I have several similar photos of this situation. If tulips talk, do you think they are asking the odd ball tulip if they are just visiting or needing directions?
Among the tulips, on an adjacent block, this gnarled old redbud tree caught my attention. It didn't seem to capture the attention of the people or their cameras but it caught mine.
After walking around and seeing our fill, we drove to a less busy part of town and ate a leisurely lunch at a Mexican restaurant and then drove home satisfied, mentally and stomach wise too.
I’m sure it was great to see the tulips, but that tree is something else.
ReplyDeleteIt is a dandy!
DeleteI know that Pella Iowa has a huge Tulip festival and the Community Ed Bus from town went there for about five day, it looked like fun! I like the bright Tulips the best and that Red Bud has a story to tell, it would have spatured my interest also! Nice outing!
ReplyDeleteIt gets a lot of attention these days and gets really crowded which is why we went a week early.
DeleteI drove by Pella on my way from where you live to Des Moines and really wanted to go there, but I probably wouldn't be in Iowa at the right time. The variety among tulips is stunning and as you know, I delighted in your photos since I'm on Team Tulip.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly is a unique town no matter what time of year you stop by, especially for this part of Iowa.
DeleteLove those pictures, Ed. Day trips are great. I don't think I've ever seen tulips with outward-leaning petals (in the picture with the yellow among the red).
ReplyDeleteI have only seen them at this festival and I've since forgotten what their name was. I've often wondered if they have a breeding program or good sources for obtaining the huge variety of tulips on display.
DeleteWonderful photos and I especially like the last one with the tree AND the tulips! I have a friend who is currently visiting family in MI and went to the festival in Holland.
ReplyDeleteMy wife went there many years ago and commented about the huge fields of tulips over there.
DeleteI actually meant Holland MI, but I know the Netherlands has spectacular displays!
DeleteGreat shots! I wonder what it looks like after the tulips are done blooming.
ReplyDeleteI guess I can't answer that question. I don't often stop in that town other than when they are blooming.
DeleteVery showy tulips.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, they have hundreds of different kinds, many that are even showier but were crowded with photographers so I wasn't able to photograph them myself.
DeleteEd, I never think I appreciated tulips as much as I should have until I went to Turkey.
ReplyDeleteFrom all accounts, they have some good festivals here in New Home 3.0.
Growing up, we never had tulips in our yard for some reason. But my mom did have beds of irises which are showy flowers in their own right.
DeleteI love tulips but have never had much success with them. I do have one white one that comes back every year, but other than that, I wonder if I'm too far south for them to be happy.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, deer love to eat tulip bulbs and will actually paw them out of the ground to get to them. I know because once they discovered those planted by my wife, I had to shovel our sidewalk of dirt every morning for a week until they dug them all up. She hasn't planted anymore since.
DeleteThe sounds like a great outing. I like your phone's photos; I'm in the same boat these days, pretty satisfied with what my phone can do. I like the redbud tree too!
ReplyDeleteMy “good” camera gathers dust these days because is doesn’t fit in my pocket, requires me to transfer pictures to my computer and from there to my blog and is simply bulky to carry which doesn’t leave my hands free to do other things.
DeleteAbsolutely gorgeous. I like the redbud tree too!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteGorgeous captures, Ed.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
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