Sunday, January 23, 2005

Winter bulbs

It has happened! My amaryllis plant is beginning to bloom. It's amazing how you can watch the thing grow for a month, then one day, it looks like it might bloom, and the next, there is a fantastic flower in full glory. The bulb I planted boasts petals that varigate from white centers to reddish pink tips and it's gorgeous. Today is a day when I could really use a digital camera to show it to everyone. I took pictures with my film camera instead, and in about six months when I finish this roll, I may remember to post pictures. I really don't hate film. In fact, for some reason I feel that negatives are one of the miracles of the modern world. It's just that there will always be days like today when my postmodern insistance on immediacy is forced to take a back seat to a system that really works perfectly well. So for today, my flowers will be a joy for me alone.
On a related yet completely different tangent, I wonder why so many bulb flowers come from the Netherlands? One would think that bulb flowers would be more widely dispersed. Or were the Dutch somehow the only ones to culture them to the forms we so admire? Somethng to look into on a day when I'm not writing semester exams. But thank heavens in the mean time. It doesn't feel so wintery in here with such an springish beauty sharing my house.
note: Since posting this, I have learned that calla lillies are from Africa, and amaryllis comes from South America. Phew. Just because my bulbs were cultivated in Holland... but this makes much more sense!

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