I always knew there was something special about tulips. My grandparents were all from Holland, so I have been around a lot of Dutch heritage. I am not sure if tulips originated from Holland but I do know that there a lot of them grown there. The tulip is one of my favorite fl owers. A few years ago, I read a story written by an unknown author who shared why tulips are so special. I hope you can enjoy the spring flowers as much as I do.
Once upon a time there was a good woman who lived in a tiny house. She had in her garden, a bed of beautiful striped tulips.
One night she woke up to the sounds of sweet singing and babies laughing. She looked out of the window. The sounds seemed to come from the tulip bed, but she could see nothing.
The next morning, she walked among her flowers, but there were no signs of anyone having been there the night before.
On the following night she was again wakened by sweet singing and babies laughing. She rose and stole softly through her garden. The moon was shining brightly on the tulip bed, and the flowers were swaying to and fro. The woman looked closely, and she saw, standing by each tulip, a little fairy mother who was crooning and rocking the flower like a cradle, while in each tulip cup lay a little fairy baby laughing and playing.
The good woman stole quietly back to her house, and from that time on she never picked a tulip, nor did she allow her neighbors to touch the flowers.
The tulips grew daily brighter in color and larger in size, and they gave out a delicious perfume like that of roses. They began to bloom all the year round. And every night the little fairy mothers caressed their babies and rocked them to sleep in the flower-cups.
The day came when the good woman died, and the tulip bed was torn up by folks who did not know about the fairies, and parsley was planted there instead of the flowers. The parsley withered, and so did all the other plants in the garden, and from that time nothing would grow there.
But the good woman’s grave grew beautiful, for the fairies sang above it, and kept it green; while on the grave and all around it there sprang up tulips, daff odils, violets, and other lovely flowers of spring.
Keep this story in mind as you plant your spring flowers and build up a flower bed. There is something special about tulips!
