Presentation is Everything!!!

                                                             

So in between the freezing cold and tolerable coolness this is what I do: I buy bulbs, on-line, through the Holland Bulb Company, and with visions of Amaryllis in my head, I began to plan the expansion of my Amaryllis flower bed.

Although I only ordered ten bulbs, they came in two huge boxes which of course set off major alarms for my husband the day they were delivered to the house. He of course, saw the labels on the top of each box, and I admit, I thought to myself when I saw them, (because I really couldn’t remember, as it had been months since I ordered them) just how many bulbs DID I actually buy?

As I entered the back door that afternoon and saw the boxes sitting on the kitchen counter, I began to mentally back-track so that I was ready with an explanation as it always best to not let on that even YOU can’t remember what you did, especially where spending money is concerned.

So, I casually announced “Oh! My bulbs finally came in!” like it was the most natural thing in the world to see two huge boxes marked “bulbs” sitting on my counter, and then proceeded to cut them open with a pair of scissors from the kitchen drawer; all of the above happening in one smooth motion. And let me tell you folks, the relief on my insides, (which I tried to hide from my facial expression), to only see five (WHEW!) smaller boxes inside each big box.

At any rate, my next battle, as I had not prior discussed this bulb order, was to explain to my sweet, sweet husband this whole “vision” of mine. I flowered it up with the same colorful imagination in which it was originally created in my mind, but somehow, the look on his face didn’t quite equal the joy of the story I was telling.

Matter of fact, I’ll just tell the truth here and say his “face” showed absolutely no joy at all. Even when I told him there would only have to be ten holes dug – nothing. I got nothing. Zero joy.

However, a week or so later, we had the perfect Sunday morning to set about our planting. Granted, he had worked a six-day work week prior to; so that he was holding a pair of hole diggers and they were entering the ground instead of the side of my head – well you can understand the irony there, and very possibly the miracle of it all!

But together, without any fuss, muss or injury, we planted the ten additional Amaryllis in the bed by my mailbox, that will accompany the other eight bulbs or so that have been there for years. They should all bloom come early Spring, a mixture of solid red and red/white striped.

I would tell you all about the other HUGE box of Gladioli bulbs that I have stored in my shed right now – that can’t be planted until after the last frost, and all my plans for those; but obviously, that’s still a secret…ssshhhhhh.