BON WEEK-END!

Is anyone else getting excited for tulip season?! Not to rush the daffodils—whom I love very much—but last fall I planted an ambitious number of bulbs (plenty for me and for the hungry woodland critters) and the buds are finally beginning to peek out of the leaves. Checking their progress each morning makes me giddy.

My planting was inspired by a trip I took two years ago to Holland's Keukenhof, the world's largest flower park (which is where I took these photos). At the Keukenhof, devoted gardeners plant seven million spring-flowering bulbs each year and, from mid-March until mid-May, 26,000 guests a day enjoy the fruits of their labor in this veritable heaven on earth. Daffodils and hyacinth fill their gardens with intoxicating perfume, while fritillaria’s kaleidoscopic bells bob gently in the breeze. And those world-famous Dutch tulips stretch their long and elegant necks toward the sun.

Though my gardens will no doubt pale in comparison to the Keukenhof's magnificance, hosting a tulip lunch sometime in early May is a must. I planted several varieties so that something will (hopefully) always be in bloom, but timing a gathering will still require a bit of guesswork!

I'm already dreaming up the table! Now, what to make...