beauty till the end

This is actually an old tulip, possibly hours from falling apart. The petals are so open it looks like a different flower.

It's almost gone, and yet it still has beauty, defiantly. It's just what it is.

This is from my mother's garden in Switzerland, which is in a badly overgrown and near wild state, since she has been in the hospital 3 months. She's trying to go home for a few days, and I am there for moral support and general bullying.

Expect a week of blips about chin up, optimism, and similar projections around keeping a good face on things...