Making the Grade

If you haven't recognised it yet, this is the inside of a tulip. It was warm and sunny this afternoon and this is the first day they've opened up and 'made the grade', so I thought I'd take a photo before any wind or rain destroys them! 

Making the grade is a North American idiom which originates from the use of grade for gradient when describing the slope of a road or railway. So making the grade meant reaching the top of a hill.. An alternative explanation is of achieving an academic standard - I preferred the first explanation! 
Source: The dictionary of Idioms and their origins 

(Thanks G for giving me the gift of this great book which will be quoted in lots of blips!!!)