Ellen's Bulb Garden, In Bloom

Last fall, for my friend Ellen's birthday, I planted a small memorial bulb garden in her honor. Some of it ended up in with Barb's Butterfly Garden, about which you've heard much. (And I know this: Barb sure wouldn't mind!)

Ellen and I were office-mates at Penn State back in the 1980s and 1990s, and good friends for life, though distance separated us for many of her remaining years. Ellen died of cancer surprisingly quickly in November of 2021. I scattered some of her ashes in the Barrens. You heard a few stories about her on these pages:

The Ellen L. Bliss Memorial Cheesesteak
For Our Jersey Girl

The most recent news is that it is springtime, and green stuff has been coming up. My husband had asked me about the pretty flowers blooming in the yard. Of course, I went out for a look, and this is what I saw: several gorgeous hyacinths, in full bloom, in their garden.

Now, when I planted the bulb garden, I bought a mixture of colors of hyacinths. It indicated that it might include several shades, including pink. But of course, as soon as I planted it all, I thought - I should have put in more pink, just to make sure. For PINK was Ellen's favorite color! (As purple was mine.)

So what did I see when I rounded the corner below the azalea hedge and spotted these flowers? I saw PINK! And what did I do then? Well, yeah, I began to CRY. And then I stood in the yard and had a good bawl for us, for my friend Ellen, whose flowers are blooming. For the color purple, which is for me. And for PINK, which was Ellen's favorite.

Wherever you are planted, for gosh sakes, BLOOM!!!!!!

My soundtrack is this one: the Psychedelic Furs, with Pretty in Pink.

For my Bootie-Boot-Boot. Well loved. Sadly missed.
Remembered with flowers, and with joy.