Tulips! Spring!

I felt very nostalgic yesterday. Every time I visit a park, garden or farm overflowing with flowers of countless colors I remember the Descanso Gardens in the spring with the Camellia Forest an explosion of all shades from light pink to dark red. Yesterday I missed posting because we spend half a day at the Tesselaar Tulip Festival at the same name tulip farm in the Dandenong Ranges, just 30 km East of Melbourne. The Tesselaar Farm breeds, grows and sells flowers, shrubs and trees throughout the year, but the highlight of their activity to any Melbournian is this tulip festival. It was a typical Melbourne spring day yesterday, with bright sunny moments, clouds, rain and hail. For who didn’t know this was again the best exemplification of “four seasons in one day.” But such unpredictable weather did not prevent us and many other people from walking among thousands of elegant flowers growing in straight lanes or well-groomed mini-gardens. I was happy it was not sunny all morning because the colors seemed more vivid on the grey of the sky. Dutch treats, wine tasting and coffee make the day at the festival even better. We had a really good time, although we missed the Grand Final of the Australian Football League. Chloe and my friend Debra rooted for the Sydney Swans (see the post from last week) and they won! Hurray!