I picked these tulips, T. Fantasy, a few days ago – on Saturday in fact – and they are going from strength to strength. The colour has intensified and the frilled edges have become more flamboyant as you can see from the photograph below, which I took on Sunday.

The pressed glass vase was a souvenir from our holiday in Wales – I picked it up for 50p at a brilliant car boot fair near Carew. In fact I bought several vases like this one as they are perfect for small bunches of tulips and daffs – I can’t bring myself to pick more than a few at a time as I love seeing them in the garden as much as I enjoy them in the house.