There is something about tulips in all their stages of bloom, that I love. Buds, gently opening, fresh and offering hope for spring. Then, gradually, their stems lilt over the vase edges, and the whole bunch splay and droop. Still, I hold on to them as they start to wither and dry. I snipped spent blooms and laid them on a willow woven basket made by Mike Wolter here in Lunenburg County. I put them in the huge snow bank by my door to photograph them. They look like flames in the snow.