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500 White Tulips for Mother’s Day

By 05/08/2020May 12th, 202054 Comments

An all white flower garden is a perfect way to brighten up any garden or yard space. I planted over 500 white tulips and they are now in full bloom. See how I coordinate other white blooms in my garden design. 

One of the biggest reasons why we live over one hour East of downtown Vancouver, is because of my Mother. She taught us all what unconditional love looks like.

She lives 2 minutes away from our house and I am so lucky to call her one of my best friends. She’s the first person I call when I’m happy or sad or need a home remedy to fix an ache or a pain, she’s also one of the happiest people I know. My Mom has something good to say about everyone.

I know where I got my ‘Not now but RIGHT now’ energy from, everything happens fast around my Mom and she’s the busiest retired person I know!

Gatherings of up to 10 people were announced last week right before Mother’s Day, since it had been so long since we’d had a family dinner, I decided to make it really special. See those photos at the bottom of this post!

Related post from 2014: Easter Time and my 500 White Tulips are Blooming

Mom lives in this carriage house right behind my sister and her husband. They own the property together.

This dress and the one my Mom is wearing at dinner (further down below) we bought from a wonderful linen dress shop in Positano when we were there two summers ago. I sure hope we get to travel there again someday. My Mom LOVED our Italy trip.

500 White Tulips in Bloom

Now for the tour of my tulip garden. You can see a video of the entire garden on my Instagram feed here.

I have been photographing my tulips all month long for this blog post!

We would normally have been on the road for 2-3 weeks during this time of year leading my Live Spring workshops and I would have only been able to enjoy them for a short time.

I posted the photos that looked the best so you’ll see that my tulips are at different stages throughout this post.

As it is, the tulips beside my back deck just opened this week (because it faces North)  when the tulips in my front garden, which is South facing, all started to wilt.

I will include a few ‘before’ photos just for fun. Those of you who have not been following me for a long time might not have seen the transformation of this yard which happened 7 years ago.

White Garden Design

MaryAnne White (who lives in New York) designed my entire garden virtually. Since then she has worked with many of my readers designing a DIY plan for their garden. You can reach her here.

Before

This ground cover that looks like snow is called candy tuft. It’s absolutely fabulous with the tulips poking out! That’s MaryAnne! She’s truly gifted.

Before

Before

Design studio before

Before

In the summer, this is the only shady spot in the garden and it’s where my Hostas live! Love my white bleeding hearts!

This post is late because this little gathering just happened last night. See my stories for more.

Here’s my beautiful Mother in our backyard last night. The weather was perfect, it was a lovely evening!

My Mom’s two favourite colour are pink and turquoise. And coincidentally both my brother-in-law’s showed up wearing turquoise shirts! So fun! We had to get a photo (below):

Well this post turned into an epic one! If you made it all the way down here, Happy Mother’s Day to all the wonderful Mom’s who read my blog! I hope you had a wonderful day!

I love you Mom!

Related posts:

Highlights and Not-to-be-missed Events from My Trip to Italy

What Trait do you Love About Yourself that Came from Your Mother?

Sometimes I am my Mother

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54 Comments

  • elle says:

    Wonderful pictures of a wonderful event! Everyone and everything look so lovely. But HOW did you get those fabulous pink balls up in the tree??

  • Martha says:

    Beautiful, Maria! An inspiring breath of fresh air!

  • Patricia says:

    Hi Maria. Your gardens are beautiful and so wonderful that you made the dinner so special for your family! I am wondering if you would share the name of the supplier for the white fence with the large open grid (in the back yard between your office and smaller shed. Looks like it surrounds some raised veg beds?). Thank you!

    • Maria Killam says:

      Hi Patricia, it was Classic Vinyl Fencing in Chilliwack. Very low maintenance! Thanks for your comment, Maria

  • Fran W. says:

    Your yard and gardens are breathtaking, Maria, and your dining table is perfection. So glad you could get together with your family on such a special occasion. Your sweet mother just radiates happiness!

  • Pat says:

    I love the white tulips. The are gorgeous!

  • Arlene says:

    What a beautiful detailed yard! Enjoyed this happy post. Your Mom has got to be well known due to your blogs Maria. The dinner party looked exquisite and of course everything matched. Thanks for the ideas. Nothing more festive than balloons. 😘

  • Nancy says:

    Maria-
    Your garden and your mom are both beautiful .
    What a blessing having your
    Mom ,
    You are both blessed to have each other …
    Thank you for sharing with us !

  • Karen says:

    I love the unbelievable transformations. What a beautiful, heartwarming post, Maria! I’ve always envied women who have close relationships with their mother. She is as lucky to have you as a daughter as you are to have her as a mother! Blessings and radiant health to you and yours!

  • Sheree L says:

    Wow! Your yard look fabulous! I love all the photos. How wonderful that you could have a nice family get-together for Mother’s Day. Your decorating is perfect (of course)! Your mom looks like the sweetest lady; she has such a genuine smile 🙂 Thanks for sharing, Maria.

  • Kelly says:

    Love the eye candy photos of all your tulips and the pretty Mother’s Day gathering.
    Beautiful Maria.
    Hugs and kisses

  • Stephanie says:

    Thank you for posting these lovely photos. I never tire of seeing photos of your beautiful garden. The green and white color scheme is simple yet elegant. The result is an absolutely stunning garden. Brava to you and MaryAnne!

  • June says:

    Maria–

    So glad you had SUNSHINE to enjoy eating al fresco on Mother’s Day! My eyes especially savored the little table with flowers and that pretty pink-edged tablecloth. SWEET!

  • Debra says:

    Kudos to you Maria for keeping it so well maintained, especially the stone walkways. They can be tricky to keep the weeds out and the ground cover in. Is it creeping thyme?

  • Cathryn says:

    Your yard is beyond beautiful!! LOVE! LOVE! LOVE!

  • Marji says:

    What a gracious plot of land you have enhanced! Thanks for sharing. I love it all, especially the white wood work fences and gates. White and green is so soothing. Happy Mother’s Day to your family, Maria!

  • Lucy says:

    Such a fantastic transformation of your whole yard! Maryanne is such a wonderful landscape designer! I just love tulips and your white ones are heavenly, Your mother’s day party was brilliant. The pink accents that your mom loves made such a happy backdrop. The love in your family is so evident. Good job well done!

  • celestial says:

    Your garden is truly one of the most beautiful I have ever seen, and I am a garden maniac.

    I wanted to let you know of a great tool/toy that I just discovered that has helped me see colors in a whole new way. It reinforces your theories of undertones in a way that is easy to visualize. It is a game app called “I Love Hue” that has one sort colors on a grid according to hue and gradation. The same color chip looks totally different when it is “among strangers (undertones) in the grid and it really makes visual sense. Please try it and let me know what you think.

  • Jan Taliercio says:

    Maria, a lovely memory was created for you and your family to remember. A beautiful setting!

  • Mary says:

    Really lovely job you’ve made of your garden Maria. Love all the white flowers – and did you know that white flowers nearly always have a lovely smell (I know tulips don’t) – because they have no colour they have to work harder to be attractive to insects for pollination! I only heard this in the last couple of weeks. (I hope it wasn’t you who “told” me – I can’t remember where I heard it!)

  • Doris says:

    So beautiful and so much spring there! One thing about the west coast compared to the east coast…your early spring. We honeymooned in Vancouver and Victoria and when we left Nova Scotia on May 21st, 25 years ago. The buds were just opening on the trees and the tulips were not opened yet. We arrived in Vancouver to lush greenery, flowers in bloom and to folks swimming in their pools! Gosh, we had snow showers the week before our wedding in ’95 and Northern New Brunswick got 20 centimetres yesterday! Your landscape designer did a fabulous job and the workers themselves did as well. I love tulips but so do my deer who love our woods and fields our house sits on. Obviously, not a problem for you! You are blessed to have your Mom with you all still. Such a beautiful celebration you gave her and your family! Thanks for sharing all the beauty you and mother nature co-created! It is a treat for winter weary eyes!

  • jane says:

    Beautiful! Thank you for sharing!

  • Beautiful, so inviting and tranquil. I felt like I was right there enjoying it. Thank you!!

  • Christine Mueller says:

    Maria, I’ve been admiring your gardens for years, it is just breathtaking. Curious as to what zone you are in? What a lovely celebration.

    • Maria Killam says:

      Hi Christine, I’m not sure what zone I’m in, MaryAnne would have the answer there. Maria

  • Absolutely a gorgeous yard!!! Love viewing all of the beautiful tulips and the beautiful landscape.

  • Kathy says:

    Such a beautiful Mother’s Day celebration! I love that you went “all out”! Your yard is wonderful – happy you got to spend this season enjoying it. Look forward to every one of your blog posts. :). Thank you for all the effort you put into them.

  • A. Petro says:

    Beautiful gardens! Thank you for sharing your lovely grounds. Impeccable taste!

  • Linda Trammel says:

    How lovely! Bright and festive! I was wondering what the plant was below your tulips and when I read candy tuft I was amazed. I also have candy tuft but mine are in almost bush size so this must be a ground cover I did not know existed. I would love to find some. Also I love hostas but I do not have enough shade to grow them. Enjoyed all of the photos. Your family is so nice and I love the fact that your Mother lives in close proximity to you and your sister. Your tulips are breathtaking and I absolutely love white in all things…….flowers, cabinets, fencing, buildings, furniture! You name it and I love it if it in white!

  • Kim says:

    Simply spectacular!

  • Temima Goldberg Shulman says:

    There is so much beauty and love in this post, Maria.
    It’s why I get so much pleasure following you!

  • Sylvia Engemoen says:

    Oh, so inviting, so gorgeous. Love the white tulips. The table setting is so inviting too.
    Lucky you for having such a great Mom. Treasure her forever.

  • Sherry says:

    Thank you Maria for the beautiful flower photos! A bright spot in my day. Happy Mother’s Day to your mom!

  • C. C. Beal says:

    This post made me very happy – such beautiful landscaping – but even more important is the love of family.

  • Janet DR says:

    I loved seeing your garden and your mama! Both beautiful!

  • Adelaide says:

    Your garden is looking magnificent Maria, lush and verdant. Seeing your tulips is a treat for me, they are such an exotic plant to grow in my area. One of my favourite spaces is the left side of your house (on the screen), from cement path to being enticed through the pretty gate and fencing into an almost secret garden. What a transformation, lovely to see its full-blown beauty in just seven years. Pink and green has always appealed to me, so your setting for dinner is the icing on the cake.

  • Susan S says:

    So perfect! The bright pink really “popped” in your landscaping! What wonderful memories.

  • Charlotte says:

    Maria, both your front and back yards are so beautiful! I just planted candy tuft in my new front garden on the Sunshine Coast and hope mine looks as good as yours in a couple of years. Is your white fence vinyl? Do you remember where it was purchased? It looks so pristine and fresh.

  • Kristin says:

    What a beautiful garden! Do you have problems with deer? We’re just south of you in Oregon and just put in landscaping; the deer are decimating a few of the plants, including the candytuft. They eat all the blooms off and a couple of the plants that ate down to the roots. Now they’ve moved on to my baby dogwood tree and stripped all the lower leaves.

  • Susy McBride says:

    So beautiful Maria, thank you for sharing your beautiful yard and family.

  • Caroline O'Hara says:

    Lovely, both the garden and the family gathered. You are blessed to live so close to your mother and sister and family. I wish I still had my dear mother to honor on Mother’s Day!

  • Wendy says:

    Love the bright pink pops of color and yard photos. Where is teeria’s place setting at this family gathering?

  • Kim says:

    Everyone and everything is just SWEET! Wonderful photos of your mom and your family! I love seeing photos of your garden and the before and after photos are impressive!

  • Sue says:

    What a festive celebration to honor you Mother! Just beautiful!

  • Trish McLeod says:

    The results of your yard transformation are breathtaking! You (& your mom) are so inspirational. I’ve learned so much from following your blog over the years. Thank you for sharing your beautiful yard and expertise.

  • Paige says:

    Lovely, your family and gardens! Do you have to replant a lot of bulbs every year to get such a splendid look? It doesn’t seem like tulips do very well re-blooming here in Northern Alabama so unfortunately one doesn’t see many yards with large swaths of them in the Spring.

    On another note, I’m saving my money up for a total design by Maryanne White!

    Thank you for sharing, Maria! -Paige

    • Maria Killam says:

      To get this look yes they should be planted every year. These were just planted last year so that’s why they look so good! Smart to hire MaryAnne, landscaping is so important! Thanks for your comment, Maria

  • Lea says:

    Your place looks so beautiful Maria. And so do you and Hellen. I love all the white tulips.

  • Rory V. says:

    Wow! It’s like a fireworks explosion of white flowers! That is amazing! Can I just transplant your entire yard to my house? 🙂 Gorgeous!♥

  • Michelle says:

    Late to the party but so happy to see these photos! Flowers are nature’s way of sparking joy in the landscape. I don’t mind the taupe siding at all. It’s a nice neutral to let the green and white be the stars of the show! My daughter’s favorite color is green, so she’s at home in her garden, plus she has planted fish tanks inside her home. Really inspiring yard of yours. It’s obvious it was designed with intent and professionalism.

  • Arlene says:

    I always admire your solid hedge along the property line. Beautiful backdrop for your yard and privacy. What is the name of the hedge please Maria? Your yard is exquisite as your hedge makes a huge difference.

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