Tulip - Renewal & Growth

Most of you have noticed the tulip clipart on my site.  It is the logo for KL Consulting.  Renewal and growth are fitting descriptions of what I do and help others do.  The Tulip symbolizes that.

Barrington, Illinois. Spring of 1993

When I lived in the suburbs of Chicago, my wife bought some tulip bulbs in autumn.  She carefully planted the bulbs in our front yard and watered the ground.   In the early spring, the leaves broke ground and later the flowers bloomed.  The red and yellow tulips added beauty and color to our front yard. 

What we enjoyed most was the following spring.  Although we didn’t plant any more bulbs, we had more tulips.  The front yard became more picturesque.  It is amazing that the bulbs had multiplied and we had more flowers.  The plants have renewed themselves and grown more tulips. 

After the first bloom and by early summer, the plant withered and “died” away.  We only saw what happened above ground.  There were a lot more happening below ground -- renewing and growing.  Every part of the plant helped in the renewal and growth.  The leaves continued to generate food to the bulb until they dropped.  The roots continued to absorbed nutrients from the soil.

I found out later that tulips did not originate from Holland but from the plains of East Asia.  The Ottoman Empire cultivated tulips long ago before they were brought to Europe.  In Holland, tulips bulbs were traded like the stock exchange.  I should have said that the stock exchange is like the tulip bulbs trading.  The tulip is both global and of high value.

When I started my consulting company, tulip became my logo.  It symbolizes renewal and growth.  The purpose of KL Consulting is to help individuals design and execute their renewal and growth plans to create value for themselves, their family, their community and their institution.