this is like the horticulturalist version of the godfather. it’s kind of funny to me that literal jail doesn’t stop this guy from gardening. the whole concept of choosing the tulip or rosa as cornelius’s greatest love gets so bizarre, honestly. like, the fact that she thinks he loves the tulip more than her, is convinced by him that it isn’t true, and then requires him not to speak of the tulip for like 36 hours (i can’t remember if this was the part or the whole of the time she required) to prove that he loves her is weird enough. what’s even WEIRDER is how hung up he gets on that and how he ponders that and comes to the conclusion that it just means no woman is perfect, that he would compare her to a goddess and like fall at her feet if she had let him talk about the tulip within those hours. like?? if you can’t go that long without talking about a tulip to your insecure girlfriend then she deserves way better than you, dude. someone save this woman from these flower freaks.

all that being said, why do i kinda love it??? rosa is a girlboss, and this entire book is so bizarre but kinda in a good way.