His hobby bloomed 2,300 times this spring

SCRIPPS HOWARD

The old refrigerator in David Goller's garage isn't stocked with food and beverages in the fall.

There's no room for mundane edibles when tulip bulbs need a good chilling.

"It's chock full of tulips for about six weeks," he says.

"I can barely fit all the bulbs in there." Goller, a radiologist who now works part time, began planting hundreds of tulips in a bed alongside the street in front of his Sacramento, Calif., home 10 years ago.

This year, grateful neighbors enjoyed a colorful show of 2,300 tulips: red, orange, purple, yellow, pink, white and a strip of blue from a border of grape hyacinth.

"I'm always so impressed that a neighbor would go to so much hard work to bring joy to the rest of us," says neighbor Sarah Cunningham.

"We hear so many negative stories these days, and this is about giving back to others.

It's always so beautiful, and they're right there in front for everyone to see and share." Goller says his interest in tulips may have had something to do with having a Dutch grandfather.

Perhaps it was Goller's visit to Holland's Keukenhof Park while serving in the military.

Keukenhof displays 6 million tulips, daffodils, hyacinth and other bulbs.

Another inspiring push, he admits, may have come from his "kind of drab" street.

Because of Sacramento's mild climate, Goller must spend $600 to $700 each year to purchase new bulbs.

He orders in June, bulbs arrive in October and, after a period of chilling in the refrigerator, they're planted in November.

Each bulb is buried individually, which is incredibly time-consuming.

Goller says he's tried digging trenches for mass plantings but feels his bulbs perform best with one-on-one attention.

Planting takes a full week and blooms last about six weeks.

"I have all kinds of supervisors while I'm planting and cleaning up, but I haven't recruited anybody to help yet," he says.

"They give lots of advice.

Mostly I get thank-yous.

Everybody really enjoys seeing them."