The Tale of the Tulip

                                                

Nothing says spring like the tulip. They are as common as dandelions, and as colorful as Easter eggs. They are inexpensive and, plentiful, and, with over 150 registered species, the selection is limitless. Today, everyone grows them, but a few centuries ago, they were reserved for the very rich.

Tulips are wonderfully hardy perennials, that grow, multiply, and thrive, without much help. Developed originally in cold, mountainous climates, they are capable of withstanding the coldest winters, and will bloom while covered by a late spring snow.

While we always associate the tulip with Holland, they are actually natives of north Africa, Asia, and Turkey. In fact, they began, further east, in the Hindu Kush mountains and on the steppes.

For centuries, the inhabitants of these countries had lived with the tulip, either in their wild state, or propagated and grown in gardens. In Persia, they were the favorite flower, growing, in all their diversity and glory in royal gardens, and country fields.

The Persians call them “lale“, but the word “tulip” developed from a French word, ”tulipan.” This French word was, in turn, derived from a Turkish word, “tulbend”, meaning “turban”, which is what the flower resembled.

In the 16th century, an Austrian ambassador Oghier Ghislain de Busbecq visited the Ottoman Empire, and Suleyman the Magnificent. He was impressed by the flowers, and, especially, the tulip, which he mentioned specifically in his reports.

As tulip bulbs and seeds began find their way to Vienna, the Prefect of the Royal Herb Garden, Carolus Clusius, took up the challenge of crossbreeding and developing even more new species.

The Ottoman tulip experts and economic advisors knew a good thing when they saw it. Even though they had never considered the tulip a particularly valuable asset, they realized that Europeans might. The promotion of the tulip was on.

During the next couple of centuries, tulip bulbs in every variety, brought enormously high prices in Europe, and were, for the most part, only grown by the very rich.

It was during the early years of the 17th century that Holland acquired a craving for the new flower, and, what is known as “tulip mania” began. It would soon grow to envelope France and England as well. Growers would literally pay anything for one new bulb. Businesses were mortgaged, fortunes lost, and families bankrupted, all in an effort to find and buy the newest bulbs, or seeds.

In the 18th century, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire instructed his son-in-law, the vizier, to further relations and trade with Europe.

The Sultan was also enthralled with the tulip. One of the flower’s biggest fans, he had the palace decorated with the blooms, inside and out. During this “Tulip Period” in the Empire, tulips were found on clothing, paintings, and in architecture.

Numerous books on tulip varieties and methods of growing the bulbs were published. New varieties were created and sold to the European markets for enormous prices.

The second wave of “tulip mania” once again became intense, but this time was quelled by government intervention, when a price freeze was implemented.

Since then, thousands of varieties have evolved, and, nearly every color, shade, and combination of hues are available. Heights range from 4 to 27 inches, suitable for every garden and container. Even the blooms themselves have evolved, to include elaborate petals that are pointed, rounded and, even fringed.

Today, after all these hundreds of years, tulips are still a favorite, and still plentiful. The difference today is, now, we can all afford them.