Though Tulips are native of the Middle East, no other country in the world is so inextricably linked with them as Netherlands. The most popular variety of Tulips are rightly called ‘Dutch Tulips’ and the largest, most exotic collections of Tulips can be found at Keuekenhof Tulip gardens close to Amsterdam. It is also believed that during the Famine, the Dutch would dig up Tulip bulbs and eat them. Tulip festivals are held in may every year in the Netherlands.
Tulip Mania
The period between 1634-1637 has been called ‘tulip mania’, in Netherlands. Tulips were termed a luxury good and its price rose day after day. At one point one Tulip bulb was bought for 20,000 francs. In fact Tulips became a form of currency, laborers gave up their jobs and started growing Tulips. A story tells that a man who had purchased a Tulip bulb for its weight in gold heard that a cobbler possessed the very same variety. This man purchased the other bulb from the cobbler for 15,000 florins and crushed it under his feet right before the cobbler’s eyes, so that he may be the only man in the world to possess such a flower. What’s more is that he told the cobbler that he would have been willing to pay even ten times the price that he did to ensure his exclusivity. Upon hearing this the cobbler was so depressed that he hung himself!
People went to the market everyday to speculate in ‘Tulip shares’. It is believed that the word ‘bourse’ (stock exchange) originated in that period because those who speculated in Tulip shares did so at the house of the noble Van Bourse. Then on April 27th, 1637 a decree was passed that declared the sale and purchase of Tulips illegal. Suddenly people found themselves holding on to worthless paper contracts for Tulips for which they had paid hundred times the price they were in the open market. Thousand of Dutch including Businessmen were ruined. Since then the term ‘Tulip mania’ has been used to describe any kind of economic bubble.
Even today Tulips are more expensive as compared to other flowers. Besides the Dutch tulips the other popular cultivated varieties are the French tulip and the Holland tulip. Tulips can be found in a myriad of colors like Red, black, orange, blue, pink yellow and then some more. Artificial tulips are also very popular as the fresh flowers are rather expensive. Ottawa tulip festival and Holland tulip festival are also popular tourist attractions. Growing tulips is not very difficult; all you need to do is plant the tulip bulb before frost to provide it its customary freezing period. Tulip care is rather limited, just water it regularly and come spring you will have wonderful Tulip flowers blooming in your garden.
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