Tulips From Amsterdam

Tulips From Amsterdam…. Well Not Originally

Here are some fast facts on the nowadays fab Dutch Tulip

Central Asia is where this flower grew as a wild flower once upon a time

In the early years of AD the Turks cultivated the flower.

Carlous Clusius an Austrian born biologist introduced the tulip to the Netherlands in the 17th century, he was a researcher hired by Leiden University.

He was given the bulb as a gift for his garden by the Ambassador of Constantinople as it was then known.

Tulip got its name from the Turkish word turban.

During the early years when the tulip was rare some could cost more than the price of a house in Holland. People went crazy selling anything from homes to businesses to get money to buy this rare bulb.

Within a year or so the market became overcrowded and its rarity was replaced with mass production leading to people becoming bankrupt and savings been lost. It brought the economy to its knees.

Today there are over 3000 varieties of Tulips and each year Holland produces over 3 billion bulbs.

The Tulip is the national flower of the Netherlands and also Turkey.
Afghanistan does not have a national flower but unofficially claim the tulip because of its origin from the Persian Empire.

Who would believe the twists and turns that has brought us such a beautiful yet simple flower.