In the sixteenth century the first tulip was imported to Turkey from Holland. I know-- I carried it myself.
By 1634 the Dutch were so crazy for this fish-mouthed flower that one collector exchanged a thousand pounds of cheese, four oxen, eight pigs, twelve sheep, a bed and a suit of clothes for a single bulb.
What's so special about a tulip?
Put it this way...
When is a tulip not a tulip?
When it's a Parrot or a Bizarre. When it's variegated or dwarf. When it comes called Beauty's Reward or Heart's Reviver. When it comes called Key of Pleasure or Lover's Dream...
Tulips, every one-- and hundreds more-- each distinctively different, all the same. The attribute of variation that humans and tulips share.
It was Key of Pleasure and Lover's Dream that I carried from Sulyman the Magnificent to Leiden in 1591. To be exact, I strapped them under my trousers...
*(An excerpt from Jeanette Winterson's
The Powerbook...)
I had some Pink Angeliques one spring. They were stunning.
ReplyDeleteI know absolutely nothing about tulips but I am coming to appreciate them more... they're really a beacon of spring and of course I love spring and summer!
DeleteWhat a stunning array of tulips.... My favorite ... the French tulip. So beautiful. Thanks for sharing spring and the history of this amazing flower to us Danette.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you enjoyed them Michael! It's such a wonderful part of this season... watching flowers spring out of the ground and the trees bursting into green!
DeleteOH, tulips that grow in gardens are just so beautiful! Your pictures are lovely.
ReplyDeleteThanks! We've seen an amazing array of tulips this year.
DeleteI love tulips. They are so pretty.
ReplyDeleteThey are beautiful. Some are just stunning! I was on a website looking over some of them and it's amazing how many types there are. I would love them more if they didn't go away before the warm weather really hits.
DeleteI LOVE tulips! AFter the daisy, they're my very favourites! :)
ReplyDeleteThe more varieties I see the more I like them! But crocuses remain my first of spring favorite. So hardy and springing up when it's still winter!
DeleteAwesome! Tulips are just starting to make an appearance here. They are so beautiful.
ReplyDeleteLove those first signs of spring!
DeleteI miss the tulips that used to burst through the ground every Spring at our home in Illinois. Photos are gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteI think I would miss the spring if I lived where you live-- a little. But I would never miss the winters.
DeleteWe love to visit Butchart Gardens, in Victoria BC. Any time now, the gardens will be a blaze of color with all the beds filled with tulips. It's a stunning sight.
ReplyDeleteTulips are great! and they have a great name :)
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