Flower of the Month – The Tulip
More often than not we associate tulips with Holland. As such, it may surprise us to realise that the tulips only really made it on the Dutch shores in the 16th Century. This hugely popular flower is actually a native of the western Mediterranean, Central Asia and even northern Africa. It was only through Turkey that the tulip had eventually found itself in Western Europe and the Netherlands. The tulip, or lale, as it is more commonly known in Turkey was hugely popular there and was deemed as an extremely special specimen of flowers. This love was easily extended amongst European gardeners as the tulip spread through the Western Europe, with Netherlands soon after taking the lead in producing the most prized specimens.
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The wealthy class in Holland had in particular been so impressed with these flowers that in the 1630s the whole country was gripped by the ‘tulipomania’ whereabouts the farmers began to speculate about the prices of these prized flowers. As the knowledge grew and better varieties of tulips were cultivated, so did their price, as single bulbs became too expensive to plant even and with property changing hands in order to procure tulip bulbs to display in one’s home. Such was the height of this over-evaluation that even when the tulipomania had tapered off; its effects were still felt in Holland for many decades thereafter. Not surprisingly then, the Dutch still remain the ‘masters of the tulip’ and they are certainly the biggest exporters of this flower by far and away in the World with millions and millions cultivated each year.
The prominence of tulips doesn’t just stop there it can be seen in art and culture as well. As far back as the 13th century the tulips was given special attention in Persian literature with many Persian poets taking up the subject of beauty in association with tulips. This association with art and culture was certainly carried through in Europe with Alexandre Dumas, for example, producing a romantic novel called The Black Tulip whereabouts a reward is offered to the first grower who succeeds in producing a first truly black tulip. Tulips have been the subject of at least two popular songs: Tiptoe Through the Tulips, and When I Wore a Tulip, and You Wore a Big Red Rose. Today we also still see many tulip festivals performed around the world.
Meaning of tulips mostly derives from its shape, which is never too elegant, too sophisticated, too tall, too short, or too much of anything and yet encapsulates a little bit of everything at the same time. Its somewhat ‘sexual’ shape has also led the tulips to be described as a flower of lover and the giver of it is seen as a perfect lover. Like all other flowers different colours of tulips mean different things, with red being associated with love and romance, yellow with happiness, white with forgiveness and purple for royalty even. Looking at all the different designs and tulips on our website my favourite happens to be the sweet scents of heaven which hasn’t failed to impress yet.
