21st February, 2022
I’d love to go and visit Amsterdam when all the tulips are blooming, it must be quite a sight!
Although Amsterdam is considered the capital of the tulip world, tulips are also grown in both Greece and Turkey and are native to central Asia. They grow well in maritime areas where the climate is steady, with mild winters and summers, preferring sandy clay soil which is found in both north and south Amsterdam.
The first tulip bulbs were first introduced to Amsterdam from Kazakhstan during the 1700’s and grown in a garden called Hortus Botanicus (isn’t that the name of the gin Lidl produces?!) At that time the bulb was worth the price of a house; no wonder people were so keen to sell them! Tulipmania was born, it lasted around three years, the market crashed, and the bulb was no longer ‘worth its weight in gold’ but held its beauty and popularity.
Today you can visit a hundred different locations in Holland for the Tulip Festival, ride a bike and really enjoy the experience! Something to add to my bucket list, will you add it too?
A few tulip facts:
- They mean unconditional love, deep love – a perfect gift for so many
- There are about 150 species with 3000 varieties and are part of the Lily family
- The flower buds are symmetrical
- Tulip petals are edible, (not that I want to try them, do your own research before you do I take no responsibility!)
- Tulips continue to grow when cut.
Although it’s a few months until tulip blooms are in our gardens, it’s now an optimum time to buy them from your local florist who will have more unusual varieties. They are many tips for tulips from adding a penny to the water to a pin through the stem, but my advice is to leave your tulips wrapped tightly in paper (or wrap them yourself – newspaper is fine), cut the stems at a 45 degree and place them in the vase for two hours before removing the paper. This seems to stop the tulips from bending over, place the vase somewhere cool and light but out of direct sunlight.
Above all enjoy these seasonal beauties, nothing cheerier than a simple vase of tulips during this last month of winter.