Tulip is a lovely, graceful flower that is native to northern Africa, Asia, and southern Europe. Although tulips are now grown as garden flowers in many parts of the world, they are generally associated with the Netherlands.
Tulips bloom in spring. They grow from bulbs, and the leaves, stems, and flowers grow directly out of the bulb. The stems range from 4 inches (10 centimeters) to over 30 inches (76 centimeters) tall. The tulip usually develops one large, bell-shaped or saucer-shaped flower at the tip of its stem. The flowers may be almost any solid color, and some tulips have flowers with two colors. The flowers of some tulips are streaked with other colors because of viral infections that affect the flower color but not the plant’s health.
Gardeners plant tulip bulbs in autumn. They require a well-drained, loamy soil of average richness. Usually only professional tulip growers or plant breeders grow the flowers from seed, because tulip seed does not produce a flowering plant for four to seven years.
Thousands of cultivated varieties of tulips have been developed from only a few of the many wild species (kinds). Almost all the cultivated varieties were developed from tulips of Asia Minor that were brought to Vienna, Austria, from Istanbul, Turkey. The name tulip comes from a Turkish word meaning turban. The plant’s blossoms somewhat resemble turbans. Popular groups of cultivated varieties include Darwin, Fringed, Lily-flowered, Parrot, and Triumph.
After the tulip was brought to Europe, it became the most fashionable flower in both England and Holland. Between 1634 and 1637, interest in the flower developed into a craze in Holland, known as tulipomania. Individual bulbs sold for huge prices. People invested money in tulips as business people might invest in risky stocks. Prices soon fell, and many people lost fortunes in the tulip market. The government was forced to regulate the trade in bulbs.
Tulip cultivation is an important industry in the Netherlands today. It is also important in the northwestern part of the United States. Billions of tulip bulbs are produced every year. Dutch growers produce nearly 2,000 cultivated varieties.
