Past Newsletters

Vol 4 No 4

Spring Reveals Rare Beauty

The 'French Tulip', although grown in Holland, was originally hybridized in France, and is still a rare breed. French Tulips are among the largest and most breathtaking of the tulip family, and often called Lazy Late Tulips, because they take a longer time growing than their cousins. One of the more unique and delightful features of these Dutch ladies is that they keep growing after they are cut - growing up to six inches more while in the vase! And when placed near a window, they will turn themselves towards the sun, opening more when it is warm and closing when the temperature drops. These elegant and graceful flowers demand to be center stage, and we dare not put another flower in the same vase!

According to our research, tulips were extensively cultivated in Turkey during the 1500's, and because of their resemblance to the "tulbend," a turban worn by Turkish men, these flowers were christened "tulipan." At one time their exceptional beauty was linked to noteworthy sentiment and symbolism in the Persian culture. Tulips were the appropriate offering that a young man made to the one he adores. Variegated tulips were offered to ladies with "beautiful eyes." Red tulips signaled an irresistible love. And yellow tulips were so very sad - a hopeless, desperate love with no chance of reconciliation.

Tiptoe Through The Years

The Dutch are always remembered for their passion for tulips. After more than 400 years, theirs is an enduring love affair. The tulip has become a lasting symbol for the country since first being introduced in 1593. This love of tulips is such an integral part of Dutch culture, that if you were to ask anyone to name well known things from the country of Holland, they would say, "tulips, windmills and wooden shoes," - and usually in that order.

Because the tulip is now an inseparable part of the Dutch heritage, it is a commonly held misconception that tulips are native to Holland, but nothing could be further from the truth. The current word is that the region of their primary genetic center is in the Tien-Shan and the Pamir Alai Mountain Ranges near modern day Islamabad, close to the border of Russia and China. How ironic that at this time we see only chaos and no beauty in this part of the world.

From these locations, tulips spread to China and Mongolia and to other regions to the west and northwest. A second genetic center has been identified in Azerbaijan and Armenia, now referred to as Transcaucasia. From there, tulips spread to far-flung parts of Europe, and today we find them growing wild in regions of Spain, Portugal, the Balkans, Switzerland, France, and Italy. Unlike so many other species with hundreds or thousands of varieties, there are probably no more than 150 tulip varieties naturally native to Europe.

One Man - A Colossal Difference

Holland's tulip history begins in 1593 when botanist Carolus Clusius (1526 to 1609), who was well known for his work in Vienna and Prague with medicinal herbs, came to Holland to become head botanist of the new botanical garden at Leiden University. Assisted by Cluyt, a skilled botanist and pharmacist based in the town of Delft located south of The Hague, Clusius planted the first known tulips in Holland.

More recently, research has revealed that Cluyt played a greater role in Leiden's botanical garden, or "hortus," than was previously thought. He was quite a famous beekeeper. As a matter of fact, he was one of the first Dutchmen to publish a book about beekeeping, entitled "God Feeds All Creatures."

When Carolus Clusius was actively engaged at the Imperial Medicinal Herb Garden in Prague, he cultivated all kinds of plants, including the tulips that were given to him by a man named De Busbecq who was the ambassador to the court of Sultan Suleiman in Constantinople, the seat of the Ottoman Empire. While in Constantinople, De Busbecq 'discovered' tulips and was the first Westerner to write about them.

Carolus left Vienna in 1593 to go to the Netherlands (a country more tolerant of his Protestant religious practices), and was appointed head botanist of Leiden's Hortus, the first botanical garden in Western Europe. He brought his collection, including his tulips, and planted them behind a university building in a very small garden - it measured only twelve hundred square meters. The choices he made and the connections he nurtured have made significant differences ' but he didn't know that at that time.

Now here's a lesson for all of us. Carolus saw tulip bulbs from a narrow scientific perspective, and was very stingy with them - he refused to even sell them. Even though several resourceful thinkers saw the potential of making money with the bulbs and tried to persuade him to think creatively, he remained inflexible and refused. But we can be thankful for those among us with vision and resolve who don't hear the word 'no.' Eventually several frustrated bulb buyers paid a clandestine visit to Carolus' garden and stole part of his collection. And that was, in all probability, the start of the Dutch tulip industry - it didn't take long for Holland's passion for tulips to become a "flowerful force" felt worldwide.

FYI: About 400 years after tulips were introduced to Holland, the curators of Leiden botanical gardens unveiled a re-creation of Clusius' original garden. It was laid out according to the original plans, and included the species of tulips grown by Clusius, as well as other plants 'discovered' during his life time, e.g. tomato, potato, corn, tobacco plants, and French Marigolds.

3 Billion Bulbs

Tulip growing has been a major business since the 1600's for the Netherlands - a low, flat country situated just off the North Sea in Northern Europe. Almost half of Holland's 47,150 acres of flower bulb farms are planted with tulip bulbs! Other bulbs that rank highest in acreage (but way below the tulip) are gladioli, narcissi, lilies and hyacinth.

Of the three billion tulip bulbs annually produced in Holland, an average of two billion get exported with one billion remaining in the Netherlands. The vast majority of them are used for cut flowers and potted plants. The United States is the top importer of tulip bulbs, followed closely by Japan and Germany. Nearly one billion bulbs go to the USA - most to home gardeners - and once again, tulips take up the greatest share.

Rocky High Tulips

Tulips grow most prolifically and naturally in mountainous regions, and are found at very high elevations, often covered with a thick layer of snow during the winter season. The snow insulates the bulbs, giving them good protection from the extreme cold. The bulbs of several mountain species are covered with a thick, furry layer that provides additional protection. Appropriately these types are called "woolly tulips."

Given this natural proclivity for high places, it's remarkable that Holland has become known for growing tulips when their country is largely situated below sea-level and experiences winters that are more wet than they are cold. Since these are not conditions that make tulips happy, the Dutch have invented winter soil drainage systems. All through the sandy coastal bulb growing regions, farm fields are ringed by drainage ditches that draw surplus water rapidly from the fields. From the ditches, the water flows to canals that flow to the sea. It's quite astonishing to see water canals flowing through embankments that tower above the surrounding fields!

Oregon Beargrass

The backdrop for our lovely French Tulips is Beargrass from Oregon. Also known as Indian basket grass, Squaw-grass, soap-grass and Quip-Quip. This unique green is a willowy shawl that complements their elegant beauty and grace in a perfectly delicate manner.

Beargrass is an evergreen, perennial herb from the lily family, with basal leaves that form thick clumps. The leaves rise up from a short, woody rhizome and are scabrous, tough, and wiry. If pulled or stepped upon, the grasslike leaves easily slide out of their sheaths. This plant might not bloom for many years, but when it does, it will produce a leafy flowering stalk that sometimes reaches up to 6 feet tall with copious small white flowers. The flowers bloom starting from the lowest flowers, and ending in a knob of tight buds at the top. Beargrass colonies tend to bloom in 5 to 7 year cycles.

Native Americans in the Rocky Mountain region used to trade this plant to tribes from outlying areas. Prairie tribes to the East used the boiled roots for a hair tonic and also as a treatment for sprains. Tribes from the coast would dye and bleach the leaves, then use them for decorative designs, woven into their baskets. Southwest tribes use Beargrass as the basic material in their basket weaving. The leaves that grew the first year after a fire were preferred because they were thinner, stronger and more pliable.

Today, some national forests have issued permits for Beargrass harvesting, since florists have discovered that Beargrass leaves make strong, long-lasting greens in their arrangements!

Arrangement Tips

Because your French Tulips have the tendency to grow several inches after being cut, the vase you display them in should be on the tall side. As they get longer, they may have a tendency to droop. When this happens, they can be cut again to the appropriate length.