Past Newsletters

Vol. 6 No. 3

French Tulips from the Netherlands

This month we delight in bringing you the Old World beauty of French Tulips from Holland. As the national flower of the Netherlands, this style of tulip is a rare breed, retaining qualities that are above and beyond other varieties of the tulip. More expensive than most, they retail for about $5-6 a stem. One of the more unique and delightful features of these Dutch ladies is that they keep growing after they are cut - growing up to 5-6 inches more while in the vase! When placed near a window, they will turn themselves towards the sun, opening more when it is warm and closing when the temperature drops.

A wildflower that is said to originate from Persia, 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". Oriental myth has it that the origin of the tulip came when a Persian youth named Ferhad, fell in love with a maiden whose name was Shirin. Ferhad went out into the desert to die from his broken heart after Shirin would not accept his love for her, and as he pined, each tear that fell into the sand turned into a beautiful tulip.
In terms of sentiment and symbolism, among the Persian people, the tulip is seen as an appropriate offering that a young man makes to the one he adores. Offering her a tulip, he is stating, "As the redness of this flower, I am on fire with love." In general, tulips are an affirmation of love; an offering from the "perfect lover." Variegated tulips are for "beautiful eyes". Red tulips denote an irresistible love, while yellow tulips indicate a hopeless, desperate love with no chance of reconciliation. No matter what color variety of tulip is preferred or bestowed, one thing is certain: tulips are one of the most sought after and exquisite flowers available today.

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 encompasses the French Tulips, complementing their elegant beauty and grace in a perfectly delicate manner.

This filler 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. The 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 to the most upper flowers, culminating in a knob of tight buds on top of the flower cluster. Beargrass colonies tend to bloom in 5 to 7-year cycles.

Attractive as framework for substantial flowers like the French Tulip, beargrass can also be a centerpiece that will lend a feeling of the outdoors to your indoor table. You can put strands of bear grass into a cylindrical vase, or even do several vases full, and then place them down the center of your table to create a grass like wave. Although the beargrass fronds are tall, they are slender and will not obstruct any guest's sightlines.

The history of this evergreen has it that Native Americans in the Rocky Mountain region would trade this plant to tribes from outlying areas. Prairie tribes more east used the boiled roots for a hair tonic and also as a treatment for sprains. Tribes from the coast will dye and bleach the leaves, then use them for decorative designs woven into baskets. Southwest tribes use it in basketweaving. The leaves produced the first year after a fire are preferred for basket weaving because they are thinner, stronger and more pliable. Florists have discovered in recent years that beargrass leaves make strong, long-lasting greens, and some national forests are issuing permits for beargrass harvesting.

A Note on Caring for Your French Tulips

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.

A Tiptoe through Tulip History

Down through the ages, the Dutch will always be 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.

Although the tulip is now an inseparable part of the Dutch heritage, it is a commonly held misconception that tulips are native to Holland. Nothing could be further from the truth. There is nary a one bulbous plant that is native to that part of the world. We look to central Asia for the origins of this standout flower. The region of their prime 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. From these locations, the tulip spread to other areas, including China and Mongolia to the east and other regions to the west and northwest. A second genetic center developed in Azerbaijan and Armenia (Transcaucasia). From this province, tulips then spread to locations which included far-flung parts of Europe. Modern day still finds them growing wild in regions of Spain, Portugal, the Balkans, Switzerland, France and Italy. It is estimated that there are probably no more than 150 tulip varieties naturally native to Europe.

The Birth of Holland's Beloved Flower

Traditionally, Holland's tulip history begins in 1593 when botanist Carolus Clusius, 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.".

Who was Clusius?

A renowned botanist of his time, Carolus Clusius lived from 1526 to 1609. He was actively engaged at the Imperial Medicinal Herb Garden in Prague along with other projects he was running. It was there and in Vienna that he cultivated all kinds of plants. Among these cultivars were the tulips that were given to him by a man named De Busbecq, who lived from 1522 to 1592. De Busbecq was the ambassador to the court of Sultan Suleiman in Constantinople, the seat of the Ottoman Empire. While in Constantinople, De Busbecq came across tulips and was, historically, the first Westerner to mention their existence in known writings from that time period.

Clusius left Vienna in 1593 to go to the Netherlands, a country more tolerant of his Protestant religious practices (because of his principals, he could no longer function at his job in Vienna and Prague). In 1593 he was appointed "hortulanus," or head botanist, of Leiden's Hortus, the first botanical garden in Western Europe. It was then that he brought his collection, including his tulips, with him. He planted them behind a university building in a very small garden; it measured only twelve hundred square meters.

The Advent of the Dutch Tulip Industry

Clusius, looking at the value of tulip bulbs only in terms of a scientific perspective, was very stingy with them and refused to give bulbs away or to even sell them. But there were those who tried to persuade him as they saw the potential of making money with the bulbs. Clusius still remained inflexible and refused.

As history sometimes has it, some people can't take no for an answer - in any century. Several frustrated bulb buyers paid a clandestine visit to the garden and stole part of Clusius' collection. And that was, in all probability, the start of the Dutch tulip industry. As a result of a burglary - and assisted by the typical Dutch penchant for horticulture - Holland's passion for tulips has become a "flowerful force" felt worldwide.

In celebration of the 400th anniversary of the tulip's arrival in Holland, the early 1990's saw the curators of Leiden botanical garden unveil a re-creation of Clusius' original garden in another location within the Hortus. Laid out according to historic plans, the garden contains the species of tulips grown by Clusius as well as other plants from Clusius' time. Included are plants that, during Clusius' time, were recently discovered in the New World such as: the tomato, potato, corn, tagetes and the tobacco plant.

The first books documenting all kinds of known plants came into being after Clusius' arrival in Leiden. What is striking is that the tulip was often the illustration on the covers of these books. This is curious because, in the 1500s and 1600s, botanists considered plants that could be used as medicines or eaten of most importance - the tulip did not fall into either category. Such was Carolus Clusius' impact on Holland's horticulture.

Bulb-growing Areas of Holland

For the Netherlands, a low, flat country situated just off the North Sea in Northern Europe, tulip growing has been a major business since the 1600's. In modern day, 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.

A Beautiful Mountain Flower

The tulip grows most prolifically and naturally in mountainous regions. They are found there at very high elevations, meaning they are often covered with a thick layer of snow during the winter season. This acts as insulation and gives them good protection from the extreme cold. In several of these species, the inner side of the skin that covers the bulb is covered with a thick, furry layer that provides extra protection. Appropriately these types are often called "woolly tulips."

Given this natural proclivity for high places, it is extremely 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 one sees farm fields that 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. With a country below sea-level, it is not unusual to see water canals flowing through embankments that tower above the surrounding fields.