Could we be more excited? Spring is around the corner, and we can’t wait to start adding in the vibrant-colored tulips back in your bunches. These gorgeous blooms are a favourite around the world mainly because of their vibrance and variety. From frilled tulips to the classical Angelique, they come in every shade you can think of from pink to night sky blue.
No wonder these florals are featured in art pieces and are revered so much owing to their magical beauty. Tulips come in a variety of shapes, colours and with a variety of patterns. They bloom in the latter part of winter and in spring.
Here are some facts about tulips that you probably never knew. Shrivel up under your blankets and while you wait for the winter to withdraw, here are some facts you need to know about tulips before they are back in season!
1. Tulips are Survivors
These flowers are not just pretty, they are also pretty gritty. Even when they are cut off from the branch and put in a vase, they continue to grow at least an inch inside your vase.
They are known for lasting a long time after being cut. If you’ve left a tulip in a vase you might have noticed that they start to bend over time. This is because tulips tend to move towards light. You might also notice that the green of the bulb turns bright – be it green, pink, orange or purple – as time passes.
While they are colourful bulbs, tulips eventually open up their petals to reveal a color-saturated center ready for pollination. When they are cut, and left in a vase, they’d open up around a week prior to withering out.
2. Tulips Were 17th Century Cryptocurrency
Tulips are known for being the reason behind one of history’s most famous market bubbles and crashes. In the 1630s, tulips were crazily sought out for their increasing value resulting in what would famously go down in history as the “Tulip Mania”.
Tulips were endemic to Central Asia before they spread out to the western world and to Holland, which is even to this day the largest producer of tulips in the world. As they became more popular, they began being considered a rarity and led to a rush in tulip demand from speculators wanting to sell them for higher prices.
Prices skyrocketed to more than the annual salary of a skilled worker, and in some cases a single flower was more expensive than property or jewelry. Owning tulips became a privilege only the elites could afford.
The tulip mania lasted from 1634 to 1637 when many speculators chose to clear their stocks at once, causing an end to what could be considered as 16th century’s crypto craze.
3. Colours and Meanings
Tulips, just like most other classics, bear meanings for each of their colours. Tulips in general symbolize deep love and can be given to your partner, parents, children or just about anyone you have a deep connection with.
But wait! Different colours mean different things too. Red tulips are generally associated with romantic love whereas the softer pink tulips would mean love in a more general sense. You could send out pink tulips to your friends and family.
And when things go slightly wrong, you could use a few white tulips to apologize to someone and to bring back the cheerfulness, consider some yellow ones. Keep away from the purple ones since they are generally linked to royalty and luxury.
4. Thank Viruses for Striped Tulips
As if solid-coloured or blended variations of tulips weren’t enough to captivate us, tulips began developing contrasting stripes. In the 1600s, these unusual striped tulips rose to popularity and were sold for a higher price.
However, later in the 20th century it was discovered that these intricate stripes were created by a virus named ‘tulip breaking virus’. This virus infects the bulb creating these stripes and featherings and to this day, these are being used to artificially reproduce the same effect in tulips.
5. Tulip Petals are Edible
As vibrant as they are, tulip petals can also be eaten. During the Dutch famine in World War II, Holland had to rely on sugar beets and tulip petals to keep them well fed.
But it’s not always that you can snack on a tulip and get away with it! Dutch literature is filled with anecdotes that refer to the tulip being part of their culture. One such incident mentioned in the books is that of a man who was jailed for eating a tulip bulb thinking it was an ‘onion’.
Apparently, the man had the misfortune of devouring a rare “Sempur augustus” tulip which, if sold, could have fed the crew of an entire ship for 12 months.
6. Varieties You Need to Know
Currently, there are over 3000 varieties of tulips scattered over 150 species.
The ‘queen of night’ tulips are a variety known for their near-black colour. While nature doesn’t produce any jet black flowers, hybrids have been created to mimic the darkest possible colours. Queen of night is one such flower with near-black dark purple petals.
Other than that, among the thousands of varieties, some of our favorites are the Angelique, Frilled Tulips, Double Tulips, Parrot Tulips and Triumph Tulips.
7. Tulip Trivia
Tulips propagated far and wide from countries like Turkey and Iran to Holland and further. These flowers belonging to the ‘lily family’, get their name from a Persian word that means ‘turban’. It was named so probably because they resembled colorful turbans or perhaps it was lost in translation as they were worn with turbans.
Tulips are best when they are planted in Autumn so they can get enough of the cold before they bloom out in spring. When in season, tulips bloom only for 7-10 days.
The sweet-scented tulips are still in style around the world. With this year’s tulip season around the corner, we can’t be more excited to include them in our floral bunches. Get your flowers delivered to you.
