Floral Friday ~ Tulip
What pops in your mind when you think of tulips? A windmill in the midst of endless rows of brightly colored fields in Holland? A famous Dutch Master Painting? Surprisingly enough, tulips did not originate in the Netherlands. They were originally cultivated in the Ottoman Empire which is present-day Turkey.
History
When Carolus Clusius wrote the first major book on tulips in the 1590’s, they became so popular that his garden was raided and bulbs stolen on a regular basis. As the Dutch Golden Age grew, so did the popularity of tulips. Amazingly, they created the first financial bubble, Tulipmania. Crazy, right? Prices rapidly increased that people were trading their land, life savings, and anything else they could liquidate to get more tulip bulbs. They rose high, everyone stopped buying and the prices plummeted crashing the market.
How to care for your cut tulips
- They should be re-cut and placed in a hydrating solution. We also recommend using a floral food specially formulated for bulb flowers.
- In a vase, tulips continue to grow so some minor design adjustments might need to be made. They may grow as much as an additional inch from the time you put them in water!
- Tulips are top-heavy so their natural behavior is for the stems to bend with gravity. Tulips also grow towards the light. Again, this is nothing to get alarmed about, and some minor adjustments in design will quickly remedy the situation.
- Do not mix tulips with members of the Narcissus family in the same vase.
You promote Dutch Masters Tulips. What exactly are they?
- Dutch Masters Finest – This assortment is a variable selection of the finest single tulip varieties available. All Tulips are packed per 10 stems in a very distinctive looking Dutch Masters sleeve.
- Dutch Masters Exclusives – This assortment is a variable, artistic composition of very exclusive parrot, fringed, double and single tulip varieties. All tulips are packed per 30 stems in a very distinctive looking Dutch Masters wrapper.
Meaning
Tulips are in general the symbol of perfect love, but every color also has its symbolism.
• Red – love
• Purple – royal
• Yellow – mercy
• White – forgiveness
• Pink – elegance
