Tulips

Today's abundance of tulips in flower arrangements, gardens and urban landscaping makes it hard to imagine the price of a tulip during the 17^th century. Of course it was only a brief bubble in the floral market of the Dutch Golden Age, something called Tulip Mania or Tulipomania. The Dutch experienced a great boom of art, culture and industry in the 17^th century, hence a Golden Age, and tulips were no exception.

At the peak of the Dutch tulip mania a single tulip bulb, in particular the Viceroy variety, sold for ten times what a craftsman earned in a year. That's the equivalent today of a skilled carpenter paying nearly half a million dollars for a single flower bulb. At the time tulips had been recently introduced to the Netherlands, generating an economic bubble of demand that collapsed drastically once Europe was flooded with tulips between 1634 and 1637.

To this day, tulips are deeply rooted in the culture of Holland, with the country harvesting approximately 59 millions stems of the 83 million grown each year.(www.umass.edu) The delicate process tulips require has been perfected by the Dutch, and they ship millions of cut tulip stems around the world every year.

The tulip hails from the Liliaceae family of plants, which also includes Lily flowers. Though, the tulip's distinct structure resembles more of a turban than the trumpet shape or blooming star form of the lily. The tulip's resemblance to a turban is no arbitrary comparison, as the word tulip comes from the Turkish word, tulbent, which means turban.

Like the Dutch, the Ottoman Empire in Turkey, related its richest times to the flower, calling in Lale Devri, Turkish for Tulip Era. This was in the early 18^th century, so it seems that for nearly a hundred years, from Constantinople to Amsterdam, people were crazy for tulips. Though the symbolism of tulips carries no meaning for riches and wealth or the frenzied madness the flower induced in the 17^th and 18^th century.

Their symbolism is born from the innocence of heartbreak and impassioned love. The legend tells of a Persian prince, Farhad, whose broken heart drove him off the edge of desert cliff; a love-struck suicide for his deceased maiden Shirin. His droplets of blood gave life to the desert, springing the origin of red tulips. (www.teleflora.com) A more subdued version of the legend tells of the maiden Shirin not loving Farhad equally, thus storming off into the desert where the prince's tears were the source of tulips.

This legend brings depth to the symbolism of red tulips, usually conveying a declaration of irresistible love. Though, like roses, different colors of tulips carry distinct meanings. A variegated tulip (two toned or multi-colored) is a symbol of beautiful eyes; a useful gesture for the Don Juan trying to avoid cheesy pick-up lines. Yellow tulips are said to be harbingers of hopeless love, but also convey the common bond yellow flowers hold with joy and cheerfulness. Orange tulips find a more balanced meaning of love, giving a symbol of perfect love. There are also white tulips to show forgiveness and purple tulips used as a symbol of royalty.

While tulips may rein as a lasting symbol in economic history and legends of love, cut tulips will last about a week in vase arrangements. Dutch tulips are the most prevalent around the world, but there are also French tulips with their lengthier stems, and the colorful Parrot tulips. You can reflect upon your new found appreciation of tulips and pick up a bunch of Dutch tulips now on special at Mainstreet Flower Market in Parker, Colorado.