The Tulip, a Turkish wildflower, became a European craze at the very beginning of the Seventeenth Century. The soils of Holland proved ideal for growing the bulbs and the Dutch the ideal middlemen in a trade that for four decades saw prices spiral skywards until the great Tulip Bubble burst in 1637. A review in The New Republic recommends Anne Goldgar’s book TULIPMANIA: Money, Honor, and Knowledge in the Dutch Golden Age, for those with an interest to learn more of this fascinating flower which still does a brisk trade in world markets today, with the Dutch still the world’s tulip middlemen.
Here in Marianivka there are two tulip seasons for two distinct types of tulips. Mid-April when the big bright coloured reds, yellows and oranges bloom and then in mid-May when smaller fancier tulips come into flower. We have a couple rows of red tulips and this week dug a few of the fancy ones from an abandoned dacha site where they are literally growing wild. We will plant them this fall and hope for a good catch and a very colourful tulip bed in a couple of years.
Beautiful flower photos. I also enjoyed the previous photos of the irises. I was not aware of the tulip history you refered to so I did a google search and read about tulipmania and the tulip bubble of 1637. I see it is referenced as a metaphor for any large economic bubble.
ReplyDeleteI love those pictures. I love tulips so much. When I come out to see you, I will have to come when they are blooming.
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