Tulips

I love tulips. I'm from Florida and tulips don't bloom there - at least, not ordinarily - because the weather doesn't get cold enough. So, tulips have never been on my radar. I first developed a love for tulips when G sent a bouquet of tulips to my workplace for our first Valentine's. It came in a box packed with bags of ice slurry, complete with flower food and a vase. It was even more special because G was living in South America and I was in the US with absolutely no expectations of celebrating Valentine's with my long-distance boyfriend. At work, I was given a long box while helping a customer and I absently thought it was a package of work materials. When the customer left, I opened the box and there were beautiful, perfect red tulips nestled in the box from my love. You just have to imagine my utter surprise. It was better than getting roses. So, since then, I've loved tulips and look forward to every spring when tulips bloom. I had a June wedding and was disappointed when I couldn't get tulips for my bridal bouquet.

We went out of town over the weekend on a jet plane and I was reading the airline magazine. I was surprised to discover the tulips originally came from Central Asia. I always thought it originated in northern Europe and Holland just had a mad and slightly odd hobby of growing tulips. I say slightly odd because of the grand scale of their obsession with tulips. Ever see those enormous fields of tulips? The Latin name for tulips comes from the Turkish word for "turban," which apparently the flower resembles. Tulips were cultivated in gardens in my host country well before the 16th century. Fancy that. I'm in a region where one of my favorite flowers came from! The red tulips are decorated on ceramics here and is a symbol associated with my host country.

How did tulips get to Europe? Some dude from Europe saw them growing in Constantinople in middle of 1500s and got some bulbs or seeds. The earliest description of tulips growing in Europe was late 1500s. This is about when tulips had arrived in Holland. "Tulip mania" started in both Holland and my host country about 1630s so bulbs were highly coveted and sold for incredible prices and fortunes were made and lost in speculating in tulip bulbs! How crazy is that? (I did a simple Google search on the history of tulips so if you want in-depth info, just do the same).

So, the reason I am posting about this is that I've wanted to share things about this country, its culture, history, and interesting things. I was just surprised to see tulips part of the history here and they're one of my favorite flowers. When I read the airline magazine and found that it originated here, I got the idea to try growing some on my own. If it came from here, then I might have success in growing some in a pot.

I just remembered that tomorrow is Valentine's Day. Happy Valentine's Day to you!