Human Flower Project
Tulip Itinerary
The Netherlands? Of course, but here’s a farther-flinging trip for tulip enthusiasts.
Tulip fields of the Netherlands seen from a tourboat
Photo: Barges in France
The tulip blooms of Holland have been delayed by a cool spring. But now here they come.
Keukenhof Gardens in Lisse, the Grande Dame of tulip landscapes, simply has extended its open season a few weeks, until May 21. Events and exhibitions this year feature two opportunistic species: birds of prey and interior designers, along with hyacinths, narcissus and tulips—the main attraction. Keukenhof was laid out in the 1840s by architects Zocher & Son. In 1949, the mayor of Lisse, W.J.H. Lambooy, pulled ten major bulb-growers together and “conceived the idea of a permanent annual open-air flower exhibition.” The tulips and “theme gardens” there have become a mainstay of the Dutch travel industry.
One of the most imaginative garden writers around, Felder Rushing, noted that Northern Europe possesses a distinct gardening advantage over his home, the Southern U.S.: its light. “The angle of the sun is so low way up there, colors get ‘punched up’ and seem more vivid than they do in our muggy heat, which washes out a lot of the blue and green. Same thing in England, New England and British Columbia. Because of the climate, many plants grow better. And because of the angle of the sun, they simply look better.”
Just ask the 700,000 tourists who—on foot, astride bikes, and from passing boats—visit Keukenhof Gardens each year.
An interesting story today by Alex Rijckaert reports, however, that Holland’s bulb sales have been declining. “The number of bulb growers has fallen more than 40 percent since 1990 and the amount of cultivated flower land has been stagnant for five years, according to the Dutch Central Bureau of Statistics.” China and Poland are tough competitors, both with good climates for bulb production, cheaper labor and much, much more arable land.
Dutch marketers can’t do anything about the nation’s hectares, so they are fighting back with nearly-instant gratification. “The usually urban-dwelling younger consumer ‘doesn’t want to wait several months to see their gardens bloom,’” said Henk Westerhof, a leading horticultural exporter. So Holland’s growers are offering more “potted tulips already in bloom, that you plant in your garden as soon as you come home, with an immediate and concrete result.” Another new product, for sale in Britain, is “an aluminium can decorated with flowers...Simply remove the lid and pour water on the flower bulb inside and three weeks later, a tulip pops up.” (We received one of these jiffy amaryllis bulbs for Christmas and found it quite wonderful.)
Tiles, with tulips and other flowers
Rustem Pasha Mosque, Istanbul
Photo: Cornucopia
On the tulip trail, our friend Cyndy Clark of Lexington, KY, recommends Amsterdam’s Tulip Museum. Here one may discover how the tulips came to the Netherlands and took the nation by storm in the 17th Century.
The serious tulip enthusiast, however, won’t be content with a visit to the Netherlands only. Such a person will want to visit Iran in the spring. This is the native land of wild tulips, and eco-tour agencies now offer excursions to the Zagros region. “Drive 90 km back to Shahr-e-Kord and then 220 km south to Yasuj through mountains and plains covered with red wild tulips and deep valleys with lots of waterfalls and streams,” says one travel company. A contributor to this travel message board makes a compelling case for visiting the Iranian countryside. “The wild flowers in spring are incredible.... I have ridden through tulips so tall they touched the horse’s belly.”
The intensive domestication of tulips first took place in Turkey; here, the flower thrived not just botanically but culturally, in Ottoman gardens and throughout all the Turkish arts. This extended essay by Jon Mandaville will fill you in on how the gardens of the sultan Ahmet III developed and how his ambassadorial gifts ignited Western Europe’s tulip craze.
Holland (Michigan) Tulip Time
May 2004
Photo: Yan Lan
Heading back West, tulip sighting will continue through May in Holland, Michigan. We very much enjoyed Yan Lan’s photo album of this New World town’s celebration of its Dutch heritage and tulips.
And don’t unpack! Commercial flights should be departing any time now for the Moon, where scientist Bernard Foing hopes to plant tulips bulbs with success. “Lunar soil would receive its first gift from the Amsterdam tulip trade, perhaps planted inside a plastic biosphere with carbon dioxide on tap.”
Foing told the BBC, “With current missions we have much better knowledge of the polar regions as a site where we could search for ice; and also ... we have identified some ‘peaks of eternal light’ where we would like to land - these are areas near the poles of the Moon which have sunlight all the time, even in winter.” Will tulips look as delicious blooming in “peaks of eternal” lunar light as they do beneath the low-slating rays of the Netherlands? We’ll hope to see.