Most of us have a big misconception about tulips and their origin. Most of us know they came from Holland. Well, the truth is that Holland has made tulips famous, but they did not originate there.
Now, in my sensibility, this is the most splendid and delightful flower to put on canvas. The colors and varieties are endlessly breathtakingly lovely and interesting. There are solids, stripes, doubles, singles, ruffled, small large, pale, bright, spiky, smooth, tall, short, and all in between every descriptive adjective mentioned here and more.
In actuality, the tulip originated in Turkey then to Holland in the 16th century. For many hundreds of years prior, the flower was loved and revered by people who lived on the slopes of the Pamirs and the foothills and valleys of the Tien Shan Mountains where Tibet and China meet Russia and Afghanistan. Mike Dash describes the tulip's journey in his irresistible story Tulipomania which has become one of my favorite reference books.
It is filled with facts, legends, and includes both Ottoman and Dutch history. One such legend is the story of a prince named Fernad who was deeply in love with a maiden, Shirin. "One day word reached Fernad (falsely, as it turned out) that his beloved had been killed. Gripped by unbearable grief, he hacked his own body open with an ax. Blood dripping from his terrible wounds fell onto the barren soil, and from each drop a scarlet flower sprang, a symbol of his perfect love." In Persia for hundreds of years, wild red tulips remained a symbol of undying love.
During the heyday of the Tulip Mania in 16th and early 17th century Holland, the favored flowers were streaked (flamed). These stripes were actually caused by a virus in the bulb, but today's breeders have replicated the unusual characteristics in virus-free bulbs.
Even though I love flowers, especially tulips, I am not much of gardener (would much rather paint). We are extremely fortunate here in the Willamette Valley in Oregon to have excellent tulip growing conditions. Each year in early spring Dave and I visit the Wooden Shoe Tulip Gardens in nearby Woodburn for armloads of bouquets to both paint fresh and photograph for future paintings. As many of you know, this is one of my favorite subjects, and favorites in the galleries also. We are also fortunate the Persians shared and spread their beloved flowers to the rest of the world for all to enjoy.
Dear Margret, what wonderful information you have provided your readers today! The history of tulips has long fascinated me as well; tulips have been my favourite flower “forever”. What it is about their brilliant colours held aloft above pale green stems and softly folding leaves? I almost find them more beautiful as they droop and lose their petals one by one.
Do you know that tulips are the only cut flower that continue to grow after they are cut? You can confirm this fact by measuring their stems before and after.
Do you know that tulips will stay upright far longer than usual if you “slit their throats”? It’s a terribly graphic expression and I can hardly bear to do it, but it works! If you gently puncture the stem of the tulip just below the emerging petals, and drop a new penny into the water, the decay process is changed. I’ve also read that you can use a large needle and run it through the stem in the same area. It seems a little less brutal. Truthfully, I don’t know if I prefer this style of decay…they never really droop dramatically and I rather miss that action.
Thanks so much for your wonderful blog! I don’t want to miss your action, either!
Best thoughts, Mimi