The Netherlands, The Tulip Country.
The Netherlands is known for its flowers, it is one of the most important export products, and also determines part of the landscape in the Netherlands. When you buy Dutch flowers you are assured of quality. The most famous Dutch flower is of course the Tulip, each year almost 2 billion tulips are grown and sold. But how did the Netherlands become a flower country?
Tulips from Turkey?
The tulip is not originally Dutch. The natural habitat of the tulip are the high plains in East Asia, along the Silk Road the tulip ended up in Turkey. The Latin name Tulipa means Turban. In the Middle Ages, tulips were grown and traded by Turkish men, these men wore turban. The tulip looked somewhat like a turban and that's how it got its name.
Tulips in the Netherlands.
It all started in the mid-sixteenth century when the wealthy Turkish sultan Süleyman gave tulip bulbs, which were very expensive at the time, as a gift to the Flemish envoy to Turkey, Ogier Gisleen van Busbeke. He gave a few of these to the Flemish Carolus Clusius, who later became professor at the University of Leiden. Here he conducted all kinds of tests with the tulip bulbs. He didn't even consider selling his bulbs, but one night thieves stole a few from his garden. This event is seen as the beginning of the tulip and bulb trade in the Netherlands.
The Tulip Mania.
The tulip became extremely popular during the Dutch golden age. The flower was often seen in paintings and during festivals. The tulips became more and more expensive and even became a way of investing money. In January 1637, tulip bulbs were sold for more than ten times the annual salary of an experienced craftsman and were worth about the same as an Amsterdam canal house. On February 3, 1637, the market suddenly collapsed, causing chaos. It turned out that most traders did not own the tulips themselves, and then sold them on to people who could not actually afford it, but because the price kept rising, this was not a problem. When the bubble burst, these people were left penniless.
Tulip Festivals.
The number of flower festivals shows that flowers still play an important role in Dutch culture. The world-famous Keukenhof attracted 1.9 million visitors in 2019. But also the flower parade in the bulb region and the Amsterdam Tulip Festival are annual events.
The Keukenhof, The Garden of Europe.
The Keukenhof in Lisse is by far the most famous flower garden in the Netherlands. It is also called “the Garden of Europe”. About 7 million flower bulbs are planted here every year. These bulbs are donated to the park by more than 100 growers. The planting of the bulbs will start at the beginning of October and will be ready at the beginning of December. In a flower garden you obviously need flowers, and they only bloom in spring. Keukenhof is therefore open for 8 works from mid-March to mid-May. To ensure that tulips bloom during the 8 weeks that the park is open, the bulbs are planted in 3 layers. The top bulb will flower for the first 3 weeks and after 3 weeks the bulb below will take over, followed by the bottom bulb
Are tulips annual or perennial?
When a flower bulb comes up every year, usually with more flowers than the year before, the plant is called perennial. Well-known examples are crocuses and daffodils. But although tulips are officially perennial, they often do not flower a second or third time. How is this possible? What is going on here?
A beautiful flower like the tulip is, of course, a bit fussy. The tulip is perennial, but not everywhere. The tulip likes extremely cold winters and hot dry summers. When this is the case, the tulip will flower year after year, and the bulbs will also multiply.
Dutch ingenuity and technology.
But why do the best tulips come from the Netherlands? Our climate is not what the tulip wants. That's where Dutch ingenuity and technology comes in. The Netherlands has an age-old tradition of managing water. By controlling the groundwater you can make the conditions exactly how the tulip thrives best. If you want to sell tulips, it is of course important that the original tulip bulb multiplies every season. The tulip growers try to simulate a hot dry summer and an arctic winter as perfectly as possible. This requires expensive climate control systems and a lot of experience and knowledge. This knowledge and experience is present in the Netherlands, which is precisely why we are able to multiply and trade the tulip.
Creating New Breeds.
The flower industry is about more than just growing large numbers of flowers. The most important thing in this industry is the improvement of species and the cultivation of new ones. A large part of the greenhouses in the Netherlands is therefore for research. species are cross breeded here in order to convey certain properties. This is a field that requires a lot of knowledge. The plant genus tulipa has more than 1000 subspecies. The tulip mutates relatively easily and this creates many different colors and types.
How do I keep my tulips beautiful?
A tulip is a beautiful flower, but when you have it in a vase as a cut flower, they can hang or become ugly. This can be prevented by applying a number of care tips. Tulips like draft-free spot, neither too close to the heating nor near the fruit bowl. Fruit produces ethylene gas, which makes your tulips hang faster. They can be put in the sun and in the shade. In the sun, the tulips will bloom earlier, but they will also finish blooming faster. Some intense colors tend to fade if exposed to full sun all day. Because tulips grow a few centimeters in the vase, the choice of vase is important, a tall vase works best, as well as a so-called classic tulip vase.
Water Management.
Change your water regularly and do not fill your vase completely with water. This is a mistake that is often made. When there is too much water in the vase, the tulip does not have to work as hard to absorb the water. This makes the stem limp. By filling a bottom of about 2 cm the tulip has to do its best to absorb the water and in this way the stem remains strong. Use tap water that is at room temperature, and keep the tulips in the foil / paper in the vase for the first hour after purchase. This allows the tulips to absorb water better. After an hour you cut them diagonally and put them in the vase, which is filled with a little bit of water.
Make the Tulip Stop Growing.
Tulips grow very quickly, because they grow so quickly, they quickly become too long and have a tendency to hang. By poking a hole in the stem you can stop the growth process. This is easiest with a needle. If you poke a hole just below the bud of the tulip, the tulip will no longer grow.
Wooden Tulips, Perfect Tulips All Year Round.
The easiest way to keep beautiful tulips all year round is to order our wooden tulips. Wooden tulips bloom all year round, and the above care tips are not necessary for these beautiful tulips.
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