by Editor Wicher Bos
Edited and published by Yvette Depaepe, the 18th of March 2022 

Tulips (Tulipa) are a genus of spring-blooming perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes (having bulbs as storage organs). There are over 150 species of tulips with over 3000 different varieties. They are popular throughout the world, both as ornamental garden plants and as cut flowers. The flowers are usually large, showy and brightly coloured, generally red, pink, yellow, or white (usually in warm colours). They often have a different coloured blotch at the base of the tepals (petals and sepals, collectively), internally. Because of a degree of variability within the populations, and a long history of cultivation, classification has been complex and controversial. The tulip is a member of the lily family, Liliaceae.

'First Tulip' by Lotte Grønkjær

The Tulip

The name "tulip" is thought to be derived from a Persian word for turban (a headdress, consisting of a long length of cotton or silk wound around a cap or the head), which it may have been thought to resemble by those who discovered it. Tulips originally were found in a band stretching from Southern Europe to Central Asia, but since the 17th-century became widely naturalized and cultivated. In their natural state they are adapted to steppes and mountainous areas with temperate climates. Flowering in the spring, they become dormant in the summer once the flowers and leaves die back, emerging above ground as a shoot from the underground bulb in early spring.

As a flower that looks weak on the outside but strong on the inside, assertive but equally gentle and graceful it symbolizes to some eternal life, because this flower blooms in spring, the season of colourful new life, chase away the cold of winter.

'colour growing' by Udo Dittmann

The Tale of Tulips – A Perfect Love

Like many other flowers, tulips have strong meanings attached to them. Commonly, tulips are a symbol of deep and ‘perfect love’ this is tied to Turkish and Persian folk-tales about the love between Farhad and Shirin. There are some variations of this tale over time.  

As one story goes, Farhad was a prince who fell in love with a beautiful woman named Shirin. However, she died tragically, and her untimely death tore the prince to pieces. It’s said that in desperation, Farhad rode his horse off a cliff and red tulips sprouted where his blood touched the ground. 

Another version of the story tells that Farhad was a stone cutter, and Shirin a princess.  The king sent someone to convince Farhad that Shirin had died. Devastated, the stone cutter took his own life. Once the princess found out about it, she was equally distraught and took her own life to be with him in the afterlife. Red tulips are said to have started growing where their blood hit the ground as a symbol of their everlasting love for one another.

'The tulip' by Stanimira Shivacheva

Tulips are one of the first flowers to bloom in the spring. This is understood to mean being born again and starting over. Historically, it was believed that the Victorians often associated tulips with a sense of charity and working together to achieve a sense of greater good. It seems like a flower that appeals to many and can evoke strong emotions.

'Remains of the Day' by dawn

"Often we forget about making images of flowers less than perfect or those that have begun to wither and fade away. This tulip struck me as being far more interesting and sensuous at this stage of its life than it did in full bloom."

Tulip mania

Tulips were frequently depicted in Dutch 17th century paintings, and have become associated with the Netherlands. Tulip mania was a time from about 1600 to about 1720 when contract prices for some bulbs of the fashionable tulip reached extraordinarily high levels. In this period tulips cost often 10 times more than a working man’s average salary or even as much as a large house. The major acceleration started in 1634 and then dramatically collapsed in February 1637. It is generally considered the first recorded speculative bubble or asset bubble in history. The term "tulip mania" is now often used metaphorically to refer to any large economic bubble when asset prices deviate from intrinsic values.

Culinary use?

Tulip bulbs can be eaten, but it is certainly not common. Tulips belong to the same plant family as onions. Tulip petals are edible. The taste varies by variety and season. Be careful trying because some people are allergic to tulips. There have been reports of illness when eaten, depending on quantity. During the Dutch famine of 1944–45, tulip bulbs were eaten out of desperation.

Finally, to finish this story of another inspirational flow, a quote:
“A tulip doesn’t strive to impress anyone. It doesn’t struggle to be different than a rose. It doesn’t have to. It is different. And there’s room in the garden for every flower.” ~ Marianne Williamson ~ 

Please enjoy my selection of some amazing tulip images found in our 1x image store.  I encourage everyone to use the key words to explore a bit more the beauty of this modest flower. 

Wicher 

'Kensaki Tulip' by Kazuhiro Shimoda

n/t by Gustav Davidsson

'Tulips' by Mandy Disher

'Tulips (II)' by Ellen van Deelen

'Flora' by Svetlana Melik-Nubarova

'Tulip' by François Possen

'Catching the Light' by Penny Myles

'Whisper' by Lydia Jacobs

'Tulips & vases' by Dennis Zhang

'Red Tulips' by Delphine Devos

'Tulips Irony' by Fadi Tarawneh

'Tulips' by Aneta Mrożek

'Tulips in Great Vancouver BC Canada' by Fred Zhang

'tulip story from another world' by Mihaela Gradinaru

'The Tudor Princess and the Tulip' by Nicole Wells

'Tulip' by Els Baltjes

'serpentines' by Udo Dittmann

'Flowering tulips' by Nel Talen

'The elegant tulip' by kahar lagaa