Tulips – Journey From 1,000 AD Turkey to the Botanical Gardens of Holland

Tulips are bright, cup-shaped spring flowers that grow from bulbs. They were grown and loved in Persia and Turkey for centuries before arriving in Europe, where the Netherlands became world-famous for them.

Scientific Classification & Quick Facts

Common name	Tulip
Scientific name	Tulipa
Kingdom	Plantae
Phylum	Tracheophyta
Class	Liliopsida
Order	Liliales
Family	Liliaceae
Type	Spring-flowering bulb plants, about 75 wild species
Habitat	Mediterranean winter-rain regions and steppes
Native range	Southern Europe and North Africa to Central Asia and north-west China
Colours	Almost every colour, including deep purple
Flowering season	Spring
Height	4 to 28 inches
Special feature	Cut tulips keep growing and bend toward light

What Are Tulips?

Tulips belong to the genus Tulipa in the lily family (Liliaceae). Botanists recognize around 75 wild species, and gardeners have bred thousands of named varieties.

Wild tulips grow across a huge area, from Spain and Portugal and North Africa in the west, through Greece, Turkey and the Balkans, the Middle East and Iran, and north to Ukraine and southern Siberia, then east to Mongolia and northwestern China. Most of them grow in places with cold winters and dry summers, such as mountain slopes and grassy steppes.

From Turkey to Holland: A Short History

The mountains of Central Asia, including the Pamir, Hindu Kush and Tian Shan ranges, are the center of tulip diversity, where the most wild species are found. From there, people in Persia and Turkey began growing tulips in their gardens. Some histories say this began as early as around 1,000 AD. Tulips became a favorite flower of the Ottoman Empire, and they appear in poems, paintings and decorations on tiles and fabrics.

In the 1500s, travelers brought tulip bulbs from the Ottoman Empire to Western Europe. In the 1590s, the botanist Carolus Clusius planted tulips at the Hortus Botanicus in Leiden, one of the oldest botanical gardens in Europe. His work helped tulips spread across the Netherlands.

Tulips became so fashionable that, in the 1630s, prices for rare bulbs shot up to astonishing levels for a short time before crashing. This famous episode is known as “tulip mania.” Today the Netherlands is still the world’s largest grower of tulip bulbs.

What Does a Tulip Look Like?

Tulips bloom in spring. Depending on the variety, they grow from about 10 cm (4 in) to 70 cm (28 in) tall. Most tulips have one large flower at the top of each stem, though a few species, such as Tulipa turkestanica, carry several flowers on one stem.

Tulip flowers are usually cup-shaped or star-shaped. Each one has three petals and three sepals that look almost exactly alike, so botanists call all six of them tepals. Tulips come in nearly every color except true blue, from white and yellow to pink, red and a purple so deep it looks almost black. The leaves are long, smooth and often bluish-green.

How to Grow Tulips

Choosing Bulbs

Choose firm, healthy bulbs with no soft spots or mold. By planting early, mid-season and late varieties, you can enjoy tulips from early spring into early summer. They look great in borders, flower beds and pots, and they make excellent cut flowers.

Many large garden hybrids flower best in their first year and get smaller in later years, so many gardeners treat them like annuals and plant fresh bulbs each fall. Species tulips and some types, such as Darwin hybrids, are more likely to come back year after year.

Planting

• Plant tulip bulbs in the fall, when the soil has cooled to below about 60°F (16°C) and about 6 to 8 weeks before the ground freezes.
• Pick a spot with well-drained soil. Tulip bulbs rot in soggy ground, so loosen the soil deeply and mix in some compost if it is heavy.
• Plant each bulb with its pointed end up, about 6 to 8 inches (15 to 20 cm) deep, measured from the bottom of the bulb. A good rule is to plant about three times as deep as the bulb is tall.
• Space the bulbs about 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 cm) apart.
• Squirrels, voles and mice love to dig up and eat tulip bulbs. To protect them, cover the planting area with wire mesh, or plant them among daffodils, which rodents usually avoid.
• Water well after planting. The bulb already holds the food it needs for its first bloom, but if you want tulips to return each year, you can add a little bulb fertilizer in fall.

Sun and Water

Tulips grow best in full sun or in a spot that gets at least six hours of sun a day. They don’t like wet feet, so water only during long dry spells in spring. In many places, natural rain is enough.

Care After Blooming

Once the flowers fade, snip off the dead flower heads so the plant doesn’t waste energy making seeds. Leave the leaves in place until they turn yellow and die back. The green leaves make food that is stored in the bulb for next year’s flowers. Remove any plants that look diseased. In very hot places, some gardeners dig up the bulbs in summer, store them somewhere cool and dry, and replant them in fall.

Tulips as Cut Flowers

Photo by: D Sharon Pruitt

Tulips make lovely cut flowers, and they have a surprising habit. Unlike most cut flowers, they keep growing in the vase, sometimes by an inch or more. Their stems also bend toward the light, which is called phototropism, and curve upward away from gravity. This is why tulips in a vase twist and droop into new shapes each day.

To help them last, cut the stems at an angle, put them in cool, clean water, and keep the vase away from heat and direct sun. Check the water level every day and change the water often. With good care, cut tulips last about three to seven days.

Safety Note

Tulip bulbs, and to a lesser extent the leaves and flowers, are toxic to cats, dogs and other pets, and can upset a person’s stomach if eaten. Some people also get itchy skin from handling bulbs, so it is a good idea to wear gloves when planting. Store bulbs out of reach of pets and young children.

Tulip FAQs